Spotted in Vienna...

After a nap back at the hotel, we took a long walk across town to get to the restaurant I’d booked for dinner. Along the way, we came across the Russian Orthodox St. Nicholas Cathedral, built in 1899...

…and some interesting window displays...

…including the lovable alien Alf, a comedy TV show from 1986 to 1990...

…and these crazy fancy walking sticks.

We stopped for a cocktail at a rooftop bar with these lovely views...

…and a selfie spot outside the elevator.

We popped into this church around the corner from the restaurant...

…but never made it inside the impressive St. George's Cathedral, built in 1166.

Is this fellow fixing his hair?

On a much more serious note, the Plague Column was built in 1694 as a memorial for the Great Plague of 1679. 

Like Veronica back in 2010, Jimmy had to try some Wiener Wasser (Vienna water). 

 

Age of the Rainbow...

Swiss artist Ugo Rondinone created an outdoor exhibit displayed at Belvedere Gardens called Your Age and My Age and the Age of the Rainbow. This 70-meter long structure consisted of 100s of images of rainbows painted on plywood by children between the ages of 6 and 12. According to the artist, the rainbow is the bridge between everyone and everything.

 

Belvedere, My Dear...

After dropping off our luggage, it was time to venture out for some lunch at a nearby restaurant I found on Happy Cow. Just up the block from our hotel was this colorful building. 

I can’t remember what we ate for lunch, but know that we loved the traditional sachertorte, a chocolate cake invented in Vienna in 1832.

Our next stop was just across the street: Belvedere Gardens.

The Upper Belvedere was completed in 1723 as the summer residence of Prince Eugene of Savoy. Today it is the Belvedere Museum, housing the greatest collection of Austrian art, which unfortunately we didn’t have time to visit.

There were lots of intricate statues, but I think they were mostly made of cement instead of marble. 

The skies became very dramatic and we skittered back to our hotel to sit out some rain. 
 

Off to Vienna...

On August 13, we were back at Spoedtest in Leiden to get COVID-19 antigen tests for our summer travels.

The following evening we headed to Amsterdam Centraal to catch the new overnight train service to Vienna.

It was naïve of us to have thought that a new train service would mean that the trains themselves would be new as this train was likely built in the 50s. 

Travelling during the pandemic was stressful, but we benefitted from the fact that our overpriced train tickets guaranteed that we wouldn’t have to share our compartment, that normally would have slept six.

Probably not a surprise that we brought wine with us; nor would it be a surprise that we had more than just this strange test tube full of wine. Apparently our train stopped in the middle of the night for a few hours since we arrived in Vienna three hours late. 

Since it was my birthday, I splurged on a room at Hotel Daniel, a hip hotel with a sailboat perched on the rooftop. 

In addition to the giant message to be optimistic above the entrance, this sign was on the door: No Bad Temper, No Spies, and Ties? Why Not Try Without.

We were pleasantly surprised when we were offered free Prosecco for my birthday while we waited for our room to be readied. 

I surprised Jimmy with a room with a hammock seat (with a very funny note about not to do anything wild in it)…

…and panorama views.

 

Potty Humor...

You know that it doesn’t take much to make me laugh, but we all giggled at these two signs. The top directed us to the loo at the Hundertwasser House, which we paid to use and wasn’t as artistic as the free loo at his cafe. Veronica wasn’t afraid to try the wiener water since she knew that Wiener means from Vienna.

Vienna is Famous For...

After the amusement park, we visited two of Vienna’s famous sites--the Hundertwasser House and the Spanish Riding School. Hundertwasser was an artist and an architect who was inspired by nature which resulted in bold colors and uneven lines. This building, containing 52 apartments and 250 trees and bushes, was finished in 1996. We didn’t go in his museum, but did eat at the museum cafe which also featured uneven floors and lots of mosaics. Although we missed seeing the famous Lipizzaner horses perform, we did manage to do a tour of the stables. Ashlynn was greatly disappointed that we weren’t allowed to pet these beautiful horses, but that didn’t stop one of them from giving her an illegal nuzzle.

Fun & Games in Vienna...

When Ashlynn heard that there was an amusement park in downtown Vienna, she was on her best behavior so that I’d be willing to take her. There’s no charge to enter the Prater, which was mostly a ghost town on an early Monday morning. The girls did manage to go on two rather dubious looking roller coasters, so they were happy.

We loved watching this marionette next to the cathedral who entertained us by playing Elvis songs. If you look closely, you can see that his eyes popped out as Veronica put coins in his case.