Tonight we went to an Austrian tavern, called a “heuriger,” where the beer and wine flowed freely, along with traditional Austrian food, and musicians played raucous but familiar music, while the people sang heartily and loudly. The musicians, a violinist and an accordionist, asked what nationality we were, which gave them a clue as to what songs to sing, such as “Sweet Caroline,” “Oh Susanna,” and “God Bless America,” which raised the rafters. Several people got up and danced the polka.

Just before our arrival at the “heuriger,” though, our outing included a stop at the Prater, a historic amusement park where we rode the ferris wheel. There was a wonderful, clear view of the city which sparkled after all the rain. What was especially helpful was that there was a map on both sides of the car which showed the important landmarks of the city, visible from the ferris wheel.

This morning we left Salzburg and traveled to Vienna via Melk Abbey. You may remember that I was here in 2018 on tour with the Hawaii Vocal Arts Ensemble, and the choir sang a concert at Melk Abbey, founded by the Benedictine order. However, today we had a guided tour but unfortunately, they prohibited photography in the interior. The chapel was absolutely “dripping in gold” and of course there was an organ which I played 7 years ago. Here are some of today’s pictures as well as some I found on my phone from 2018.

What a day it has been! Tomorrow we say goodbye to some of the tour participants as the rest of us will travel to Prague.