Having wein in Wien!

We are halfway through our trip, and more than happy to be here in Vienna (Wien).  We made a shift today from our pre-arranged tour (really, just air fare, transfer, and hotels--the rest was up to us) to an extended trip to two other cities, and moved from staying at Ibis Hotels (perfectly fine but very small rooms) to staying at airbnb apartments. We took the train from Prague, about a 4-hour trip, and found our way to our first airbnb, located near the train station and Belvdedere Palace in Vienna.

Prague Train Station

En route from Prague to Vienna

We are so happy to be in a large apartment with two bedrooms, a living room and kitchen, and a veranda!  Fernando, our host, gave us a good run-down on where to catch the metro and what to see.  It's been stormy here, so we went down to the corner grocery, got some supplies, and stayed in our first night to do laundry and make plans.

The apartment we're renting is in traditional Viennese style

Helen's room

Judy's room

Courtyard garden

Kitchen

Our veranda!

Tonight, we're definitely having wein (wine) in Wien (Vienna)!

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Next morning, we headed toward town on the Metro, just a few blocks from our apartment.  We had to change our game plan; originally, Judy had downloaded Rick Steve's tram tour on our phones and we hoped to listen to this as we cruised around the Ringstrasse (ring road around Old Town in Vienna) on a public bus.  Note to self (and possibly others):  it's very challenging to follow an audio tour when you are off-sync with the bus stops!  Eventually, we caved and paid for the Hop-On/Hop Off bus tour, which worked out fine.  The Ringstrasse has many beautiful Viennese structures, most built in the 1800's.

Parliament

Vienna Opera House

Kunsthistorisches Museum

Once we got the lay of the land, we got off and headed for a treat at Demel, a famous pastry shop and chocolaterie.

The coffee in Vienna is the best

We got to watch the bakers at work

Helen had to try the Vienna sausage once...

The sacher torte was much better!

We spent most of the day doing our own walking tour and then touring the Imperial Palace, home of the Hapsburgs.  

St. Stephan's Church in the heart of Vienna

 

The church reflected in a modern building, the Haas House

The Spanish Riding School where the lippizzaner stallions live

One of the aforementioned stallions

Plague Column--celebration of the end of the great plague

The Imperial Palace Tour included a visit to the Imperial Apartments, the Sisi Museum (with a detailed look at the unusual life of the Empress Elisabeth, married to Emperor Franz Josef) and the silver collection.  Not many photos were allowed inside, but we found it all very interesting in a life-of-the-royals kind of way. 

Very impressive napkin folding

At the end of our day, we wandered through the Naschmarkt, an open air market full of produce and little restaurants.  

All in all, an excellent day in Vienna, with another full day tomorrow.