St. Stephen's Cathedral

As usual, we started the day with a sumptuous breakfast on the boat. Tyler has himself on a bit of a "diet" ... he skipped bacon this morning. Our day in Vienna started early; we were on a bus at 8:15. The city tour started by driving by the major sites with our guide narrating (another lady called Verena, must be a popular Austrian name). Everyone got a bit sleepy during the drive. Tyler poked me awake during the important bits and I really tried to keep awake and hear about the buildings.

We drove around the ring road that borders the main area and provides a nice overview. There really seemed to be a lot of palaces... the Hapsburgs apparently liked to build new parts to the palace over time. The main palace is called the Hofburg palace. We exited the bus to carry on with a short walking tour. The highlight of this was a beautiful library in the State Hall. It was a huge room reminiscent of the library in Beauty and the Beast with ladders and countless books. I especially enjoyed this part of the tour. Next we walked to see the stables of the show horses (none of them came out so we only saw them from a distance). We stopped in St. Michaels platz where the main palace entrance is. They have an excavated area in front showing walls dating back to Roman times. Again, just nothing that old in Canada!!!

The walking tour concluded at the square in front of St. Stephan's church. It is quite lovely from the outside. Interestingly enough, one of the towers is very tall and was completed in gothic style. On the other side, they had planned for another symmetrical tower but by the time they could finance the construction, gothic architecture was out of style. And so they put on a renaissance turquoise dome and called it a day.

At this time, there was the option to go back to the boat but we of course opted to stay longer in the city. Since we were beside the church, we decided to walk in before moving on. Overall, this church was less ornate than some of the others we have seen but certainly still enjoyable. Next we walked through some of the shopping streets. The girls glanced into two different Swarovski stores. No one bought anything but we did see a Darth Vader crystal statue that costs 8500€.

We continued to meander to see the opera house and the Johann Strauss monument. Tyler and Brett scared some pigeons along the way (Brett succeeded in finally kicking one).

Next we went looking for lunch. We went to Baker Strasse (Verena had suggested it). We found a restaurant that was certainly off the beaten path with quite reasonable prices. All of us had Wiener schnitzel. Following lunch, our group split up. Rae, Celeste, and Kelly went for a bit of shopping before catching a bus to the boat. Tyler, Brett and I continued to explore.

We wandered to the Volksgarten (roses). It was beautiful and had a lovely aroma. There were rows of trees with placards and dedications ... not sure of the significance but just seemed very special and important.

We walked to the ring road to see the lovely buildings again. We saw the parliament and two museum buildings. We also enjoyed the statue of Marie-Therese in the middle of the museum buildings.

Next was the Heidenplatz statue and the Burggarten. Again lots of beautiful things to see but we should probably try to learn something more about the history next time we come here.

Brett wanted to buy schnapps and so we asked the tourist centre where to go and they suggested a nearby grocery store. The next order of business was to try the famous Viennese chocolate torte. Apparently it is a popular dish, but only one place can call it the original (by law, decided in court). This is at Hotel Sacher. We waited in line for a table, everyone wants to try it. We each had a piece of cake and a fancy coffee. The cake was quite moist and delicious with a nice tang from the apricot jelly layer in the centre.

We slowly made our way to the bus pick point with a few clothing shopping spots for me and a stop at a comic book shop for the boys. Brett accidentally ordered a burger at McDonalds when he was trying to see the prices. Oops! At least it was still a few hours until dinner.

We saw some other people from our boat and so we knew we were in the correct place. The bus was a touch late but still plenty of time until we would set sail. Back at the boat, we rested and showered for dinner. They scheduled the special farewell supper on our second last night to allow more packing time tomorrow. Probably a reasonable idea. Again a five course meal (or six course if you count the cheese... which I really must since it's been one of my favourites every night). Then it was on with sailing overnight to arrive in Budapest tomorrow near lunch time. This week has gone by fast but I really think we've chosen some awesome excursions along the way.

Until tomorrow in Budapest!!!

Brooke & TylerRead more