Vienna

We had a blitzkrieg visit to Vienna. We arrived and checked into our cheapy hotel, the Do Step Inn, which was notable only for its convenience to the Westbanhof and free internet. We went into the city for lunch, where I had a delicious veal weiner schnitzel, mashed potatoes and sliced apples, and Brian had a pork schnitzel with potatoes. This was the true start of our meat-heavy Germanic eating.

Typical fancy fountain. Typical grandiose Viennese building.
As we walked to lunch, we were stopped in front of Stephensdom by a man dressed in 18^th century garb who sold us tickets to a Mozart and Strauss concert that evening. The concert took place at the Hapsburg palace in the gold and white room, which was the location where Mozart played his first concert.

We arrived early at the palace and walked around the gardens, which were spectacular. B seemed remarkably comfortable in the opulence and claimed he would soon be building a palace of equal stature in Lynchburg. Of this I have no doubt. The concert itself was quite good, and had a tourist-pleasing mix of Mozart’s and Strauss’s greatest hits, plus some opera singing and ballet.

The next day we went back into the downtown for a coffee and pastry breakfast, where we were surprised by a passing marching band.
Later that day we progressed to the Hapsburg royal vaults, where we rested our eyes upon the most opulent, extravagant, self-aggrandizing coffins it has ever been my pleasure to see. The 17^th century coffins featured carvings of skulls and crossbones along with depictions of battles, weeping cherubs, eagles, hawks, Christ on the cross, and representations of the deceased.

From there we wandered through the palace garden and stopped for a drink at the kuntzmuseum coffeeshop, and sat outside in the sun. I have to admit, every coffee we had in Vienna was damn good.

Here is B, breaking the rules and risking getting a lecture.We had lunch at one of the bratwurst stands in downtown Vienna, before having another coffee and heading back to catch the train to Salzburg.