Vienna, Austria - Tue/Wed

A 2.5 hour train ride brought us to Vienna, the capital of Austria. From the train station, we used the metro (subway) to get to our apartment which is outside of the old town. The neighborhood is known to be home to a conservative Jewish community. Our apartment is on the 5th floor accessible by a creaky elevator.

Once settled we went out, headed for the cathedral area in old town but we missed our subway stop and ended up in another part of old town, Karlsplatz. There is a large park there that was pretty populated with skate boarders, bikers, walkers, and a playground. There is a university here contributing to the number of people

There was a pond in front of a massive building that is St Charles Church, very impressive. We didn't know it at the time, but we would end up back in Karlsplatz several times. We found a cafe for a coffee and to get our bearings. Cafes here have a significant history. Scholars, writers, musicians, etc. spent time at the cafes discussing, writing debating, and reading. The cafes have kept this idea and have newspapers hanging for reading and chairs close for discussions.

We looked up a place for dinner, Zur Eisernen Zeit, and headed there. It was in an area called Naschmarkt, an open air market of vendors and restaurants. Our waiter was an inspiring writer who has published a couple of short stories. We had traditional Viennese food. While having dinner, we watched a couple buy a lot of candy from a vendor. The vendor spent about 30 minutes with them, letting them taste things. When it was time to pay ($300) the couple wanted to negotiate the price. When the vendor refused, the couple walked away (jerk!) leaving the vendor without a sale and having to put it all back. We walked around and then headed back to our apartment.

We started the next day with a free walking tour of the old city. (Free tours mean that you tip then whatever you want at the end.) Our guide was a trained actor which made his story telling quite interesting. He was very knowledgeable. To be a guide in Vienna you may study for 2 years and then take 3 days of tests on everything about the country. Throughout the walk, he have us a brief history of 1000 years, highlighting the Hapsburgs who ruled for 600 of those years. We saw Mozart's statue (he moved here from Saltzburg and died here), At Stephens Cathedral, the Hopsburgs Palace, museums (there area many), there opera house, and many more buildings. We also went past the Spanish Riding Stables, where white horses are trained to perform to classical music.

After the tour, we went to St Stephens Cathedral and used Rick Steves guide to tell us all about it. We also did a tour of the crypt. This was creepy and so interesting. Bodies of the elite were buried under the church. To preserve them and keep them from smelling, they removed their insides and stored them in alcohol in sealed containers. The containers are still there. In addition, there were burial ground for well to do commoners under the cathedral and the square outside. The caskets would decay quickly, when they ran out of room, they had inmates stack the bones in another room. There were piles and piles of bones (including skulls) stacked up. Unfortunately we were not allowed to take pictures.

Throughout the days there were multiple cafe stops for coffee or wine, We were also on the most expensive street we have ever been on - Karntner Strabe. Think of all of the famous high end names you can think of and they were on all this street - Rolex, Chanel, Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Dior, Michael Korr, etc.

Dinner was smash burgers, fries, and corn ribs at Kvetch, a place down the street from where we were staying.

That evening we had tickets to a Mozart concert at the Muskveirien (large music hall). There performers dressed in the attire of Mozart's time. One of the horn players played a Viennese horn (only important to Eileen). All of the music was written by Mozart - concertos and opera pieces - except the last two which were written by Strauss. Strauss was from Vienna and known for his waltzes.Read more