Minu 3 Vienna

... gravity free for bit back down. Lastly, the craziest ride was this long bar, sort of like scales. On this at either end are 4 seats, 2 and 2 back to back. The arm swings 360 degrees like a wheel and the seats at either end free spin too. So when you get to the top your seats will spin 180 so you are hanging forward onto the bar, harness in front of you, making you feel like you are going to fall out. The seats then continue and you spin the other 180 to leave you ...

... one of the best collections of its kind in the world...jewels, crowns, royal gowns - you name it - it has it all...what it does not have, however, is anything written in English - all the explanations are in German only...so -  if you don't get an English-language audioguide - you better be able to read and understand German...







next to the Hofburg Treasury are the Imperial Apartments where Emperor ...

... were smoking, wearing sunglasses, or chatting on their cell phones, giving the impression of Vienna being a very strange place, but one that I would like very much. At Aida, a chain caffe right next to St. Stephen's Square, I got a coffee latte and apple torte. I rediscovered (again) that I dislike coffee, but Vienna's the coffee capital of the world so I gulped it down and crossed it off of the list of experiences to have. After we said ...

... but no address. We went anyway. We bought what we think is a valid two day ticket for Vienna and we off on the tram and the metro. I followed signs to the internet but ran into our hotel instead. The einsuite hotel is luxury compared to what we are used to for hostels. We hae a private room with 3 mirrors, a carpet, bedside tables and a closet. We are so buggered so we jsut walked along the shops and found some ...

... 5 hours on this scavenger hunt, learning to use the transportation system which was confusing at first because there are undergrounds, trams, and buses. Now I have it figured out. We were pretty disgusted and tired with this assignment after our first 2 1/2 hours, but we finished and we made it back. Then on Friday, we had our first German language and culure class. We have a teacher from Vienna. Her name is Frau Ehler. We only have 14 class sessions with her ...

... Dom' and is the birthplace of Mozart and Christian Doppler (1803). There is a pharmacy that has been operating for 350 years (it is so quaint inside but they ask no photos be taken) and also the oldest functioning monastery and oldest restaurant (since AD 803) in Europe! We walked through the Mirabell Gardens, the squares or plazas, saw the outside of the Festival Hall (which is where Edelweiss is performed in the Sound of Music), wandered through St Peter ...

... 200,000 in Rennes! Vienna is divided into about 22 districts which fans out in a spiral like fashion, kind of like Paris. I'm staying in the first district or Innere Stadt. The entire district is a World Heritage Site and cannot be changed. There used to be a wall surrounding the district before Vienna was the size it is today. Its fun to walk around the ring and see the Danube Canal. Austria didn't really have a lot of buildings destroyed during WWII. I might not remember this ...

... wrote $0 for tip on the credit card receipt and left him the smallest coins in our purse. After quickly exiting the café to avoid our waiter's wrath, we did some shopping along the strasse. Not finding much that met our fancy, we headed back to our hotel to get some rest. For dinner, we went in search of a market where we could buy some wine, cheese and bread, but no dice, they close at 5:30. Next option, eat more dessert. We found a fancy ...

... column, and 4 days wandering around the Bavarian Alps. The bike repair included replacing chains, cogs, shifter cables, my headset (expected) and then rebuilding BOTH back wheels as both rims had cracked (rather unexpected, see previous, very short, travelogue). And then it was back on the fully loaded bikes for the first time in 3 weeks! Legs were starting fade, but we're back in the swing of things now. The first problem was finding a route: Africa was very ...

... rooms, drawing rooms, and offices all I could do was shake my head in disbelief that someone actually lived in such extravagant surroundings day to day all of their lives. I was in complete awe, however, when I finally reached the ballroom. The ballroom was a vast dance floor made of Asian woods looked down upon by angels above in a beautiful representation of heaven that gave proof to the heavy Catholic presence that dominated the empire for centuries ...