Vienna

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We all slept soundly and long and woke up hungry! Although it was nearly lunchtime before we left the hotel, we headed back to Stephansplatz and found a pleasant street café that looked promising to meet our various breakfast needs. After “brunch” we strolled back through Stephansplatz and through the lovely shopping district that extends from there to Michaelerplatz. The wide pedestrian thoroughfare is adorned with statues and fountains and lined with dozens of shops selling everything from inexpensive souvenirs to high fashion clothing and accessories. Lauren collected some souvenirs at an accessory shop while Sonia worked with a salesperson at a local camera shop to diagnose and repair a serious problem with her good camera. The service at the camera shop, as with everywhere we went in Austria, was fabulous. When Sonia commented to the salesman that Austria was a delightful and impressive country, his response, “I know.” was said with an enviable level of pride. We meandered along the route to the Hofburg at Michalerplatz. We took in the magnitude of this Habsburg palace as we wandered through the courtyards and took a rest on the lawn facing the Neue Burg with its spectacular façade and balcony (infamous for being the site of one of Hitler’s most notable appearances in Austria). One of the biggest disappointments of our delayed flight was that we missed our reservation to see the performance of the Lippizzaner stallions on Sunday morning. For Tuesday, even the afternoon tours of the Spanish Riding School were sold out, so we wandered over to a viewing area and at least got the opportunity to see the famous horses through a glass wall. Our next plan also flopped as Andrew’s pick, the Hofburg treasury and collection of crown jewels, was closed on Tuesdays. We finished our tour of the courtyards with Josefsplatz and headed back to the U-Bahn, feeling somewhat frustrated at trying to do Vienna justice in two jet-lagged days left to us by United’s computer glitch. We decided to try a quick-hit tactic to seeing Vienna and took the U-Bahn to another part of town. We emerged at Praterstern and wandered over to the Riesenrad (famous, giant and 100-year old ferris wheel). The kids were not impressed and we took some time to sit on the grass and take in the goofy amusement park atmosphere, but soon hopped back on the U-Bahn and went a bit farther out to a stop on Danube Island. This long narrow island slices the Danube in two for a mile or two and we took a short walk to take in the river scene. One side faces a grassy bank lined with sunbathers and the other seemed to be the hang out for Austrian youths to drink beer and be rowdy with their dogs. We took in the scene for a while and then headed back towards the center of town to the Nacschmarkt, which Sonia gleefully translated for us as “munch market”. We wandered past stalls selling gourmet fish, meats, fresh fruit, and vast displays of spices. We took a break in café for a beer, a coffee, a mango lassie, and a fruit smoothie, and then finished the leisurely stroll through the market, collecting some spectacular chocolate along the way from a vendor who was smart enough to lure us in with a free sample. We finished the day off by heading back to Stephensplatz by U-Bahn and then out again in a different direction on foot in search of “Vienna Bag” – a vendor of quirky handbags that appealed to Lauren from the guidebook. We did eventually find it, though it was closed, so we admired from the window. We wandered from there over to the Danube canal along the north edge of the city and began to contemplate dinner. Andrew repeatedly argued that we check out a restaurant right on the canal and eventually his persistence paid off (as those of you who know him are aware it usually does) and we took a closer look. It was a beautiful modern restaurant – definitely a bit upscale for how we were dressed, but they did agree to seat us in the “back room” which was really just as lovely as the main dining room with a table overlooking the canal. Dinner was truly excellent; it was a leisurely family dinner with great food and charming service that contributed to one of those great dinners where everyone is engaged in fun conversation. By the end, we were stuffed, but our server convinced us that we simply had to have the molten chocolate cake and we weren’t disappointed (or too full to eat every last crumb!). Afterwards we ambled back to Stephansplatz and walked a very pleasant half mile back to the hotel. Vienna is a very comfortable and lovely city – definitely on our short list of places to visit again.

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Photos

Andrew on at Stephansplatz
Andrew stands in the middle of the wide pedestrian thoroughfare between Stephensplatz and Michaelerplatz.

Andrew and the Rathaus
Taking a break on our tour of the Hofburg, we sat on the grass with the town hall or "Rathaus" in the background.

Andrew and Sonia in front of the Neue Burg
The beautiful curved extension of the Hofburg was the site of one of Hitler's notable appearances in Vienna.

Lipizzaner Stallions
Our biggest dissapointment from our delayed arrival was missing the Spanish Riding School performance on Sunday. Here we viewed the stallions through glass.

Andrew at the Hofburg
Andrew perches upon a famous and spectacular fountain at the Hofburg, depictin one of the labors of Hercules.

Dessert in Vienna, again
Andrew enjoys ice cream with the spire of St. Stephen's in the background.

Andrew by St. Stephen's
Andrew eats ice cream on a pillar next to St. Stephen's in the area where horse-drawn carriages queue up to take tourists for a ride.

Andrew by the Danube
Andrew poses at the edge of the Danube Island with Vienna in the background.

Lauren at the naschmarkt
Loosely translated as "munch market" the naschmarkt was a feast for the eyes.

Break time for Andrew
We all took a break during our stroll through the naschmarkt. Here Andrew poses with John's beer.

Dinner by the Danube canal
Andrew insisted we investigate this restaurant and it turned out to be an excellent choice. Great views, great food, great conversation. What could be better?

Nightlife at Stephansplatz
Lauren stops to take in the cheery lighting of Stephansplatz on the walk home from dinner.