Johnsbach

Hello Vienna.

So, we’ve spent a week in Vienna on a previous trip so now it’s time to do some of the ‘other’ things we’ve missed. We started with a 3 hour bike tour at 9:00 AM just to wake up. We were a small group of 15 with 2 guides. You have to love dedicated bike lanes. They make biking around a big city a very comfortable.We took a ride along the Danube Canal and through the Vienna. Along the way, we crossed some bridges, cycled across a meadow and cruised along Vienna’s well known Ringstrasse boulevard. We checked out the domed Karlsplatz Church, the elegant State Opera House and the royal Habsburgs’ Imperial Palace. On the way back, we checked out the City Hall, the local university, and Börse Palais concert hall.

Interestingly enough, Vienna has a population of 2 million of which 200,000 are students. There seems to be a university in every neighbourhood. And… tuition is totally free for all students!! About 17,000 students apply to Med school each year but only 1700 are accepted.

We stopped at the Johann Strauss statue for a bit. Strauss was engaged 13 times and married 3 times. After his first wife passed away, he said he would never marry again. Six weeks later he remarried.

A quick trip back to the boat for lunch and then back to the old section of Vienna. More museums, castles, monuments and BARS. So much fun to just walk around and take things in. When we got back around 5:30 PM (phew… long day), we were asked to meet in the lounge for some important news. We had a good idea that it might not be great news. One of the biggest issues on river cruises is when the river is too low and we can’t sail at night. Then you have to pack up and hop on a bus. But this time, the issue was a high water level, which prevents us from getting under bridges. Anyway, we know late tonight whether we continue by water or land. No-one seems very upset as we know AMA will look after us.Read more