Die Oper!

Last night I went to my first opera! It was in the Staatoper which is the amazingly beautiful Opera House in Vienna. Alex is a huge opera buff and invited us all to come with him to see Der Fliegende Holländer...otherwise known as The Flying Dutchman by Richard Wagner.

We had to get there about and hour and a half-ish early and wait in line to get Stehplatz tickets. You pretty much have two options at the Staatoper: you can either spend a lot of money on a seat or you can stand the whole time in a "Stehplatz" for about €2. So it was Stehplatz all the way!

We were definitely the first people to get there. This is looking out and down from our Stehplatz.

The beautiful crystal chandelier.

The main stairs from the lobby.

Me!

A full house. The orchestra is in front right by the stage. I couldn't really use flash, so the picture is a little blurry.

I'm still a little undecided about whether or not I actually liked it. Sore feet aside, the venue was beautiful and the music was great. Note to self: Don't wear heels when you are in a standing only area. I loved watching the orchestra pit, almost more than I liked the story. I can't tell if all opera is like that, or if this particular one was a little on the boring side. It's kinda obnoxious when it takes 5 minutes to sing one line :)

But I will be cultured dangit! I'm hoping to see Carmen and Madame Butterfly while I'm here. I will definitely see another. Maybe I'll spring for a seat this time.