Day 3: Vienna...on Foot and by Bus

I'm going to back track a bit with some photos from our first day in Vienna as well as some photos from today's morning bus tour and afternoon in Vienna.

I am not going to include a lot of details...you'll have to ask others for that when we return. Enjoy!

Sacher Torte - a Viennese treat



Nothing important except the name above the door...we are everywhere!



Oldest restaurant in Vienna



Cute Easter window



St. Stephen's Cathedral - it's made of sandstone so instead of sandblasting to clean it they must replace the stones one by one.



Replica of the above



Organ in the cathedral



Some more shots of the cathedral...






Street performer



Cool display in chocolate store window



Hofburf....the Hapsburg winter palace that once boasted 3000 rooms. Now it's home to museums, stables of the Lippizaner stallions and more.



Outside the Hofburg are RomN ruins. The city/country was part of the Roman empire at one time.



Our guide Reinhard (or Mannfred as some of us call him) talks to the group outside the Hofburg.



He told us that this is the balcony where Hitler stood to declare Austria part of his "empire" ... In fact, form several years during/after WWII, Austria didn't exist.



Belvedere - a palace inside Vienna. I think this is the upper palace..



Behind Jane is the garden and lower Belvedere palace.



Gardens at Schonnbrunn, the Hapsburg summer palace. The gardens consist of 400 acres and include a zoo, several fountains and a triumph arch seen in the back of this shot.









The "early birds" in front of Schonnbrunn.



From Schonnbrunn we went to Prater Park, which is a large carnival area with the "big wheel" or ferris wheel from the World's Fair. It was built in 1897.












Here's some of the group...can you see who is in there?



My car even witnessed a marriage proposal in the private car in front of us!




View from the top...it's been overcast while we've been here but just sprinkles so far and a high around 10 degrees C....you do the math to convert to F!



After we rode the big wheel, we headed back to the old town part of Vienna and visited the crypt (burial place) of the Hapsburg family. The tomb below is Maria Teresa and her husband. She is the only female ruler of Austria and while she ruled she had 16 children in 20 years!



Many of the group visited the the Treasury to see the Hapsburg jewels but Terri and I strolled back to Stephansplatz and window shopped and enjoys some street performers like this one...he was singing Bad to the Bone.



We ended the day by riding the electric tram back to the hotel which you can see below.



We are up bright and early tomorrow to leave for Munich with stops at Salzburg and a little town with the convent from the Sound of Music!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad