I was told we were to arrive in Vienna at 01:00 am. You couldn't prove it by me but I took their word. I'm sure some other people were either still up or willing to get up to see the arrival but I like my sleep. Yes, I awoke to see that we were in Vienna!
After our normal breakfast on board, coaches were scheduled to take us in batches on a tour of the city. Headsets at the ready, off we went for a drive around Vienna and a tour of the National Library. Stunning library and I know libraries as a lot of my childhood was spent in the Library of Congress where my mother worked.
Once again, I can only take Baroque in small doses so while the group wandered from room to room, I sat down in a window cubby and just marveled at the precious books, maps and globes. On the walk back to the our coach, we passed the Spanish Riding School horses starting some daily exercise. That was enough for me as I'm not much of a horse person. Gorgeous horses, yes...now lets move on.
We had been to Vienna before so the coach ride was a nice refresher course. Back to the boat we went for our lunch which was good solid food - Austrian Cheese Sausage, Roasted Onion Potatoes, and a Warm White Cabbage Salad with Caraway.
Our boat was anchored right on the Danube in the city, so once again we went into the downtown by coach in staggered shifts. We were dropped off and picked up at the Albertina Museum. Mainly we wandered and just enjoyed being on dry land and in the oh so cosmopolitan Vienna.
While waiting for our coach, the last one going back, I saw this.
Later that evening we had made plans to go out to dinner with a couple from Pennsylvania who had also been to Vienna once before. We found the Lubella Restaurant just a short U-Bahn ride away. I recall that some of the dishes were more Balkan though it now advertises itself as Russian also. In any case it was nice to have company for an off-boat 'adventure'.
While I recall the food as good, we were talking and eating but not taking photos. However, the walk back gave us this marvelous view.
The Danube and our boat docked (off camera) on the river at the Riechsbrucke.
We walked down the river a bit to get this view, The Saint Francis of Assisi Church. Gorgeous and so well lit. That is Vienna!
No comments:
Post a Comment