Ok, color me stupid or something for expecting better out of the Volksopern – after all it is Vienna leaving me with a belief that things should be excellent. I should have known when the lovely woman that I met for lunch shook her head and recommended ear plugs and going to the Opera House on standby.

Or I really should have known from the hotel people who raised their eyebrows. But in any case, we went, we survived and we arrived home safe and sound.

There are advantages to short trips including the fact that, expensive as it is, parking at the airport is cheaper when you are only going to be gone a couple of days than round-trip train fare for two.