A day in Vienna

We grabbed breakfast from a local bakery and ate on the lawn of the Maria-Therese Platz, between the beautiful and world-renowned Natural History Museum and the Museum of Art. The NHM was incredible - each room was dedicated to something different (rocks, meteorites, dinosaurs, mammals, humans, etc.) but the rooms themselves were incredibly innate, decorated with gilded stucco and oil paintings. B was as excited by the rocks and I was by the dinosaurs!

The combiticket also gave us access to the Anatomical Pathological Museum. This former Lunatic Tower was circular and in each of the rooms circling the ground floor was a display on a different type of disease with specimen jars collected mostly in Vienna hospitals. It was a bit odd, but absolutely fascinating and the accompanying text for each disease was superb. No photos allowed sadly. After all the walking however, we needed a pint so stopped at the kitsch Einstein cafe!

Despite aching feet, we wandered over to the Josefplatz in hope of the final tour of Parlament of the day. Not only were we in luck, we were the only two on the tour! The guide was exceptional, and showed us around the Hofburg Palace - where Beethoven's 8th symphony was first played, the first performance of the Vienna Philharmonic took place, and cultural/social events for the Congress of Vienna happened. The Palace is where the Parlament is currently being held whilst the proper site in being renovated. We also got a sneaky look at the Lippizanner Spanish Horse Riding practice hall to boot. Absolutely brilliant, and we came away with a good knowledge of the Austrian political system.

Rounded the day off at a microbrewery, 1516, where I tried a milkshake sour (fermented with yoghurt, and nowhere near as horrific as it sounds) whilst B tried a ''black and tan" (half dark beer, half helles) along with a cheesy black pudding.

Beer Index (Vienna) - €5.46/0.5lRead more