Sunday, November 3, 2019; Vienna, Austria
One thing you learn on these river cruises is that you always draw your curtains at night, or else, you might awaken to the sight of people looking at you in your bed just 5 feet away as they stand on their balcony if their ship is tied up right alongside your own. If you have a French balcony, then you neighbors are within 2’ of your bed. If both your French balconies are open, you could easily hear each other snoring in bed. As a consequence, it is always a bit of a lottery when you pull open the curtain in the morning. Well, this morning we were pleasantly surprised to find the sun rising over the Danube and Vienna’s modern Donaupark skyline. We were tied up along the main Danube channel along Vienna’s waterfront, tied up alongside another Viking River Cruise ship, the Tir. If we had been in a starboard side cabin, or in a port side cabin on the Tir, we would have pulled the curtain back on another ship’s side inches from our railing.
The weather has warmed up a little bit. Outside temperature was already 55 degrees at 7am, nearly 10 degrees warmer than the last two days. The sky showed some high cloud cover, but the weather forecast was for no rain until after 11pm. We had breakfast and readied ourselves for a subway and walking tour of Vienna. There were two choices for complimentary tours of Vienna. One was called the Panoramic tour, which involved a bus ride around the circle road of Vienna, and a walking tour of the area around St. Stephen’s Cathedral square. The other tour was called “Vienna up close” which relied on walking from the ship and riding the subway to downtown. We opted for the latter to get more exercise and to maybe see things better than through a bus window.
Jubilee Church, Vienna, Austria
Vienna’s subway system
High Fashion or Fembot spotted on the subway.
We were a little disappointed that the complimentary tours offered were not as good as what we were offered in 2015, when we were able to do a Art Nouveau Architecture and Belvedere Museum tour, which allowed us to see the Gustav Klimt masterpiece “The Kiss” up close and in person. There were optional excursions to see the Lipizzaner Stallions, Schönbrunn Castle, or Symphony Concert in the evenings, but these were all at additional cost. But the tour did give us a chance to ride the subway, and to see the city up close. Our guide did an excellent job, and we had a small group of only 16. We started near the State Opera House, walked around the Hofburg Palace complex, Michaelerplatz and Am Hof square, the Anker Clock and Lipizzaner Stallion stables, and ended up in St. Stephen’s Cathedral Square. We then hopped the subway back to the ship and had lunch.
Vienna Opera House
Vienna Opera House, monument to Austrian Composers
Vienna Opera House
Philipp-Hof Monument Against War and Fascism by Alfred Hrdlicka
Philipp-Hof Monument Against War and Fascism by Alfred Hrdlicka
Hofburg Museum, former Palace of the Hapsburgs.
Hofburg Museum, former Palace of the Hapsburgs.
Klimt Cows!
Lipizzaner Stallion
Hofburg Museums
Hofburg Museums
Viennese Art Nouveau Architecture
Viennese Art Nouveau Architecture
Viennese Coffee Culture
Jewish Memorial, Vienna, Austria
Am Hof Square
Am Hof Church
St Stephen’s Cathedral, Vienna, Austria
St Stephen’s Cathedral, Vienna, Austria
St Stephen’s Cathedral, Vienna, Austria
Interesting Ear Covers on these horses
Anker Clock, Vienna, Austria
St Stephen’s Cathedral, Vienna, Austria
St Stephen’s Cathedral, Vienna, Austria
Vienna Wildlife, St. Stephen’s Square
Marijuana Grow operation in Vienna storefront.
After lunch, we headed out on our own and walked to the Prater amusement park complex, which features a landmark Ferris wheel, and all sorts of kitschy amusement park rides and attractions. It was fun to see the locals with their young children enjoying themselves, and laughing at all the politically incorrect rides and attractions that could never exist in today’s American liberal landscape.
By the end of the afternoon, we had logged over 8 miles of walking, or 20K steps, so we had a well deserved nap before the evening’s enrichment lecture on Austrian history and a preview of tomorrow’s Bratislava excursion.
Dinner featured Weiner Schnitzel, which was just like the schnitzel served in Leavenworth, WA- a bit dry. The prep chefs were probably sore from pounding the veal cutlets into the flattened final form of the schnitzel. We did have Sacher Torte, which was actually pretty good. Even better with vanilla ice cream on the side.
Tomorrow, we arrive early in Bratislava, capital of Slovakia, for a brief port of call. We’ll be shoving off for Budapest before noon, and are scheduled to arrive in Budapest around midnight.
