Day 26 Vienna your day

We started the day with Mass at St. Stephen’s Cathedral. The priest was very old, walking with a cane and being helped by his assistant. It was a very peaceful way to start the morning. The best ways to experience one of these huge old cathedrals is actually to go to Mass — you can sit quietly and really take the place in.

Afterward we did a walking tour through central Vienna. Two things really stuck with us. At the Imperial Crypt we heard the story of the Habsburg funeral ritual: they knock and announce the dead person with all of his royal titles, and the monk says he doesn’t know him. Finally they say, “a poor sinner,” and the door opens. Then at St. Stephen’s we learned that the columns beside the entrance actually have carvings of male and female genitalia. Nobody seems to know for certain why they’re there, but once the guide pointed them out, there they were.

Later we took the subway out to Schönbrunn, the former summer palace of the Habsburgs, the royal family that ruled Austria for centuries, and toured the enormous formal gardens.

For our last dinner we ended up at the Prater, Vienna’s enormous public park with a huge old amusement-park area, sharing a giant schnitzel and a couple beers while the rides ran and people streamed past our table. I told Gigi it felt like we were eating in the Austrian section of Disney World — except this was the real Austria and the food cost about a third as much. I had pictured white tablecloths and a fancy last dinner in Vienna, but we both decided the giant schnitzel, grumpy waitress and people-watching were much more our style.

Back at the hotel now, panniers packed, alarm set for 05:00 am. Time to get back into the touring routine. Copenhagen is about 2 weeks away.Read more