Vienna: Where the Music Is in the Streets

After the contrasts and surprises of India and Istanbul, Vienna felt different almost immediately.

If you missed Vienna, Part 1, you can find it here: [link to Part 1]

The streets were wide and orderly, the gardens formal, the buildings grand, and there were bicycles everywhere. People sat on benches simply enjoying the day. I especially loved the mornings, when the air was cool and the streets were quiet before the city fully awakened.

And for me, Vienna had another quality that made it special.

Music was everywhere.

Vienna's Quiet Welcome

Vienna has been quietly showing up in my life for decades.

As a child taking piano lessons, Mozart was one of the first composers I learned about. Later, when I studied flute, Vienna continued to appear in the stories of composers whose music I loved. It was never a place I constantly dreamed about visiting, but it seemed to quietly weave itself through different parts of my life until, somehow, we finally found ourselves there.

Oddly enough, what struck me first wasn't the music.

It was the quiet.

Early morning cobblestones

Nomads, Homeless... or Somewhere in Between?

"Where are you from?" the rug seller asked.

We gave him our usual answer.

"Are you nomads?"

Bob and I looked at each other, shrugged, and nodded.

"Yes."

He paused for a moment before asking his next question.

"Are you homeless?"

Again, we looked at each other. Another shrug.

"No... not really."