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Published: October 16th 2012
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Vienna, Austria
Today we leave Athens to start the third leg of our journey to France, via Austria. The Austrian portion of our journey will see us womble firstly through Vienna, then Salzburg. Austria will also be the fourth language for our trip! I am beginning to forget which country I am in and getting all my hellos, please and thankyous mixed up. Most people on the receiving end just grin at me and move on. We are in each city for a mere two nights....but boy can we seem to pack a lot in during that time. With a bit of research the night before...we select the key places of interest for us and plan our day of adventures. We have now become masters of the train and tram networks. If there is one thing most European cities have mastered...its public transport! We arrive mid afternoon into Vienna, locate our hotel (Ibis buget) and venture out into the city centre (Stephansplatz) to first of all find our bearings and get a feel for our location. First thing we notice is the difference in temperature. We have gone from the balmy 30+ of the Greek Isles to the not so balmy
20's of Austria. A lovely relief...if somewhat a packing nightmare. Another point we cant help but notice is distinct difference in the pace and attitude of the city. There are no beggars, no stray dogs or cats and the people are all smiling and ambling around. The taxi driver even thanked us for selecting to take a taxi...and recounted to us a similar tale of economic woes that we had heard throughout the other countries. Poor guy worked 13hrs the day before and only raised €60 in fares for his troubles. Not surprisingly we end up having a Wiener schnitzel. :-) After wandering around the city for a bit it begins to rain so we call it a day and head to our hotel.
Day 2 in Vienna - back to the city for coffee and people watching to start the day. Marcus is a champ and tackles the ordering in German with ease. Being Sunday, we find St Stephen's Cathedral closed for the Sunday morning service and change our plan and head to the "The Hofburg" or the royal's winter place. This area / building is where Emperor Franz Joseph 1 (Emperor of Austria and and King of
Hungary 1830 - 1916) Empress Elisabeth (aka Sisi) had their chambers. The building also currently houses an amazing display of the imperial silver / gold ware and crockery. The ornateness and austintacionness of the settings can not be described. However, not much of the original sets actually remains as they frequently smelted down the silver and gold pieces to make coins!!!!
With enough time having now been spent wandering around the town, we veture back to St Stephen Cathedral in hope to gain entry to the Catacombs only to find the next tour of the area to not be held for another hour. Best plans of mice and tour guides....... Anyway, St Stephens Cathedral is a gothic style cathedral built in 1304 is our first post coffee stop. The site of the cathedral dates back to the time of the crusades, when a "Romanesque" parish church stood on the site. Its the sort of building you expect gargoyles to come to life and swoop down around the people...but alas, they must be sleeping today. The inside is just as ornate as the outside...every-bit as ornate as those we have seen over the past weeks but somehow...it just seems more
spectacular.
Schönbrunn Palace - named after the spring of water found in the area in 1619, was the royals summer residence, which is only a sort 10min train ride away from the winter residence. Its an amazing sprawling place that you can envisage (probably due to movies) the royal court sauntering around the gardens in the period outfits, white wigs and style. The gardens also include the Neptune fountain and Gloriette Hill.
And what better way to finish the day with a visit to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Grave. It is certainly off the beaten tourist track.....or maybe it was just really quiet....but there was no one else there. Amazing! His grave was pretty good too...if somewhat plane in my books for one of the greatest composers the world has ever known.
We end the day with a walk to the Prater (fairground) - a bizarre but mystical place. It was the end of the season for the fairground but there were a few rides and restaurants open. I can see how it would be a great place when in full swing during the summer months.
We have a few hours to kill before our
overnight sleeper train to Paris so we yet again go to the St Stephens Cathedral's in hope to finally get into the catacombs - 40 burial chambers containing approx 400 bodies.....one chamber containing all of the bodies from the black plague era. The guide assured us that it was totally safe...yet the strange funky air was a little off putting.
Next day - Salzburg for salt mines and the Sound of Music.
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