Vienna

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Saturday
I arrived in Vienna about 4pm local time. The flight was fairly painless even though it was late leaving. I decided to chance my luck on the train as a taxi to the hotel was 40€!! Plus the travel notes assured me it was an easy thing to do! So I bought a ticket and found the CAT which is the airport train that takes you to Vienna. That part was quite easy and then I had to catch the U-bahn which is the Austrian railway to the hotel where I was staying - Hotel Mozart. When I arrived at the station I found the U-bahn no problem thanks to a handy TV video on the train but I couldn't find a ticket booth anywhere. I didn't want to get on without a ticket as I had read you can get fined 70€ if you don't have a validated ticket! So I wandered about for a bit and then found an English guy who was buying tickets too and showed me where the machine was. I later found out I didn't need a ticket as it was a public holiday in Vienna! Ah well! I found the hotel in the end and only had ten minutes to spare before the group meeting. Checked in and went to my room where I met my room mate - Helen. She's from NZ. Then we met in the rest of the group. There is 10 of us in total 11 including our tour leader George. He's from Hungary and is great. We introduced ourselves etc then headed into Vienna city centre for dinner. The city is amazing. The architecture is stunning! Plus it has a very relaxed feel and there was hardly anyone about. We went to a little Austrian restaurant where we sampled some of the Austrian food. A lot of people had Wiener Snitzel but I had a lentil dish with smoked pork and a dumpling. Unusual but good. Then we headed to a bar near the hotel for a couple of beers and a chat before heading to bed.

Sunday
Today we were up bright and early and I was really excited to see what Vienna had to offer. We caught the U-bahn into town and then George took us on a walking tour of the city. I took loads of photos as there is so much to see! We went past the Stephansdom - the cathedral - and saw them doing mass which was cool. We then went through the Hoffburg palace, parks, parliment building and opera house. Then we had free time so we hurried to the Anker Uhr which is a clock that only chimes at 12 noon and shows historical figures moving past. After all that walking we needed a break so stopped for lunch at the square near the cathedral. I had an ice-coffee which in Vienna is made with ice-cream and the famous Sachertorte which is a chocolate cake with apricot jam.
After that a few of us headed out to the Schönbrunn - which is a palace which was once owned by the Habsburg family. We walked around the grounds and gardens which were stunning! Then we took an audio tour inside. The rooms were amazing - extremely elegant and opulent. The history was also very interesting as one of the daughters of the family had been Marie Antionette. Also one of the brothers was Franz Joseph the guy who was assasinated in Sarejevo which started WWI.
Then me, Steve and Colleen headed to the Belvedere which is a famous art gallery that houses Klimt's 'The Kiss'. We strolled around there and was fantastic to see the art close up. We then took a tram to the Rathaus where everyone was meeting for dinner at the Film Festival. They set up a big screen in the summer where you can watch concerts and they have food stalls from around the world. It was really cool. We went expecting to see opera and actually saw The Cure! It's all good though!

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Photos

Food
My first Austrian meal - lentils, smoked pork and a dumpling.

The Hoffburg
The Hoffburg Palace

Garden
One of the parks with the cathedral tower in the background.

The Neptune fountain
One of the sculptures on the Neptune fountain in the grounds of the Schönbrun

Comments

[dianne robinson]

vienna
Sounds like all is going well, so pleased for you. Shan't need time to get together to discuss your hols as you have been quite explicit from your travels so far. I feel that I am there with you. Have a great time kid. Speak soon love from me x's