How to order cheap ticekts for the Vienna Opera

The Vienna State Opera is one of the most famous opera houses in the world. To make sure that everyone has a fair chance to get a ticket, tickets are offered for sale only one month before the performance. A limited number of tickets are sold for €10-€30. These are tickets in the upper galleries, the cheapest have also restricted view. But for someone who is going for the first time to the opera or does not want to invest so much, they are really a good bargain.
There is also an option to buy standing tickets but they are sold only one hour before the show. If you feel you can stand for a few hours (with breaks :-) ), then this a great option too. They cost only €2(!) and offer great viewing position - specially the ones on the ground floor which are located ideally for great acoustics.

To get the tickets go to culturall.com. [update: the site is now available in English here]
It is basically, in German, but you should

1. click on "Tickets jetzt buchen" and
2. choose "staats oper" or any other opera.
3. You will then see a list of all the performances for the upcoming month with the number of tickets still available for each price category.
4. Once you know what you want. click on "Karten" in the specific performance area and
5. choose "jetzt kaufen" (on the right, pink background) on the next screen.
6. You will get a map of the auditorium.
7. You can choose to see available tickets either by area of the opera (left) or by price category (right).
8. Free places are marked with their seat numbers and colored according to their price category.
9. Choose the seats you want and go all the way down and look for "Weiter zur Bezahlung" ("next to payment"). This will lead you to the payment process.
10. You will then see the tickets you selected and their prices ("warenkorb" = "shopping cart").
11. Choose "weiter zur bezahlung".
12. You then have to create a user name in the site to be able to order the tickets.

This is a little complex, and in German, but certainly worth it.

Weather in Vienna

We find the site wetter.at the most reliable and useful site for weather in Vienna.
They have a long term forecase and detaild forecast for the next 24 hours. Weather prediction is never precise but this guys are certainly better than the global CNN and Yahoo weather forecasts.
Weather in Vienna: http://www.wetter.at/wetter/oesterreich/wien/wien

Taxi to/from Vienna airport

The best way to get from the airport is with a pre-ordered Taxi.
I love AirportDriver: They wait for you with a sign with your name when you exit the airport, they are very reliable and they are not expensive (in fact, the cheapest I know). They have a fix price for all destinations in Vienna that is currently €28. And they speak English.
Order here: http://www.airportdriver.at/index.php?id=3&lang=en

What is this blog about?

Living in Vienna, Austria for the last 3 years, I gathered some tips which are of interest mainly for expatriots who are moving here and need quick references to some basic things that will certainly will make their lives easier.
It began as a list of reommendations sent by email to friends, but now I feel it is time to make it iternal on the web.
Please feel free to comment and to add tips as much as possible. I don't have a problem giving others the chance to post here themselves. Contact me for details.