Leaving Vienna…..

We have just boarded the train to Budapest, unbelievable we are already on the last leg of this journey. Time flies when your busy bee’s 🙂

To catch up on our last day in Vienna-

I have been getting my exercise at this last hotel as we are staying on the 3rd floor and the elevator is so narrow I was unable to ride it, ha…too claustrophobic for me. Mommy would hop in and I would take the 3 story double staircase hike. The free breakfast here was yummy but I’m missing those croissants from Prague. We had made to order omelettes, and the freshest little red tomoatoes-yum. I still can’t get over how clean this massive city is. If Drew or Jennifer are reading I can imagine Drew living here after college. An Art Mecca and he would love it here. This is one of the most cultural cities I have visited , yet not even scraped the surface of, you would need at least a week here or even longer to truly experience it. I feel as if we were here for just a cruise stop as we only saw a morsel of Wien, what the locals refer to as Vienna.

We walked to our meeting spot to meet our group tour for the City & Schonbrunn Palace tour. As we approached the St Stephan Cathedral I realized it’s Sunday, hence why the streets were SO quiet. Once again they are cleaning, hosing down the streets… we make our way through the old parts which I love, the narrow European tiny streets, on our way to the pink bunny statue in front of the State Opera house. I noticed a cigarette vending machine that jogs my memory to my childhood when my grandma Doris smoked, those machines were everywhere. How times in US have changed but not here, many many smokers.

We board the bus, which if you can imagine they cannot turn on the engine until your ready to leave or will be fined $100, as to keep air clean- no pollution problem here. I thought my mom and the couple next to us were gonna have heat exhaustion. We were on the top deck of an indoor huge touring bus with high heat and humidity outside. Bus starts- air on, all is great! We learn history and facts about this beautiful city. It’s a very green city with 900 parks, pass by the University which has 180K students whom attend, 1.8 million population in Vienna and 9 million in Austria…..Wow!

We listen to our guide speak about Beethoven, Mozart, Strauss, the Vienna Philharmonic and many other heavy hitter musical talents that spent much of their lives in this rich cultural city. She describes and points out every museum, building, palace, embassy, hotel, churches, so many historical sites to see. We arrive at the Schonbrumm Palace which resembles a mini Versailles to me. We are ushered into this place like sardines….so many tours with guides, many people with headphones doing it on their own, this place is packed with tourists. It was a beautiful place to see with large gardens. It is 300 years old, and had 1441 rooms inside the palace. Once the tour ends we are given 30 minutes on our own to check out the grounds. We chose to sit at an outdoor cafe , Mom had ice cream, me an iced coffee with ice cream- more like a creamy milkshake, Yum! We board the bus and drive back to the Opera house, this 3 hours flew by and we realized just how spread out and gigantic the city is…..

I wanted to tour the Opera house as I have heard about it and seen it on TV. We signed up and got to see the behind the scenes rooms and back stage area of this exclusive place. Any one can attend the Opera but they had special rooms you could rent for 1-10,000k for a night to have special events. We saw a video that showed the gala’s and balls’s and famous people you would all know that had paid $$ to experience these events. Parts of the Opera house had been rebuilt as the bombings from WW2 caused 80% of it to burn in the fire during1945. This place was originally built during 1861-69. We finish and choose to walk around this area. We had learned a not to be missed sweet in Vienna is the Sacher chocolate cake, my mom gets one to go, we try it and decide it’s lunch time. It was too chocolatey for me, my mom enjoyed it! We wander to find a restaurant while it starts to rain. We park ourselves at a Viennese pub type joint and get seats outside under an awning. I’m in heaven…..the rain is so lovely and adds a bit of coolness to the air. I get a Moscow Mule served in the copper mug, and it has FRESH basil as a garnish, it smells so refreshing and so strong with basil for a summery cocktail in the rain. I had been wanting to try this Viennese sausage which is similar to a really good hot dog. It’s served with mustard and was better than I anticipated. My mom had shrimp in a presecco buttery sauce. We both left satisfied and ready to venture to another museum.

Thanks to Susan G, we had learned of the Hundertwasser Museum. We board a city tram unaware of how to buy a ticket and actually never did, ride it for free, hope Vienna will forgive us 🙂 Stephanie, have you ever heard of this guy? I knew nothing about him or this exhibit of really interesting art. Drew, do you know about him? We approach this funky colorful building and enter, purchase tickets for both his exhibits and an interesting photographer has an exhibit displayed here as well. At the entrance to his, there is a timeline of his life on the wall. I sit to read it all and am in awe by this unique free spirit of a soul who was born in Dec of 1928, a Sagittarius. His father died when he was young and his maternal aunt was raising him, his aunt and many of his maternal relatives perished in the death camps. It seems that his mom was alive as she died later it noted. I have to read more about him because his life story truly intrigued me. He was talented beyond the justice I can deliver without knowing more, he created a flag for Israel and Arabic countries for peace, made many stamps for numerous countries, created so many paintings which were on display, lived in literally 100’s of worldly cities, had his art work on display in Tokyo, Amsterdam, Italy, Australia, Normandy, etc etc….No photos aloud so I cant recall all that was listed. It was all out there stuff with lots of color. He enjoyed being naked and pushing the limits in his own way. He feels we are taking over the way life is meant to be lived in nature with trees and the earth, liked being a minimalist type surviving in simple places. Lived on boats, sailed all over….a free spirit artist. He was married twice for only 1-2 years each time, never had children, and looked like a hippy type guy with a beard. He died in the year 2000 while on board the Queen Mary 2 cruise ship. He was buried naked with no coffin under a tulip tree according to his wishes near his property. Very interesting to say the least. A quote I did note that was on display of interest to me to share, “our real illiteracy is our inability to create”. He had many quotes, all simple powerful life lessons, like little nuggets of wisdom.

The photography on display was also bizarre, a woman capturing the expressions of loneliness, naked freedom, infertility battles, emotions, etc. We exited the museum to head back to our area, boarded a tram and figured out how to buy a ticket this time and be honest passengers. We arrived at the St Stephan’s cathedral, I got to finally light my candle in a church and say a prayer, more like an opportunity to make a wish for me. It was a large beautiful church. We arrive back to hotel , it’s 6 pm and time for an hour rest 🙂 I finished my book and we venture out to the Italian restaurant next door, our feet thank us for not walking anymore 🙂

A yummy dinner- eggplant, pizza, salad, wine. We walk to a different place to have the Viennese dessert and me a coffee. Repack suitcases, bed time early….we are beat!

We can’t believe this trip is almost over, breakfast and another wonderful driver to escort us to the Main train station. I inquire about his story, he is from Algeria yet lived in Vienna for 20 years. He came because of love, I’m a sucker for a romantic story 🙂 He speaks 5 languages, has a child and shares how great the school system and education is here in this city, I’m not surprised. The entire population seemed so proper. I park my mama on a bench and venture around the station for snacks. Our train is a bit delayed. Once again I’m reminded what a true American I am, I see 2 girls with Starbucks and say omg, did you get that here 🙂 my toffee nut iced cold American coffee awaits. The trains are easy to handle, we have our suitcases next to us and are riding in comfort as we are whisked to Budapest, Hungary.

A 3 pm Segway tour is planned, and a 9pm river cruise on the Danube River. Tomorrow is our last tour….a 3 hour walking one and then I hope to escape to the thermal baths for the perfect ending. Until the next entry……

Missing you all!!
Love Laurie Sue xo 🙂