Oct 7, 2018 - Vienna Day 3

Our last full day in Vienna. We started as usual with coffee at the hotel. The lady(?) in charge of the paid for breakfast did not like me taking a coffee yesterday and told me I could not refill my cup. So today I checked with the people at the desk and offered to pay but I wanted some coffee. He told me it was free and to help myself. So I made two cappuccinos at the coffee machine and got a look from you know who that could melt steel.Then off to downtown on the subway. At the station we bought a pastry to hold us until lunch and headed...

Oct 2, 2018 - Vienna Day 2

Another day of sore feet, blisters and sightseeing. We headed into town using our newly purchased transportation passes and exited at the Karlsplatz Station Which is a centrally located transfer station next to the opera house. The station is quite large and has many shops including at least two bakeries selling pastries pretzels and other goodies. We walked by the Sacher hotel where yesterday we had fabulous Sacher torte and proceeded to Karntner Strasse which is a traffic free pedestrian street with no so fancy shops but a good place to...

Oct 1, 2018 - Vienna day 1

Bought a three day metro pass as it was much more economical than buying a daily one. The metro here is very good and easy to maneuver. We set out for the old town which is inside the Ringstrasse (or circle road around the old town). We walked by the Opera House (which incidentally Denise does not think looks like the one in Budapest) and decided to do the tour at 2:00. We walked on through the pretty squares and stopped at St. Stephens Cathedral. While a lot of it has been rebuilt as a result of damage during the war, a good portion...

Sep 30, 2018 - Ried im Oberinntal

The final drive from the Italian-Austrian border crossing was a breeze but we were glad to arrive at our hotel in Ried im Oberinntal. Great staff, good food and excellent wine, we were very happy. With very little to explore in that quaint village we headed off to Germany for our next overnighter at Friedrichshafen near Upper Lake Constance. Temperatures down to 10C encouraged us to have the car heater on when we got underway but clear, sunny skies and light traffic made the drive easy. Unfortunately the scenery was a little less...

Sep 22, 2018 - Melk Abbey

The river cruise took us right up the Wachau Valley, famed for it’s wines, fruit and grains. We toured the renowned Melk Abbey, a masterwork of baroque brilliance. Perched on dramatic cliffs high above the Danube, this ochre-colored confection is perhaps the most graceful landmark of the Wachau Valley. At the abbey’s entrance, we met our guide. Rebuilt during the 18th century after the original 12th-century building was destroyed by fire, its library is now home to 30,000 offering a wide range of medieval manuscripts. Then we toured the...

Sep 20, 2018 - Vienna

We cruised into Vienna in the middle of the night. We spent the next 2 days exploring this area. We took the bus downtown for a city tour, and a visit to the Art History Museum followed by a walking tour of Vienna. Like all the old cities we have toured, most of the historic city center is pedestrian traffic only. There is so much history here, After dinner we took a bus to the Abbey of Klosterneuburg for a Mozart and Strauss concert. The seven piece orchestra and two singers were incredible. We ended the evening in the bar visiting and...

Sep 19, 2018 - Durnstein

Last night we moved further south on the Danube to Melk. It is a quaint town of 5000 people, with a World Heritage designated site, the Melk Monastery. The abbey was founded in 1089 when Leopoldo II gave one of his castles to Benedictine monks. A monastic school was founded in the twelfth century, and the monastic library soon became renowned for its extensive manuscript collection. The monastery was also a major site for the production of manuscripts. There are 12 library rooms, home to thousands of historical books. This afternoon we...

Sep 19, 2018 - Vienna, Austria

When our tour coach arrived at the waterside dock at our ship, we were pleasantly surprised to learn all our bags were tucked neatly in our rooms for us. Dinner would be ready early and we could relax and enjoy a leisurely evening. We said heck with that, we’re exploring ! We walked all over the ship, taking the pictures you’ll see here. Then, we went to dinner. Ok, so now we’re in Vienna. A half-lifetime ago, Dave learned the great minds, the luminaries of early thought would go to meet at the Vienna Coffee house’s or Cafe’s. His mission...

Sep 18, 2018 - Linz, Austria

First stop: Mondsee ( Moon Lake ), and St Michael’s Basilica where the Major and Maria were married in the Sound of Music. It is a beautiful town, in the Austrian Alps, with houses and shops painted in pastel colours. Next stop: Salzburg, Mirabel Palace and the gardens were beautiful. The palace was built in 1606 by the Archbishop of the time, for his mistress and their 15 children Salzburg Cathedral originally built in the 700’s, renovated in the 1600’s, and again in 1959. It took 14 years to replace the dome that was bombed during the...

Sep 16, 2018 - Mauthausen

Heavy mist stayed with us for the drive out of Czechia but cleared to a bright sunny day as we crossed into Austria. Our first stop was Mauthausen, home to a WWII concentration camp between 1938 and 1945. Although more of a memorial the site did exhibit glimpses into the atrocities performed by Hitler's SS with original gas chambers, crematories, torture, execution and autopsy rooms all open to visit and oddly without charge. Perhaps not on par with Auschwitz it did provide deep insight into the brutal activities of the SS hierarchy and...

Aug 19, 2018 - August 17 & 18

Dear all, Well we have spent two nights in Vienna. On the first night we went to a small concert which was ire ally lovely. It was in a lovely room. Apart from the 9 piece orchestra they also had two soloists and two ballet dancers. The whole production was wonderful. The steps leading up to the concert were really interested. Next morning we were off early, to beat the crowd of tourists and the heat. We visited the Schronbrunn palace. It was really beautiful inside but no photos allowed, but the gardens were lovely. We did the usual walk...

Aug 13, 2018 - Heading along the Danube River

After the disappointment of yesterday we headed east out of the city along the Danube. It was a lovely day. We enjoyed a walk along by the river, although it was too hot to go too far. We then drove along by the Danube and found the lovely little town of Grien . not only was it by the river but it had a lovely town square with the oldest theatre in Austria dating back to 1791. Further on we had a look at the locks and generating stations neat Ybbs before heading away from the river up to Maria Taferi with its huge pilgrim church and great...