I had a good night’s sleep thanks to the cold & flu
drugs CJ gave me. This was especially good as a number of bruises have started
to appear after my famous “stack” on the Venice boat the other day and it is a
bit hard to get comfy in bed.
So we awoke to a cold morning with a thick fog which lasted
all day. The locals seem to think it may snow soon. We rugged up and jumped on
the bus at 8.30am for the short drive into the city to meet our local guide. We
then had a two and a half hour tour where we drove around, getting off a couple
of times to get a closer look.
The first stop was at the Winter Palace of the Hapsburg
family – some very impressive buildings indeed. The guide was very entertaining
and told us all about the fortunes of Franz-Joseph, Sisi, and, of course, poor
old Archduke Franz-Ferdinand who managed to be the catalyst for the start of
WW1 by being shot by that Serbian dude. She also regaled us with stories of how
bad the European Union is and, as just about every guide we have had agrees,
she hopes it will not last and the Euro will be abolished.
Our second stop was to the Johann Strauss Museum which was
also very interesting. The museum was actually in the house where he lived and
had some original sheet music, musical instruments and other memorabilia from
his life.
Our last stop was at St Stephen’s Cathedral, a magnificent
church both inside and out. We then had over 3 hours free time to just wander
about. We went to the famous “Christmas Markets” where we marvelled at the
goods but managed not to buy – they looked beautiful but also very fragile and
unlikely to make it home in one piece. After a while we found a cute restaurant
called Chattanooga and had some Austrian looking wraps with a name that was so
long it almost went off the page of the menu – unpronounceable name but very
nice. Thankfully the menu had pictures, otherwise we would have had no clue
what to order.
We then wandered around the city which was pretty crowded
considering that all shops (except restaurants and souvenir shops) were closed
because it was Sunday. Every time we went inside a building I had to strip off
as it was so hot but Carly’s feet and hands had gone numb despite 2 pairs of
socks and leather gloves so she needed to regularly thaw out. We ended up
compromising with me waiting outside while she browsed inside. Our internal thermostats
are clearly very different!
We met up at 3pm and headed back on the bus to the hotel for
a quick breather before heading out again at 5pm for our optional excursion to
the Vienna Woods. After a short 30 minute bus ride we had (apparently) reached
the famous Vienna Woods. We weren’t really sure as it was a) dark and b)
extremely foggy, but we took Patricia’s word for it. After alighting from the
bus, we walked through a tiny, quaint village and then arrived at our ultimate
destination – a small tavern where we were to experience a traditional Austrian
evening. We were entertained by a guy on the violin and another on the piano accordion
who were very festive and encouraged us to sing along and dance. As well as
some traditional waltzes they played classics such as Edelweiss and Waltzing
Matilda…let’s say they knew how to play the crowd!
It was a very entertaining evening with ample food
(including strudel), lots of wine and much fun and frivolity. My cold is
progressing nicely and after tonight I fear I may be losing my voice…and we go
to Salzburg, Sound of Music country, tomorrow – this would be a disaster!!!!
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