10 Jul 2013: From Vienna to Salzburg

10 Jul 2013 (Wed):

The memories from the previous night's Summa Cum Laude International Youth Music Festival's Farewell Reception was still vividly in my mind and soon it was already time to bid farewell to Vienna.

After breakfast at Hotel Airo Tower, the beautiful sunshine prompted me to check out the nearby park. I saw plants that looked like wheat. How beautiful they looked when the morning sunshine shone on them.

Soon enough, our coaches that would take us to Salzburg came. The sceneries along the way was beautiful. On our way to Salzburg, we took a break at a restaurant-cum-rest station called Landzeit. I have to say that the ice-cream from Landzeit was delicious. The food there looked good too.

Nearby Landzeit restaurant, there was a spot to catch beautiful views of the fields and the countryside. It's a blessing to experience the beauty of the countryside. Soon, we would be reaching Salzburg.

6 Jul 2013: From Prague to Vienna

On 6 Jul 2013, the orchestra was ready to head to Vienna for the Summa Cum Laude International Music Festival's Opening Ceremony. The coach journey took more than four hours as best as I could remember. On the coach, I was either catching up on my winks or watching the beautiful scenery from my seat. 

I was feeling thankful that the moving of instruments had been well planned. There were numerous instruments on board.

When we reached Hotel Airo Tower, our group merely left our luggage and instruments in a holding area before taking another coach to head for the St Stephen Cathedral. We were to be there for the SCL Festival Opening Ceremony.

As no coach is allowed to park near the St Stephen Cathedral, we had the pleasure to do some good walking along the streets of Vienna after the coach allowed us to alight near a tram station. Vienna has beautiful trams in my humble opinion. 

It was a pretty hot day that day. Thankfully we were wearing polo T-shirts as our attire for the Opening Ceremony. More meaningful days in Vienna were to come.

Places: Visited "Secrets of the Fallen Pagoda"

I heard about the latest special exhibition held at the Asian Civilisations Museum and decided to check out Secrets of the Fallen Pagoda: Treasures from Famen Temple and the Tang court. Here's a link to an account of my visit: Places: Visited "Secrets of the Fallen Pagoda".





Secrets of the Fallen Pagoda: Treasures from Famen Temple and the Tang Court
17 January to 4 May 2014
Asian Civilisations Museum
Singapore

5 Jul 2013: The Prague Loreto and the rest of the evening

5 Jul 2013:
After visiting the Prague Castle, my friends suggested visiting the Prague Loreto Chapel. It is said to be a remarkable Baroque historic monument. I do not quite understand the historic significance of the place, yet it is a beautiful chapel to admire.

This chapel, I learnt, houses liturgical treasures including the famous star-shaped Sun of Prague which is studded with 6222 diamonds. I did not have a chance to see the Sun of Prague. Nevertheless, I marvelled at the beauty of the Prague Loreta Chapel against the evening skies.

When the skies were about to turn dark, we took tram service number 22 to head to a place for dinner. While waiting for the tram, we saw a red car speeding about.

Eventually, we decided upon having dinner at the Music Club located in Hotel U Zlateho Stromu, Prague. The pizzas there were reasonably priced and pretty delicious. This is a place for value-for-money pizza. I would have preferred outdoor seating. Then again, there were no available seats outdoor, so we had the indoor seats. Dinner was good.

After the dinner, we took a leisure walk about Charles Bridge. The Prague Castle that was located at a distance away looked beautiful against the evening skies.