Vienna (Day 1)

Well dear reader, today's title was a no-brainer,Vienna, that 1997 classic from Billy Joel. "When will you realise, Vienna waits for you?" I realised a while back but COVID spoiled the party and ensured that our visit to Vienna was delayed by a few years.

After breakfast, we retired to the lounge to finish yesterday's post. The intermittent nature of the connectivity is presenting a challenge, but we will persevere. This morning, because we are moored in Vienna for two days, there was a briefing in which we had the schedule outlined. Today was the first day the individual choice options came into play. We had the morning to ourselves because we weren't scheduled to dock and disembark until 1:30pm. Fortunately, my watch provides with me with score updates of Souths games. Nice win today - the finals are beckoning.

The other excitement this morning centred on passing through another loch. This one was by no means as impressive as the 1am event. After all, it couldn't fit two ships side-by-side. Its advantage was daylight. It is still an impressive piece of engineering and I estimate that the change in water level was around 10m. We stood on our balcony watching the wall, which was close enough to touch from the balcony, disappear before our eyes.

Looking down the loch wall to the water

After we have risen above the loch wall

Onto the bus and into the Friday afternoon Viennese traffic. It was slow and frustrating but it allowed our guide to talk more about the history and the buildings and architecture. Eventually we made the Ringestrasse and disembarked the bus, which had become overly oppressive due to the air con being turned off, at  the request of some of the passengers. [Millennials insert your joke about aging tourists. I dare not because I'm one of them].

Our first view of Vienna

We really like the feel of Vienna, despite the holiday crowds. There were tour groups everywhere as well as people just enjoying the vibe of a beautiful summer Friday. The architecture is amazing, at every turn. There is also a church or cathedral on every second corner, each vying for space and the attention of potential worshippers. There are areas where excavations have been cordoned off to demonstrate the depth of history in a city that prides itself on its history.

History on top of history on top of ... you get the picture

It's tough having the world on your shoulders

There is the usual overdose of gold on the buildings to remind the casual tourist that the area once ruled their known world. Conversely, it also rubs history in the noses of the current generations of Austrians because they no longer rule the world. We walked with no particular direction, enjoying the array of stores. It ranged from the usual international stores to boutique shops and sellers of antiques, to bars and bistros. It is amazingly eclectic and fascinating. I could wander around for days.

The horse training centre

Horses are a repetitive them throughout Viennese history. Consequently, they feature frequently throughout the current landscape. There are horse stables in the city where the stallions are trained. There are horse and carriage rides at every turn. The smell was reminiscent of my time working at Kensington with the Randwick stables being close.

St Stephen's Cathedral is the landmark church and there was a constant stream of visitors. Exceptionally, there was no charge for entry. Although they did charge for entry to tower, but who wants to climb over 400 stairs? We passed on that.

My spire is bigger than yours!

It's always a competition isn't it?

The external part of the Cathedral tower provided more interest than the interior. There was a man abseiling down the turret cleaning the stone, we think, we weren't really sure what he was doing. Then we noticed the ropes that came to the ground. The ropes were wrapped around a couple of very large pieces of stone on the ground. Quite a crowd was gathering, watching, no-one really certain as to what was happening. It looked like they were trying to hoist the rocks to the top of the turret, but the laws of physics said that was not possible. We don't know what happened because we went exploring elsewhere and when we returned the stone and the workers were gone. Mysterious.

The obligatory post-walk beer and some window shopping until we discovered the Pandora store. Sadly, they offered nothing Jayne was interested in purchasing. Then it was time to meet Aaron (a former student) and his partner Adam and friend Annika for drinks and a Viennese dinner.

After the greeting, it's been 22 years since I've seen Aaron in person, we walked to an underground bar/bistro and shared a bottle of Austrian wine. One only available in Vienna. From there we moved to Lugeck, a traditional Viennese restaurant for more Austrian wine and wiener schnitzel - well, what did you expect? It was wonderful to catch up with Aaron and hear his story. It's a long way from the Western suburbs of Sydney to the University of Vienna. As the restaurant queue grew longer, we sat and chatted until we had outstayed our 2 hour booking. The man at the next table lighting a cigar was the signal for us to leave. A lot of people smoke over here and it is still permissible to smoke at restaurants if you're outside.

A very cool underground bar

The Lugeck, a traditional Viennese restaurant

We were escorted to the Metro where Aaron explained the system and the train we needed to catch. We farewelled Aaron, Adam and Anikka and disappeared underground. From our limited experience, public transport is fast and efficient and, four stops later, in a matter of minutes, we were strolling toward the ship in the twilight.

The night ended far later than we anticipated. We arrived in the lounge to complete yesterday's blog to find the music trivia quiz had not yet commenced. Jayne was drawn, reluctantly, into a team and I resisted, sitting on the sidelines, processing photos and trying to complete the text for this blog. A task that became increasingly difficult as the crowd became more rowdy as the night wore on. Eventually I caved in and joined the post trivia discussion. We made bed just before midnight.

Until tomorrow.
Actually, probably the day after, we have another late night coming up.