Today was Sunday, and that turned out to be a problem. In the States, we're used to stores being open every day (or at least, every weekday). Certainly living in San Francisco, it's easy to even get annoyed at grocery stores that aren't open 24 hours a day. There was a grocery store just around the corner from my apartment, and I'd already noticed that the hours weren't quite what I was used to -- it closed at 715p on weekdays! Today it got worse: it wasn't open at all on Sundays. Neither were any of the other stores a mile in either direction on Ungargasse, except for a couple döner shops. (Oddly, I didn't want breakfast döner.) Even going out to the U-bahn station on Landstrasse Hauptstrasse (a big shopping street) yielded nothing except a Chinese store selling tea, dried noodles, and unidentifiable frozen fish. Finally, a few blocks down the big street, I found a bakery that was open and doing quite a bit of business. All in all, I probably walked over 3 miles for a couple croissants and a baguette.
After such a strenuous effort hunting for some daily bread, I took the rest of the morning to be lazy and then headed over to the Opera at 2:30. Starting 80 minutes before show time, the opera box office sells standing-room-only tickets for 3-4 euro a pop - way, way cheaper than a normal seat! (Protips: the standing room box office is located on the left side of the building as you face the front from the street. Ignore the hordes of official-looking touts offering tickets for tonight.) I felt speedy, so I spent 4 euro for the nicer spots for Tristan and Isolde.
The opera house is enormous on the outside but surprisingly small on the inside. It is beautifully appointed, though. As for the show itself: the sets were amazing; I've never seen theater sets done so well. In the opening we see a red moon rising, fog comes in low, and a ship appears. All were incredibly lifelike. The music was also very good. The play...I don't think I'm a fan of Wagnerian opera. After 1.5 hours and one act of overly dramatic lines, I was ready to take off and sit down somewhere -- possibly somewhere offering early dinner
The one thing I wanted to try in Vienna (other than döner, of course) was the city's namesake dish: Wiener schnitzel, a thinly-pounded, breaded and fried veal steak. The night before, I had read an article from an Australian newspaper purporting to sample the best schnitzels in Vienna, and conveniently one of the places was right next door: Plachuttas Gasthaus zum Oper.
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