WEDNESDAY, JULY 3
Up at the crack of dawn, hauling our suitcases, we were off to Vienna. I, for one, was fine leaving Munich. It was nice but not my favorite.
Vienna has a great transit system. Two metros and a tram and we arrived at Wahring, about a 35 minute walk to the city center. As we twisted up the slight hills and followed the streets’ curves, white and light-colored buildings were bright from the sunlight. So decorative and frothy they made me think of wedding cakes. And Billy Joel’s song… Vienna waits for you…
SO MUCH VIENNESE CULTURE
After a ridiculously expensive, subpar lunch, and grocery shopping, we headed to the Opera House for our Rick Steves walking tour of Vienna. The city was alive with activity, but people weren’t rushing or pushing. They carried themselves with ease, and, thank heavens, a bit of style. It feels highly cultured here, and certainly that’s this city’s history. The center of the Hapsburg’s empire for 650 years, the home of Mozart, Strauss, Freud, Klimpt, Beethoven and Brahms, where cultures from further East collided creating great cuisine, a city of castles, fountains, grand churches, monuments, museums and gardens. It is considered one of the nicest places to live in Europe…and I can believe it.
WALKING WITH RICK STEVES AGAIN
The walking tour was a bit confusing. Hard to judge whether it was because the tour was unclear or we were too tired to follow the directions correctly. We kept getting lost. Starting at the Opera House, we walked through the Albertina grounds, where we saw the WWII remembrance statue. Most of Vienna’s Jews were killed during the war. Hitler considered Vienna a part of Germany and it was the first city the Nazi’s invaded. When the Allied forces came to Vienna, their bombs destroyed a quarter of the city. The Burggarten‘s statues are huge; people hangout above them on a terrace and below where a long line had formed in front of the Wiener cart.
Kartner Strasse leads to St. Stephens Cathedral, perhaps the most iconic of many iconic buildings in Vienna. Chloe said it reminded her of Notre Dame. The stone is cut like lacework, the spires thin and delicate. It was built in the 1300s, but Franz Joseph, on top of an old Roman building. Vienna has been inhabited for over 2,000 years.
FANCIEST CHOCOLATE SHOP IN THE WORLD?
From there, we strolled down the wide pedestrian street, the Graben, passing people in sidewalk cafes, on benches or inside the many restaurants. The street at the end of the Graben, Kolmarkt, is loaded with high-end clothing and jewelry stores and the famous chocolate shop, Demel, with fancy cakes and chocolates and intricate chocolate sculptures in the display window.
The Hapsburg Palace, or Hofburg, is a huge structure, with giant statues and a wide central plaza. It leads to what is now the Museum quarter. We returned to the tram, full up with gorgeous (cake and candy-like) Vienna, as the sun was fading. So happy to be here…so looking forward to our next day of exploring!
