Vienna

Anne and I like city breaks. We have a long list of cities to visit and one of them was Vienna. Austria is the homeland of my mother. Not Vienna, but the south on the border of Croatia and Italy. Nevertheless, we thought it was about time we had a cultural visit. And, it coincided with Annes birthday so what better a gift than a trip to the Vienna Opera House. Well, it turns out, the ‘what’s better’ was Tom Jones.

Now, I’m not a big Tom Jones fan but he has grown of me over the years. Notwithstanding a number of dodgy song titles, he is a nice bloke. And you have to hand it to him, he still has a good voice. So what has this to do with Vienna, I hear you ask?  Coincidentally, Tom Jones was playing in Vienna at the same time as our visit. Well, why not?  

Booking Tom jones was easy, good old TicketMaster. Not so the Opera House. You have to do it in Vienna. Off we trotted early Wednesday morning and after a brief conversation with Mozart on the plaza, see photo, we were directed to the ticket office. It was Mozart season, so not a full opera but a selection of piece written by, yes you guessed it, Strauss. Only kidding, Mozart. The man at the ticket desk was very accommodating. He showed us a floor plan, described the views, explained exactly what would happen, suggest the best price and boom, tickets bought smiles all around. “Just one thing I should mention,” said the kindly ticket man “the performance isn’t here at the Opera House”.

What!!!

It turns out there are two major operatic venues in Vienna, one is the Opera House and the other is the Golden Room. Both are huge, both are ostentatious, both have fantastic acoustics, and if you like opera, both provide amazing performances. I was blown away, Anne was fast asleep. Roll on Tom Jones.

What can I say. I had reservations about going to a Tom Jones concert, but that man can sing! The stage was a pontoon (but not as we know it Jim) on the Danube. The audience was seated on the banks. The venue and weather could not have been better. 

One night at the opera, one night with Tom Jones, can you think of a better way to enjoy Vienna?