So I hop a few trains…
and a tram…
in search of dead musicians at the Zentralfriedhof, or Central Cemetery, in Austria’s Simmering district. In section 32A, I find all my rockstars in their slumber…
including a memorial for Mozart, who was actually buried elsewhere in a mass grave:
My favorite gravesite, though, is this one with a canopy bed–that’s what I call a real resting place!
One bus stop from the Zentralfriedhof is a very cool area called Gasometer City.
Remember a few blog entries ago I showed you this picture I snapped from the train as I entered Vienna?
It turns out that these 4 gasometers, or large gas storage tanks used from 1899 to 1984, have been renovated into residential and commercial space:
Cool concept but it is a virtual ghost town inside on this gloomy, rainy afternoon. Sure wish I could buy one of these gasometers for myself just to store all my shoes and bags 
!
Tags: Austria, Central Cemetery, Gasometer City, Mozart, Simmering, Zentralfriedhof
I adore Paris, but I think I have finally found a city that rivals Paris for my heart. I’ve arrived in Vienna this afternoon from Slovakia and this town truly has me at the get go. I cannot wait to tell you, or better yet, show you what a gorgeous place this is, but it is now midnight here for me and I’ve just come back to my hotel (God bless wifi when it works!) from a free outdoors concert at the Vienna Film Festival on the Rathausplatz. My throat is killing me and I’m crossing my fingers I’ve not caught a cold or something, so I’ll just post a few pics for now from this event and reveal the beauty of Vienna over the next few entries.
The film festival is running from now till September 12, and each night there is something fun (movies, opera, music, dance) shown on the big screen plastered against the magnificent City Hall. There are tons of vendors around the square selling any kind of food you can imagine.
Grab anything from the typical Austrian fare of wiener to pretzel to apple strudel…
Sidebar: if there’s only one thing to eat in Vienna it would be this for me. I can feel the calories going straight to my butt with every bite, but I suspect I will have it again a few more times before I leave here!
Anyway, there’s also Asian fusion food and tons others. For tonight’s event, it is all about the Russian Ballet (can life get any better for me!) performing to Debussy and Tchaikovsky.
As I hum to L’ Apres Midi d’une Faune, watching the ballet under a star filled night sky, nibbling on the aforementioned apple strudel with a thousand other lucky tourists and locals alike, all I can think is Ich liebe Wien.
Tags: Austria, Rathausplatz, Vienna, Vienna Film Festival, Wien
