Vienna Arrival and Day one

 Tuesday 23rd & Wednesday 24th July.

Unfortunately have to say goodbye to Prague so quickly, taxi to the train station, Eek - I wasn’t sure where to start, luckily I had lots of time to orient myself, Had to wait until about 15 mins before departure before they told you what platform it was leaving from. There are two main corridors leading to the platforms South and North - in Czech North starts with S and South with J. Got to the platform and asked a couple next to me if they knew which way the carriages were numbered. They were from New Zealand so just as knowledgeable as me!

Train trip was nice and relaxing, countryside a lot drier than what I had been looking at in Great Britain, must be all the hot weather, could see quite a few above ground swimming pools in the backyards of houses we passed in the countryside. 

My hotel entrance was halfway down an alley, which was a little confusing when taxi dropped me off, took a while to find the sign. But a pretty alley with all the umbrellas!


My Biedermeier room is very comfortable, with lots of shiny timber.

Went out for something to eat as already about 6pm - had a pork Weiner schnitzel burger, freshly crumbed and deep fried, was really tender and tasty, lots of restaurants around.where I am staying

Wednesday 24th July

Not feeling that good, seem to have got myself a cold, I did get some medicine in Prague yesterday morning but not helping a lot. I have the Hop on Hop Off booked for today so head out anyway, about 30 minute walk into the city for the first stop. The architecture is amazing, such wealth there must have been here, and still is no doubt.



Lots of grand entrances.and fancy bits added.

A hot dog stand in the middle of the city, not sure what the rabbit and bubbles have to do with it but it caught my eye. Still not felling wonderful so just sit in the bus and do both routes. Past the museum Quarter magnificent buildings 



Imposing  statue, apparently the largest in town, Maria Theresa, and those that were important to her when she was ruler of the Habsburg dominions from 1740-1780. Only woman to hold that position in her own right, she gained other titles by marrying including Holy Roman Empress. She had about 16 children including Marie Antionette I’m sure she had some help with the kids! 

Some more recent architecture - decorated facade


Not that this one has any amazing architecture but I spotted the New Zealand Flag as we trundled by, afterwards noticed the Aussie one as well as the European Union one - when I googled it it was for Allianz - still not that sure what it is about - but thought it important as haven’t seen any cabbage trees!


Schonbrunn Palace, the most visited tourist site in Vienna - Humongous would barely fit in the photo frame.


The Votiv Church. After the attempted assassination of Emperor Franz Joseph in 1853, his brother Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian inaugurated a campaign to create a church to thank God for saving the Emperor’s life. There are a lot of buildings made out of white sandstone, particularly beautiful.



Then towards a more modern Vienna and across the Danube a couple of times 




It was good to get closer to the black building, its architecture is pretty interesting. We had also passed the amusement park area Prater with it’s Ferris wheel and a Pig ATM - I know curious!



The hop on hop off was a good introduction to Vienna, I just had no energy so I got off at a stop closest to my hotel and had a rest before venturing out for some dinner, Goulash with roasted bread dumplings, - when in Vienna -  it was very tasty and tender, but my appetite has not been good with the cold so couldn’t do it total justice!





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