Vienna

Our first day in Vienna started out with a bus tour followed by a walking tour to St. Stephens Cathedral – another church covered in scaffolding! I remarked that even though everything seems to be in some stage of repair, we never see anyone on the platforms working! The churches need money to pay for restorations so they sell advertisements on banners strung across the scaffolding. Our tour guide said last year there was a lingerie model in bikini pants and a bra out in front of St. Stephens until the locals protested!

Vienna is the largest city in Austria, about 1.8 million people, including the many university students. In 1515 it was the home of the Hapsburg family that ruled Austria  until 1918. To insure their continued reign they supported inbreeding with various family members until this plan resulted in various genetic defects that eventually ended their reign!  All the wealthy people wanted to be near the “court” so they built their own palaces nearby. Now Vienna has 800 of these old “homes” that are housing department stores, restaurants, museums, libraries and apartments. Here is a picture of a lovely old baroque building whose street level houses a McDonalds!

There are horse drawn carriages giving tour rides and vendors dressed in “Mozart” type clothing selling tickets to the classical music concerts.

Germany is home of the “biergartens” and Vienna is home of the “coffee houses.” Of course you can’t resist one of the scrumptious pastries to go with your cappuccino! We had lunch in a lovely old cafe but we never know exactly what we are ordering and it’s never what we expected – but, so far all has been good!

The weather was lovely this afternoon so we took advantage of it and just walked through beautiful gardens (there are many acres of “green space” in Vienna) and past many impressive buildings. We even figured out the subway system and got back to the ship!

We have enjoyed meeting so many different couples at dinner - each with their own unique story. Everyone is intrigued by our life style!

All the spirea bushes remind me of my grandparents home.
There was a hedge of them between us and Greiners