September 27-October 4
The Vienna elevator was very cool. There was exactly room for Helen, me, and our
two tiny
bags. People with bigger luggage would have to travel
one-at-a-time.
The front desk was on the top floor, which was the 8th by European counting, or 9th by North America. Our room was a floor down, and was number 22. Travelocity didn't give any details, so we didn't know what to expect. The room was cute, and big enough, with a small washroom containing a sink and modern shower. No toilet. That was just down the hall to be shared with the rest of the floor. Some rooms do have toilets, and we never saw anybody using the hallway one during our entire stay. This makes me wonder is something other than wash water was going down the sinks and shower drains.
The key was a small disk that electronically opened the street door, hallway door, and room door by being placed next to the lock. Like everything in Austria, it worked flawlessly.
As at all pensions, breakfast is included.
So we got to our room, unpacked, and conked out.
We spent six full days in Vienna, not counting arrival or departure. I didn't keep track of the days in any sort of journal form, and so the descriptions will be of everything mushed together.
We did tours of both the Hofburg and Schunbrun palaces. It's fun to see how Emperors used to do things.
The Hofburg is where the emperors lived when in Vienna. We saw the collections of dinnerware and cutlery and such, and went through the Imperial private suites of Franz Josef, and his wife, Elizabeth. We were given portable audio tour machines where you punch in numbers for different displays. We also did a guide-lead walk through of the apartments in English.
Outside the front there are lots of little, horse-drawn carts to take the tourists for short spins? There are also just as many in the dead centre of the city, at Stephansplatz. They provide an overpowering sense of the city atmosphere from long ago; they also seriously stink of horse urine. They rinse it off every night, which helps a lot.
Schunbrun is an even larger palace, that used to be out of town when it was built in the 1700s, but is now just a few stops down the Ubahn, or subway line. It was considered the Summer Palace. You know; a thousand room cottage. The grounds there go on forever. The tour shows off 40 of the fanciest rooms, and some of the private Imperial suites as well. Some horse pee smell, but not bad.
They have museums dedicated to things unheard of in Canada, like clocks, dolls, and papyrus. We only did a few, and only the big ones. We saw the Wein City Museum at Karlzplatz. I visited the Military Museum, and the Arms and Armour Museums. Helen sat happily outside using their wifi.
All of the museums and Palaces supply little machines, that you can punch room or display numbers into and so provide a self-paced audio tour.
We saw Stephandom Carthedral, and popped our heads into another church or two. Somehow it seems wrong to wander around active places of worship to gawk.
Helen wanted to see the Vienna Boys Choir, and to perhaps watch a practice of the Lippazaner horses. How lucky was it to score tickets for a show at the Spanish Riding School that featured both?
There are millions of scenic streets, and squares, fountains and statues, buildings and gardens.
We also wandered the shopping streets. Travelling as light as we were, there was no space for collecting stuff. We resisted many urges.
Helen was in heaven when we found a three-story deli. Restaurants sold drinks with meals incredibly inexpensively; water at least $3 a bottle, and Coke $4.50 or more. The deli had 2 litres of Coke for $2.70, and similarly-sized bubble water (they call it prickled) for just under $.40. We stocked up in our room.
We ate a number of schnitzels, mostly fast-food. Helen likes pickled herring buns, and I had a few boxes of chow mein-like food from Happy Noodle. Our pension fed us breakfast everyday.
The front desk was on the top floor, which was the 8th by European counting, or 9th by North America. Our room was a floor down, and was number 22. Travelocity didn't give any details, so we didn't know what to expect. The room was cute, and big enough, with a small washroom containing a sink and modern shower. No toilet. That was just down the hall to be shared with the rest of the floor. Some rooms do have toilets, and we never saw anybody using the hallway one during our entire stay. This makes me wonder is something other than wash water was going down the sinks and shower drains.
The key was a small disk that electronically opened the street door, hallway door, and room door by being placed next to the lock. Like everything in Austria, it worked flawlessly.
As at all pensions, breakfast is included.
So we got to our room, unpacked, and conked out.
We spent six full days in Vienna, not counting arrival or departure. I didn't keep track of the days in any sort of journal form, and so the descriptions will be of everything mushed together.
We did tours of both the Hofburg and Schunbrun palaces. It's fun to see how Emperors used to do things.
The Hofburg is where the emperors lived when in Vienna. We saw the collections of dinnerware and cutlery and such, and went through the Imperial private suites of Franz Josef, and his wife, Elizabeth. We were given portable audio tour machines where you punch in numbers for different displays. We also did a guide-lead walk through of the apartments in English.
Outside the front there are lots of little, horse-drawn carts to take the tourists for short spins? There are also just as many in the dead centre of the city, at Stephansplatz. They provide an overpowering sense of the city atmosphere from long ago; they also seriously stink of horse urine. They rinse it off every night, which helps a lot.
Schunbrun is an even larger palace, that used to be out of town when it was built in the 1700s, but is now just a few stops down the Ubahn, or subway line. It was considered the Summer Palace. You know; a thousand room cottage. The grounds there go on forever. The tour shows off 40 of the fanciest rooms, and some of the private Imperial suites as well. Some horse pee smell, but not bad.
They have museums dedicated to things unheard of in Canada, like clocks, dolls, and papyrus. We only did a few, and only the big ones. We saw the Wein City Museum at Karlzplatz. I visited the Military Museum, and the Arms and Armour Museums. Helen sat happily outside using their wifi.
All of the museums and Palaces supply little machines, that you can punch room or display numbers into and so provide a self-paced audio tour.
We saw Stephandom Carthedral, and popped our heads into another church or two. Somehow it seems wrong to wander around active places of worship to gawk.
Helen wanted to see the Vienna Boys Choir, and to perhaps watch a practice of the Lippazaner horses. How lucky was it to score tickets for a show at the Spanish Riding School that featured both?
There are millions of scenic streets, and squares, fountains and statues, buildings and gardens.
We also wandered the shopping streets. Travelling as light as we were, there was no space for collecting stuff. We resisted many urges.
Helen was in heaven when we found a three-story deli. Restaurants sold drinks with meals incredibly inexpensively; water at least $3 a bottle, and Coke $4.50 or more. The deli had 2 litres of Coke for $2.70, and similarly-sized bubble water (they call it prickled) for just under $.40. We stocked up in our room.
We ate a number of schnitzels, mostly fast-food. Helen likes pickled herring buns, and I had a few boxes of chow mein-like food from Happy Noodle. Our pension fed us breakfast everyday.
We also found many
fine pretzels and pastries.
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