Vienna, Austria
April 30 - May 3, 2011..... 5/2


We arrived in Vienna late afternoon on Saturday, 4/30.
We have been enjoying the sights, sounds, and foods as we continue our adventures in Austria.

Some of the sights include:
...city tour of Vienna
...boat tour on the Donau (the Blue Danube River) and Danube Canal to the Vienna Woods ...St. Stephen's Cathedral, the Gothic needle around which Vienna spins - with its 450 foot south tower ...Opera House ...Stadt Park (City Park) is a "waltzing" world of gardens, ponds, & memorials to local musicians....where a golden statue of Strauss - the "violin-toting master of waltzing ceremonies" is being refurbished, but as you see in the photos attached a replica is on display. 
NOTE:  Tom asking Johann for directions as they both check out a map!
...St. Charles Church

Some of the sounds and food include:
Dinner in a very elegant room at the Imperial Restaurant in the Imperial Hotel, where the President of Turkey arrived in Vienna shortly before our dinner - note the Austrian guards in front of the hotel. 
Tom thinks he came just to meet us...NOT!
Then a Mozart & Strauss concert  by the Vienna Mozart Orchestra in period costume at the Musikverein,which opened on January 6, 1870. The Musikverein is famous for its acoustics and is considered to be one of the five finest concert/opera venues in the world.

...Sacher torte, "the world's classiest chocolate cake", at Cafe Sacher.  The Sacher torte is two layers of cake separated by apricot jam and covered in dark chocolate icing, usually served with whipped cream!!!
...Wiener Schnitzel
...Kaiserschmarren

Tomorrow we head for Venice.













5/3/2011
Today was spent traveling from Austria (Vienna) to Italy (Venice).
We were in the Alps (Austrian and Italian) for a lot of the journey....absolutely awesome & beautiful.  From our itinerary, we thought the Italian Alps were even more spectacular than the Austrian Alps. 


Today we were surrounded by mountains, and tonight we will be surrounded by water - in Venice.






 

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