Posts Tagged With: Vienna Austria

In Budapest on September 24

Thursday and Friday September 22-23 we were in Vienna, Austria. The morning excursion was a combination bus and walking tour that provided an orientation to Vienna.

The tour guide gave a history of Austria with a heavy focus on the Hapsburg dynasty and WWII. All of our tours have been quite candid about the horrors committed during WWII especially against the Jewish community in each town.

Vienna is a major metropolitan area with a high density, unlike much of the U. S. This density produces a vibrant active street scene with little car parking for the mass of 5-7 story buildings lining the roads. The architectural styles are quite attractive and pleasing to the eye.

Of course the palace and surrounding historical buildings of the Hapsburg dynasty are overwhelming. The opulence and massive structures draw your eyes in 360 degrees to try to absorb it all. One tour only gives you an overview, it was impossible to fully grasp the background and function of each building.

Our tour took us around the magnificent Hapsburg Palace, the winter home of the Hapsburg and inside St. Stephen’s Cathedral. We were able to get a brief glimpse of the Spanish Riding School and its Lipizzaner horses which are inside the palace grounds.

The Magni was docked on the Danube in Vienna, downtown but not next to the palace and museum area. In the afternoon we walked along the Danube admiring the view and amazed at the number of cruise ships present. Viking alone had six.

The Hapsburgs had a winter palace which we saw Thursday. On Friday we drove to their summer palace, Schonbrunn Palace. When the Hapsburg’s gave up the throne after WWI, the palaces became the property of the state. We only saw about 20 of the over 1400 rooms and got a glimpse of the huge gardens with its flowers, woods, lawns, sculptures and fountains. No pictures inside of course. The zoo and maze were another portion of the grounds we did not even consider trying to see. When you are on a tour, you follow their schedule.

We returned to our ship for a late lunch since one of the passengers got lost and we left without him after waiting an extra 15-20 minutes. His wife and another couple stayed behind and were able to locate him and make it back to the ship before departure.

As we cruised to Budapest, we went through another lock on the Danube. This time it was daylight and I took a few pictures. The lock had two chambers, each holding two cruise ships, one lock had two ships coming up the Danube while our lock held another Viking longship also headed got Budapest. It was a little tight but both ships fit in the one lock chamber.

Ed and Chris