Vienna, Friday

Trip Start Jun 01, 2005
1
4
12
Trip End Jul 22, 2005


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Flag of Austria  ,
Friday, June 24, 2005

So there hasn´t been anything as wonderful as the Sound of Music tour, but wee´ve definitely managed to keep busy in Vienna. I expected a city that exuded decadence and old world charm. I´d have to say that there is an element of that here, but definitely well blended into a fun and modern city. I´ve had a great time both seeing palaces and wandering through the pedestrian shopping areas. Parts of the city remind me of Paris, while other parts make me feel like I´m back in Buenos Aires.

We´ve hit a few historical sites here. The most impressive for me was the Schloss Schonbrunn. It was the "summer cottage" for the Hapsburgs with a subdued 1440 rooms. We took a tour of the imperial staterooms that I think are only outdone by those at Versailles. The gardens were amazing and at the other end of the garder we climbed the terrace for a nice view of the palace grounds and Vienna. I could definitely handle having to spend my sumemrs there. Today, we continued our Hapsburg adventure with a tour of the city (winter) palace. We saw more staterooms as well as the imperial silver collection. I do have to say that once you´ve seen 8000 pieces of silver and china, it does get a bit old. We grabbed some lunch after that and then headed to the museum at the Schloss Belvedere. It was an interesting exhibit combining a lot of information on the history of Austria with art through the past century. Jody and I only saw this last exhibit as Michelle was denied a student rate and sat giving the ticket agent dirty looks while we took the tour.

Last night, we decided to do a night out on the town. We first wandered to a Latin restarant that someone had recommended. I have to admit that we were thrilled to speak Spanish to our Columbian waiter and have someone who understood us. While everyone in Vienna appears to speak perfect English (with virtually no accent), it is still German that you hear all the time walking downt the street.

We had another great accomplishment today...getting our laundry done. When we first inquired about laundry, the "colleague" at our hotel told us that it would be start at €4.00 for a pair of underwear. When we suggested that this was expensive and asked for alternate locations, she got really mad and asked if we knew how expensive things are here. "Have you eaten here?" We had, in fact. I do agree that things are pricey here after the Czech Republic, but no more so than London, NYC, and SF. In the end, we found a reasonable laundry mat a few blocks from our hotel.

A few quick notes on Vienna:
- Put it on your list. It´s an awesome city worth at least a few days.
- It is hot in summer. We took a tram ride yesterday and felt like baking struedel
- Check out Cafe Demel, an awesome cafe with some of the most decadent desserts you´ll ever have. They make their iced coffees by putting Ice Cream in!

Until next time...
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