Vienna!

Tuesday was our trip to Vienna - We arrived in the old town area of Vienna about 10 am and had until 3:45 to see the city! And of course, we did not see the whole city. We saw the palace from the outside and had a quick drive around the city to see the major landmarks, and then we set off on foot. We didn't take a tour of the palace, mostly because I wanted to cover more territory and was more interested in seeing the architecture of the city rather than gold inlaid rooms. The first  cathedral we visited, St. Stephans, was packed with tourists. And I mean packed. The tour buses were unloading them by the dozens and tour guides with flags herded their groups around. The Cathedral was beautiful, but it left me preferring the quiet, contemplative Stift.

After that we went to the Hofburg Palace area to find the Austrian National Library. It turns out this was easier said than done. It was worth the trouble it took to find it. The collection there was originally the king's private collection, and it was housed in the kind of room that had murals on the ceiling, two story book shelves with cool wooden ladders . . . . kind of a Beauty and the Beast kind of library. The only downside was that they had an exhibit housed there which was interesting in itself but which kept you from experiencing the library on it's own terms.

As we walked to the library there were several other travellers looking for the same thing and I immeditely pegged them as librarians. In fact one of them was a library school professors there with a travel abroad group from Chapel Hill North Carolina. I guess beautiful libraries are like mecca's for vacationing librarians. We just can't stay away! The library was the highlight of the day.

We had several nice refreshments that day, one was a traditional appel strudel in the courtyard cafe of the Lippizanner Stallion Riding School. Next, we had a light lunch in a local sidewalk cafe. Mark had Schniztel (very traditional) and I had a nice light cheese, bread, and veggie plate. Our last stop for the day was Votive Kirke. It was under renovations and it was a little off-putting that the fabric covers for the restoration area was emblazoned with a hundred foot high huge Infinity car ad. Evidently the sponsors of the renovation. Still, it was a little odd. Once we found our way in through the barricades, it was a lovely gothic cathedral with gorgeous stained glass. But as we sat there soaking in the peace, quiet, and grandeur of the place, Mark suddenly realized we needed to get back to the meeting place pronto. We hoofed it back many blocks, hot, tired, and footsore and made it to the bus on time. We walked 7.5 miles that day!

We saw such a wide variety of Vienna streets and sights - from graffitied walls to "big box" shops to high end international stores. At once point we wanted down a street full of embassies, where you expected to see James Bond around any corner. It was odd to see the ancient cathedrals packed into retail streets, their cobblestone streets leading to Tiffany's and Forever 21 just down the street. A city of contrasts, for sure.

My pictures from this day are on facebook and I won't repeat them here. On to the next day!

https://www.facebook.com/cheryl.woodsdobbs/posts/10153324526396093?pnref=story