This being a fly by visit we were packing up this morning in preparation for taking a late afternoon train out in the afternoon. This still left us most of the day too enjoy Vienna and we were pleased to see that the sun was still shining and set off at a slow stroll to find some breakfast which contained some boiled eggs which Eleanor was still praising several days later so it must have been good! Once fed we went to the Mozart museum which had escaped our attentions on our previous trip. This is housed in the apartment that the man himself lived in for some of the most productive and financially rewarding period of his life. Having spent some time living cheaply trying to build a reputation for himself Mozart started to gain serious traction with the aristocrats of the day and even organised some concerts himself to help fund his lavish lifestyle. Gambling seems to have been a particularly painful vice, he lost huge sums of money throughout his life and the museum dryly noted that exactly once was it recorded that he actually won money. Obviously hugely talented he attracted the friendship of other great composers, including the very famous Haydn who he was proud to call a close friend. Indeed a lot of insight into his thinking can be gained from his letters to his father updating him on his progress in the musical world where he rarely missed an opportunity to highlight his latest successes. With his reputation secured somewhat Mozart wrote some operas one of which was Figaro. This was a not too subtle dig at the behaviour and structure of the aristocracy and as such didn't ingratiate Mozart to those who were his paying customers. This can be seen when he tried to organise another concert only to find interest limited to just a single person. However elsewhere, especially Prague, this opera was very well received and cemented his reputation abroad. The apartment itself was quite large and laid out on three levels. Mostly the rooms are now empty but the bedroom had the quirk of being decked out in marble flashing, a hangover from the previous occupants. It obviously also contained a gaming room given his love of gambling in general and it seems odd to imagine such a genius doing something as ordinary as sitting around with a few beers playing cards. Toward the end of his life he had taken on several commissions and was working incredibly hard to meet all the deadlines. The actual cause of death is much debated and theories range from simple exhaustion to poisoning by a rival musician but what is clear is his dedication to his work. Even on his death bed he called for his current script and was practising various parts.

A little culture and education was followed by a hunt for a very particular bar. After proposing all those months ago we had gone for a drink so we could both recover and we decided to try and find it again. Obviously our memory of the exact location wasn't perfect and after some wondering around literally in circles we started to accept that perhaps it had either closed or just been a temporal wrinkle in the space time continuum providing desperate drinkers with a place to buy just one more glass of wine. On the hunt we did pass a very nice pizza restaurant with seats in the sun and after only a couple of hundred metres doubled back to take advantage of the fare on offer.

With a little time to spare we went back to the park to sit in the sunshine once again and debated just what exactly people do on all inclusive beach holidays for an entire week, Eleanor was keen to go and find out first hand where as Colin wanted a little more evidence that it wouldn't feel a bit contrived and that some individual spontaneity survives the shrink wrapping. Finally we headed back to the hotel, via one of the many Mozart tourist gift shops to pick up some chocolates, to pick up our bags to jump on train 25 to take us back to the main station. Being cautious we arrived early enough for the previous train to Budapest but with not quite enough time to see if our tickets were transferable to the earlier train. We sat it out in the station and soon found ourselves on the well kept, on time and roomy (British rail are you reading this??) train 26 to Budapest. Once there we had a short transfer time to get onto the overnight sleeper to Sighisoara, train 27. It turns out that our worry about only having 30 minutes was unfounded as our train got in a few minutes early (again, British rail are you there?) and the other train was ready and waiting. Our two person bunk was cramped as ever but had an air conditioning we could turn down to cool rather than being fixed on super hot which pleased us. With the lack of teenage parties next door and comfy beds we were hoping that this would be the best overnight trip we had taken. We certainly weren't all wrong but as soon as the train started to move the creaks, rattles and knocks were lining up to keep us awake and even worry us that the train was about to fall apart. Ear plugs helped considerably but I had the extra worry of the top bunk and not side rail -  any turning over in the night would result in a rather painful 5 foot  drop to the floor. The final fly in the ointment came in the middle of the night with the border guard banging on the door impatiently asking for passports which came as something of a surprise.