The original stained glass windows of the Abbey, built in the 1100s were created from black and white glass only. The mentality was that colors would distract or trap the five human senses and arrest one’s spiritual growth thereby preventing one from worshipping God only, not man-made creations. Later on (two centuries or so), colors were introduced, as evidenced in subsequent additions of Abbey Chapels.

The Death Room was macabre; all sorts of demonic-like figurines flanked a coffin and altar.

Not far from the Abbey was Meyerling, the former Imperial Hunting Lodge, and infamous sight in history. On January 28, 1889, a date with destiny, Crown Prince Rudolph and his lover, Mary Vetsera, were found dead in bed. Their deaths remain a mystery in Austrian history. Some say a scandal was squelched and they both committed suicide, but Emperor Frances Joseph converted the hunting lodge into a private Carmelite Nuns’ monastery.

We returned to Vienna via the charming town of Baden, home of therapeutic spas and mineral baths. In the summer, the surroundings smell like rotten eggs from the sulpher, our tour guide explained. We strolled the tiny hilly streets, shopped and drank hot apple cider laced with whiskey at a local street fair. It helped fight the elements.

Sunday was New Year’s Eve and we went to morning Mass in the Imperial Palace Chapel and heard the Vienna Boys’ Choir. They sounded like bells instead of human voices. They were deliberately positioned so no one could see them in the choir loft. After Mass, they came outside and posed in street attire for photos with us. They ranged in ages from eight to fourteen and looked like innocent pubescent and adolescent boys in their berets.

Then the magical evening arrived. The Wiener Musikverein Konzerthaus was trimmed in gold inlaid moldings and the floor to high ceiling pipes of the organ were flanked in hundreds of gladiolas and lilies and pinks and whites and reds. It was the Dress Rehearsal of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra New Year’s Day Concert and it coincided with the Emperor’s Ball on the Eve.

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