20110911 to Wien, Osterreich (Vienna, Austria)   Warm

The tenth anniversary of the “9/11” tragedy in the US.

We did breakfast and returned to the cabin to finish packing. That accomplished, we returned to reception to turn in our keys and receive our passports. We waited for a while as various buses took people to the airport, and to Prague. Then it was our turn; we loaded up and headed out to Vienna.

I think everyone slept the first hour-and-a-half. We stopped for a pit stop just before the Austrian border, then went through the former customs-and-immigration checkpoint without stopping (two European Union countries).

The road on the Austrian side was rougher and speed limits were lower than in Hungary. There were lots of wind-turbine generators turning to make electricity. Still controversial since they cost more to run and maintain, but the eco-people love them. Political problem.

We pulled into Vienna an hour after leaving the border and went to the hotel. Very well located, with a U-bahn stop on the corner and shopping at the Naschmarkt one stop toward town.

Saidia and Bing had multiple problems with their room, but we had none other than it being sparse to an extreme. Oh, and the Wifi didn’t work at all well; the hotel advertises Wifi everywhere, but it’s really only on floors 5, 6, 7, and the ground floor. We could get some service if we placed the machine in certain locations near the floor. The room overlooked the green space behind the hotel. Our group of six, Tom & Sandra, Bing & Saidia, and us, went around two corners to the restaurant of a competing hotel for lunch. D & I had pork medallions with au gratin potatoes and salad – just right.

We decided to skip the tour in the afternoon and just hung around the room. D napped, I did computer stuff.

In the evening, we hopped onto the bus with others who had paid for the optional tour to the Kursalon at city park for our musical evening with “The Sound of Vienna”. It was really great music, and ballet, and opera, in small segments over two hours. Of course, the final item on the program was the Blue Danube waltz, but we clapped loud and long to get two encores. 

During the interval, I found the golden statue of Strauss in the garden and took a picture.

We returned to the hotel and had beer with TomT and Sandra, then off to bed. Another tour in the morning.

Owen Photos (not many)    Dolores Photos (lots) 

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20110912  Wien, Osterreich

Nice day, around 80 with a breeze. Breakfast buffet with a few thousand other patrons in one of the four dining rooms for that purpose. Sure wish they’d get organized.

Then we found leader Kalin and loaded up the bus. We went for a tour on the “ring road”, the road constructed when they tore down the outmoded city walls and put a wide road in its place. We saw all sorts of city and country governement buildings, plus OPEC and UN buildings, and a number of palaces.

We stopped at St Stephen's Platz to tour the church and surrounding territory, then had tea and torte in the cafe at the Spanish Riding School where the trained horses perform. Saw a few horsies in their stalls and walked onward to the Palace of the Hapsbergs, Hofburg. Lots of horse-drawn carriages trying to give tourists a feel for riding on cobblestones.

Then we bused again, to Belvedere Palace, with its fantastic gardens and reflecting pool.

We bused toward the Hotel Ananas but hopped off at the “Golden Cabbage”, a building surmounted by a gold orb that once was an art exhibition building. What we really wanted was to walk to the hotel through the Naschmarkt.

This market has many restaurants of various styles of cooking, some souvenir stands, and many great produce, cheese, wurst, and meat stands. I could gain five pounds walking through it.

We stopped at a restaurant and had beer and wursts for lunch. Not much, because some of us having the optional eating and drinking tour tonight.

Back then to toward the hotel. I took some money out of a machine and three of us (two Toms and myself) stopped in the garden of Zum Shwarzer Adler for a beer – where we ate lunch yesterday. Good food and beer in a quiet garden setting.

I went up to the room just as Dolores started stirring – she'd come back on the bus, had lunch with someone named Judy, and had napped briefly. She decided we needed to go for a walk, so we hiked around a few blocks in the vicinity of the hotel and came back to the room to kill time before the evening festivities.

Later: We boarded the bus for Grinzing at 1830. Grinzing is a small village outside Wien that features many restaurants that serve country-style food with the new wine from the recent harvest.

The seating was outside with a musician duo of accordion and a 12-stringed guitar/bass combo with two necks; this player could do bass and guitar nearly simultaneously. The salad was a very vinegary thing of fresh tomato, cucumber, and cabbage. The entree given us was pork slice, piece of ham, small piece of chicken, and fried potatoes. Dessert was a chocolate torte. D liked hers, I was sort of neutral. We had a lot of fun, though. The music was quite good. 

A nightcap in the hotel bar and off to bed.

Owen Photos     Dolores Photos  

20110913  Vienna, Austria    warm

We took it easy today – slept in a little late, had breakfast after the shrieking horde had departed, then hit the streets.

We hopped onto the Ubahn 4 to Kemmerbrucke for the Naschmarkt (market) so I could show it to D. We walked through it to Karlsplatz and took the U4 to Stadtpark.

We saw a great kiddie playground in the park, and walked around in it, and just sat in the shade for a while. Great park. This is the one right behind the Kursalon where we heard the music two nights ago.

Then we hopped onto a tram (Sbahn or Strassebahn) and rode a while, looking at buildings and people. Then it took a turn we hadn't expected and we wound up in a university area. We hopped into the U2 to Karlsplatz, changed to the U4 to Pilgramstrasse and bingo, we're back at the hotel.

We took it easy for a while, then went out for a walk around the hotel. Found the local Spar mini-supermarket and looked through it, comparing prices (about the same as the US). Bought a few mini-goodies like quarter-liters of wine for the evening.

Turns out we didn't need the wine. TomT called and we joined them in the bar. We had a couple before the GCT Farewell Drink ceremony at 1830. Then the group of us plus Judy walked a few blocks to a pasta/pizza place that was just great. We had a bunch of good red wine and pizza. I ate like one possessed – I must have been really hungry. I picked up the bill, since I felt I was way behind on beer-buying. Then we hiked back to the hotel, and packed for morning. Got most of it done, then went to bed.

Owen Photos     Dolores Photos