The concert we attended last night at the Kursalon in Vienna was fantastic! It was a combination of music by Strauss and Mozart, along with some Viennese 
Opera selections and accompanied by dance. It was the first time Larry had ever attended entertainment in this genre and aside from the required tie, he claims to have enjoyed it. It really was very good. The acoustics in the beautiful music chamber were fantastic and the orchestra highly talented.
I have been to Vienna several times, but this visit was by far my most favorite. We took a tour called “Hidden Vienna” and got to see some fun and also some bizarre things along the way. One of the latter is the catacom
bs beneath St Stephens. While initially they are not nearly as creepy as those in say, Paris or London or Rome… when you reach the very bottom level the creep factor ramps right on up. The mass graves of those who died of the plague did it.
The evening tour was of Schonbrunn Palace and the Christmas Market on the grounds there. We arrived with a couple of hours to kill before our tour, and I used some of that time to attend a strudel making demonstration. Not at all what I expected, and I loved it! I will be trying that style at home.
The Palace opened up after hours for the 40 or so people in our group to have a private tour. Maybe they do that all the time and I don’t know about it, but I was pretty darned impressed with it. I was once again drawn to the floors. The workmanship and detail in the wood just captures my attention every time. Photos were not allowed, but I found this online:
When we returned to the ship, it was Santa’s night. Normally a crew member stands does the duty, but at the request of our cruise director (and with a bar tab used as bribery) the real Santa made an appearance. My man just cannot help himself. Let me just say that the experience with more than slightly impaired adults becomes an entirely different thing! OMG! Both my face and my stomach hurt from the laughter.