To Float on the Wayward Wind

My review of the Wiener Staatsoper's production of Donizetti's  L'elisir d'amore  has been posted at:  http://passionofopera.blogspot.com/2011/11/wiener-staatsoper-more-old-fashioned.html Reviews and other information regarding opera regularly at:   http://passionofopera.blogspot.com/

My review of the Wiener Staatsoper's production of Janáček's  Káťa Kabanová  has been posted at:  http://passionofopera.blogspot.com/2011/11/wiener-staatsoper-review-kata-kabanova.html Reviews and other information regarding opera regularly at:   http://passionofopera.blogspot.com/

My review of the Wiener Staatsoper's production of Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen  has been posted at:  http://passionofopera.blogspot.com/2011/11/wiener-staatsoper-der-ring-des.html Reviews and other information regarding opera regularly at:   http://passionofopera.blogspot.com/

My review of the Wiener Staatsoper's production of Wagner's  Götterdämmerung  has been posted at:  http://passionofopera.blogspot.com/2011/11/it-ends-wiener-staatsopers-ring-cycle.html Reviews and other information regarding opera regularly at:   http://passionofopera.blogspot.com/

My review of the Wiener Staatsoper's production of Wagner's  Siegfried  has been posted at:  http://passionofopera.blogspot.com/2011/11/it-yet-still-continues-wiener.html Reviews and other information regarding opera regularly at:   http://passionofopera.blogspot.com/

My review of the Wiener Staatsoper's production of Wagner's  Die Walküre  has been posted at:  http://passionofopera.blogspot.com/2011/11/it-continues-wiener-staatsopers-ring.html Reviews and other information regarding opera regularly at:   http://passionofopera.blogspot.com/

Hohenfestung taken from the Mirabell gardens To those who knew I travelled to Salzburg just a week past, it might come as a surprise that I already returned this past weekend. I found however, that Salzburg was the one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. I had looked up online the ten sights to see in Salzburg and on my first trip only gotten to see five. I promised I would return to see the other five. The interesting thing about this, though, is that unlike Vienna, Salzburg feels like a city where you could, with some work, "do it all." So even though I got done more in two trips, probably, than any tourist normally does, ever, I still wonder what little gems there might be. It was great to have the opportunity to come back and finish things up, though. My first stop was Mirabell Palace, which I stumbled on almost by accident given the way the bus routes run. The odd thing about Mirabell palace is that, in some ways, the gardens are the most exc

My review of the Wiener Staatsoper's production of Rossini's  Il barbiere di Siviglia  has been posted at:  http://passionofopera.blogspot.com/2011/11/wiener-staatsoper-il-barbiere-del-bel.html Reviews and other information regarding opera regularly at:   http://passionofopera.blogspot.com/

My review of the Wiener Staatsoper's production of Wagner's Das Rheingold  has been posted at:  http://passionofopera.blogspot.com/2011/11/it-begins-wiener-staatsopers-ring-cycle.html Reviews and other information regarding opera regularly at:   http://passionofopera.blogspot.com/

Salzburg! My extension of my Munich trip to Salzburg happened quite accidentally. I had planned to connect going to Munich with going to Stuttgart to see Tanz der Vampire . The show closed in Stuttgart, however, and I was therefore forced to change plans. While I'm still hoping to see the show when it plays in Berlin during the month of November, I am really glad that I ended up going to Salzburg. I will admit that I haven't been to that many cities. Also, I will say that it's fair to note that a really large city (London, Paris, etc.) is going to have good parts and bad parts in the modern era. That said, Salzburg is, by far, the most beautiful city I have ever seen. Deserted Street One of the interesting things about my visit to Salzburg was that it occurred on a national holiday - akin to  the United States' Independence Day. The streets were practically deserted, of tourists, and certainly of locals. It was a rainy (although only very lightly), foggy, an