Day 4--Tram-ing and Metro-ing around Vienna

The heat finally broke today.  There was rain, but the cooler temperatures were a welcome relief.  We got a 24 hour tram/metro pass and spent the morning exploring the old town on a couple of trams.

We are really getting a sense of the city and how to get around.  We stopped for coffee at Cafe Landtmann.  One of those wonderful old Vienna cafes that boasts visits by all kinds of artist and intellectuals including Sigmund Freud and Gustav Mahler.  I've gotten hooked on mid-day iced coffee with a scoop of ice cream for lunch.

Later in the day we took three metro lines to get to the Schonbrunn Summer Palace.  It was really beautiful, but you could clearly see why the common folk would want to overthrow such extravagance.

The highlight of the day was a concert at the State Opera House.  Unfortunately the Vienna Opera is on vacation and Philharmonic is on tour, so we saw a more touristy performance.  It was still enjoyable and hearing music and arias in the hall was marvelous.  We had a box on the first level--the view and sound were joyous.  I took a photo across the hall--we had the third box from the center on the opposite side from this photo.  Great seats!  Great evening!