One of the most beautiful pharmacies in Vienna is the Apotheke der Barmherzigen Brüder located on…read moreTaborstraße in the Leopoldstadt. It is indeed one of Vienna's oldest apothecaries - if not the oldest - but it is lovingly cared for and provides all the conveniences of a modern facility. You can just stop in here for a look or if you are need medicine and are not going to die in the next hour, this is a good pharmacy to travel to and pick up your medicine. You'll feel better just seeing how pretty it is!!

Here is something unusual, a church belonging to the Order of the Teutonic Knights, the German…read moreOrder, or the Order of the German House of St Mary in Jerusalem. On the walls are the many shields representing the many members of this Order and a number of carved stone slabs; a very spartan and petite church. But the secret is in the courtyard and also upstairs. First the courtyard, you can view where the oldest concert hall in Vienna exists, performances are still held here, and yes Mozart performed here; it is petite and charmingly decorated. A museum called the Schatzkammer, Treasure room, is upstairs. 800 years of this Order's collection are housed in modern display cases, and there are a number of real gems like a silver chain from 1500 worn by members. More real history here, more relevant to our world and important because the word Crusade is now a loaded word.

One of the most chillingly beautiful churches in Vienna which always seems deserted as the hordes…read moreare apparently over at St. Stephen's Cathedral or Peterskirche. Augustinerkirche has a spare elegant Gothic interior, the very opposite of baroque. In doing my research, I learned that it was built in the 14th century and was the site of Emperor Franz Joseph's wedding in 1854 to Empress Sisi. Definitely worth coming inside for a quiet moment of peaceful contemplation.

Continuous with the Albertina and National Library near Hofburg Augustinerkirche is easy to…read moreoverlook, but dating back to the 14th century and the Habsburg monarchy's court church for almost 300 years there is a lot of history within these walls. Gothic on the exterior with updates in Revivalism inside plan to spend perhaps twenty minutes here exploring altars and chapels decorated in white and gold.

The Franciscan Church, or Church of St. Jerome, is a Roman Catholic parish in the center of Vienna…read more Built in 1603 the outside facade is Renaissance while its interior is Baroque. Less popular than St. Peters or St. Stephens, do look up for the ancient organ and ornate sculptures including several of Virgin Mary.

We saw the Vivaldi Concert which is held several evenings during the week and it was superb. The…read moreelaborate baroque environment really added to the performance. The acoustics were excellent and blankets were provided on each chair as the church is quite cool at night. Definitely recommend the concert, the musicians were top notch. If you cannot attend, visit the church during the day.

I was very much looking forward to listening to live classical music while visiting Vienna, the…read moreclassical music capital of the world. One of my favorite concerti is Vivaldi's Four Seasons, and I decided to buy a ticket to Karlskirche, aka St Charles Chuch. I'm SO GRATEFUL I got a student pricing for Section I (Section II, the cheaper section, was sold out, but I got a student discount for section I). I'm also so glad I came way earlier than the entrance time, because it was rainy and windy, and the storm was so strong, the staff ended up letting us in early. It was open seating as as long you were within your section, so I sat as close to the front as I could, and chose a spot closest to the aisle. It was an EPIC concert in such a gorgeous location. Whenever I hear Vivaldi's Winter (my favorite of the four seasons), I always think of the Continental Hotel fight scene from John Wick 3 lol. We weren't allowed to record the concert. However, there was a girl sitting the row in front of me who had been recording with her phone, and the entire time, no one came over to tell her to stop recording. There was also a guy further ahead in the VIP section who was recording A LOT. So, I figured, if they can record, then I can too. But then a guy came over and told me to put away my phone. The girl in front of me was recording too, and he also told her to stop. The baroque architecture of Karlskirche is out-of-this-world. I'm not religious, but listening to Vivaldi's Four Seasons here was a visual and sonic feast and a spiritual experience that I will always remember.