Jan 29, 2019 - Sacher Torte Found - Score!

This morning about half of our group took a tour of Schloss Schönbrunn which is a former imperial 1,441-room Rococo summer residence. We didn’t tour all 1,441 rooms, thank goodness, but did tour the upper floor where the family lived. It is opulent in every way, but photos of the interior are not allowed so I bought the book. Stop by my house after I return to LA if you’d like to see the beautiful interior. The gardens were snow covered so we did not tour them. The Schloss and gardens are set on approximately 480 acres. My comparison is...

Jan 28, 2019 - On the Hunt for Sacher Torte

We spent the morning driving from Budapest to Vienna with a short rest stop at the border between the two nations. As we left Budapest it started to snow, pretty heavily at times. By the time we arrived in Vienna 3.5 hours later the streets were filled with dirty slush. Tomorrow it is supposed to be a mix of sun and clouds. From the bus we walked to St. Stephen’s to stake out our location to meet after we went our separate ways for lunch. Diana and I found a cute Italian spot near the church and enjoyed that. Ulli, a local guide joined us...

Jan 6, 2019 - Unexpected Days in Vienna

Awoke this morning to a beautiful view out our hotel windows with just light snow falling on the already white landscape. Downstairs to breakfast at 8am while we waited for our 8.20 taxi to take us to the bus station and our 4 hour trip to Vienna. We had originally planned to go to Bratislava in Slovakia today but after a request from Miss Vanessa it was decided to make a detour to Vienna to visit the Belvedere Gallery and the largest collection of paintings by Gustav Klimt, another one of her painter heroes. This would be a special trip as...

Dec 1, 2018 - Vienna (In Transit)

@@@@@@@ KAPOORS ON THE ROAD When we began searching for a way home from an autumn trip to Europe, we were hoping to be able to use our airline points to fly business class all the way home. We searched from almost everywhere we could think of that was warm in November, and bingo!, we manage to locate only one route, on one specific day. We were delighted because we had wanted to visit Cyprus when we travelled to Turkey several years ago, but at that time it wasn’t possible but political issues mean that we couldn’t fly into the north and...

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 - 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 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...