Vienna - First Visit

No matter which way this itinerary had worked out, we would be in Vienna three times over this trip - once to arrive, a second time in between the cruises, and a third time as part of the Tauck trip. That hasn't changed.

This first couple of days we were staying at the Park Hyatt Vienna, which is only about a 10 minute walk from St. Stephan's Cathedral, the 'Dom' or seat of the bishop, in Vienna and one of its most recognized landmarks. The hotel was originally a bank building, and they have kept up the theme, making use of the various components of the old bank in some interesting ways.

The lobby area

Restaurant with 'The Bank'  bar in the background. The bar menu
is made up to look like graphs and charts, and the names of
the drinks are really inventive. Monica had a 'Frozen Account'!

Ultimate open kitchen. The restaurant used to be
the main banking floor.

And the pool!! It is part of the spa and used to be
the treasury. As Larry says, it's still where they
store the 'liquid' assets!!!

The restaurant was also very good - the Wiener Schnitzel was delicious, on par with what Monica makes at home! And we had a Viennese version of a classic Austrian dessert, Nockerln. This is a quenelle, or small dumpling made from a cheese curd mixture and poached, in this case also rolled in poppy seeds and served with a vanilla sauce and poached spiced plums. Yummy!! This is completely different from the Salzburg version as you will see later.

We had about a day and a half to tour around and get our bearings. The old part of the city is easy to get around, since much of it has been turned into a pedestrian area. It didn't take more than 5 minutes to get to Hofburg Palace, or 15 minutes to the Hotel Sacher. As we often do, we took a Hop On - Hop Off tour of the central part of the city as well. Some of our more interesting views:

What else can we say??

Sacher Torte at the Cafe Mozart. It doesn't have the name written
on the top because the Cafe, despite being attached to the hotel,
isn't part of it. The Cafe Sacher in the hotel is the only place to get that; but
the lineup to get in was far too long, and the cake is the same anyway.

Maria Theresia's Palace with its beautiful
sculpted gardens

A  corner of Hofburg Palace, complete
with fiacre, or carriage. These
are still very popular; there are even
some where you can ride and have a proper
breakfast at the same time!

The Prater Park, world famous amusement park
that was opened in the late 1800s. This ferris
wheel, with wooden enclosed gondolas, was
built in the 1890s.

The park is much bigger than just rides; there are lots of
restaurants and shops as well. It is still a very popular
place to go for both locals and visitors.

And of course, to rub salt in the wound, as they say, one of the stops on the bus tour had to be the riverside and the cruise terminal! Look closely and you will see tied to the pier, Crystal Mozart. So close, and yet so far!!! Oh, well, we'll have to find another itinerary we like - possibly earlier in the year to avoid low water issues!

The 'side Danube' that was created by making the island on the left.
The Danube has been redirected a bit, as flooding would cause
a lot of damage. Part of the island has been created as a water
management area for 'safe flooding'.

Coming back across to the old city, there's lots of
activity along the waterfront between the island the main
part of the city.

We'll have to try to get some better photos next time we're in Vienna. Using a phone camera from the top of a double-decker bus is never the best way to take pictures!

Vienna was the European capital of fine arts, and especially music, for many years. Just in our walking and the bus tour, we passed buildings that were associated with all of these major composers:

Johann Strauss II who lived here all his life

Ludwig van Beethoven who lived here his last years and died here

Frederic Chopin who lived here off and on for a few years

Antonin Vivaldi who lived in the building of the Hotel Sacher for 3 years

Joseph Haydn whose home has been turned into a museum

Any way to get some of that talent to rub off???

When we come back in 10 days we will be staying at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel, which is on the edge of the central city, closer to some other points of interest.

Next stop: Salzburg, where the weather forecast isn't so great. But then that depends on your point of view. Since they've had barely any rain all summer and need it desperately, we can't complain too much; as long as it doesn't rain the whole time and all day!!