Vienna: Last Stroll; Last Café

Leaving the National Library of Austria, we decided to go for one last stroll in Vienna … with a purpose. We wanted to have one last coffee break before heading home to the Longship Rinda.

Our steps took us towards Stephanplatz, and from there we found a café hidden on a side street … Leopold Hawelka. Our Viking Program Director had highly recommended the place, describing it as a coffee house with a “less touristy and more local vibe.” Our table mates at dinner last night had concurred with that recommendation. They were all correct in that respect. Unfortunately, we have to give it a thumbs down.

It wasn’t the lack of a greeting that soured our experience. Rather it was the service. For one thing, we had a hard time getting the attention of a waiter to place our order … we just wanted a couple of traditional hot chocolates. When the drinks finally came, they were tepid. And then we had a hard time flagging down a waiter to ask for our check. After 10 minutes of this, Mui gave up and went to the bar to pay for our drinks. Nope, no tip was included … none was deserved. Not the way we wanted to wrap up our time in Vienna. But it is what it is.

On that note, we walked back to Stephanplatz and caught the U1 metro back to the port. We arrived at the Rinda a little before 6:00p, which gave us time to drop off our stuff and go to the briefing for tomorrow.

The captain expects to arrive in Bratislava around 6:00a. Unfortunately, it will be a short day in port. But at least we will be docked in the heart of town, so we can make good use of the extra hour we will have before the all aboard at 11:30a. Rinda is then scheduled to depart for Budapest. Why such a short day? The captain wants to get us to Budapest before 11:00p to see the “city landmarks a-twinkle.”

Two new-to-us cities and two new-to-us countries await us tomorrow.Read more