One of the greatest things I've found about Vienna was how much it embraces it's rich musical culture, both historic and current. But I guess when you've got such strong ties to the musical world that go back centuries, it's hard not to show your pride.
So, based on my recent excursion, I would like to present (in no particular order) my favorite musical findings in Vienna:
If you take a few looks down every now and then while walking through Vienna, you'll start to notice little walk of fame stars pop up. If you take a close look though, you won't find Mickey Mouse or Brad Pitt on any of them. Instead, this stars are filled with the names of famous musicians from J.S. Bach to Tchaikovsky to the Vienna Philharmonik. Together, they make up a path through the city known as the Music Mile. The first star I stumbled across was from world famous director Herbert von Karajan.
Composer Chocolates
Though not specifically exclusive to Vienna, the city makes sure these commemorative treats do not go unnoticed. Mozartkugeln (literally: Mozart balls, they're basically little chocolate, pistachio balls that have pictures of Mozart's face on the wrappers) are the most well known of these chocolate composer treats. But what I really appreciated was that in Vienna (and probably most places in Austria), Mozart is not the only composer to get a chocolate.
Johann Strauss (composer of the Blue Danube waltz, which seems to be an unofficial Vienna theme song), although not the most well known composer to the general public (let's be honest, most people who don't know anything about music, even if they actually did recognize the name "Strauss" would probably be thinking of Richard anyway), is just as celebrated in chocolate form as his child prodigy Kugel counterpart.
But the most exciting part comes right at the very end. Conducting hero. Ok, so it's not really called that, but that's basically what it is. You get to direct the Vienna Philharmonic through playing one of three different pieces. The best part is, the orchestra really follows your command. It slows down and speeds up depending on your conducting. If you go too fast, the strings start smoking before the orchestra stops and a violin player yells at you for being the worst conductor ever (not even kidding!). Unfortunately I didn't have time to wait to take a try, but I was glad to see this exists!
Ok, technically it's a "walk up" opera (I was just going for the poetic parallel to a drive in theater). This was by far my #1 favorite musical finding in Vienna. Outside the main Opera House, a large screen displays live feed of the opera being played inside. The huge screen and incredible sound (not to mention the whole, it's completely free thing), had already drawn a large crowd by the time we stumbled upon a public viewing of Wagner's Parsifal on our first night. People had brought chairs and blankets and picnics. Some you could tell had come for the whole show, while others (like us) were just caught walking by and drawn in. From what I could tell they do live public showings of every opera, weather permitting. I'm pretty sure I would be out there almost every day if I lived in Vienna.
So, based on my recent excursion, I would like to present (in no particular order) my favorite musical findings in Vienna:
the Music Mile
If you take a few looks down every now and then while walking through Vienna, you'll start to notice little walk of fame stars pop up. If you take a close look though, you won't find Mickey Mouse or Brad Pitt on any of them. Instead, this stars are filled with the names of famous musicians from J.S. Bach to Tchaikovsky to the Vienna Philharmonik. Together, they make up a path through the city known as the Music Mile. The first star I stumbled across was from world famous director Herbert von Karajan. Composer Chocolates
Though not specifically exclusive to Vienna, the city makes sure these commemorative treats do not go unnoticed. Mozartkugeln (literally: Mozart balls, they're basically little chocolate, pistachio balls that have pictures of Mozart's face on the wrappers) are the most well known of these chocolate composer treats. But what I really appreciated was that in Vienna (and probably most places in Austria), Mozart is not the only composer to get a chocolate.
Johann Strauss (composer of the Blue Danube waltz, which seems to be an unofficial Vienna theme song), although not the most well known composer to the general public (let's be honest, most people who don't know anything about music, even if they actually did recognize the name "Strauss" would probably be thinking of Richard anyway), is just as celebrated in chocolate form as his child prodigy Kugel counterpart. Conducting Hero
On our last day in Vienna, I wandered off to the museum Haus der Musik (House of Music). First of all, I would definitely recommend this museum to anyone who is visiting Vienna, whether you're a music enthusiast or not (and plan to spend at least 2 hours there). The museum contains exhibitions on the Vienna Philharmonic, famous composer (both Austrian and not), and a large portion dedicated to production and perception of sound (like I said, cool even if you're not into music). 
But the most exciting part comes right at the very end. Conducting hero. Ok, so it's not really called that, but that's basically what it is. You get to direct the Vienna Philharmonic through playing one of three different pieces. The best part is, the orchestra really follows your command. It slows down and speeds up depending on your conducting. If you go too fast, the strings start smoking before the orchestra stops and a violin player yells at you for being the worst conductor ever (not even kidding!). Unfortunately I didn't have time to wait to take a try, but I was glad to see this exists! The drive in opera
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