Vienna

Day 12 - Vienna (September 10)

The sun is shining and it is warming up as we get up at 6:00 AM to start our day. We have been fortunate with our weather, we’ve only had a couple of days with any rain at all, otherwise it has been short sleeve shirts, shorts and sandals every day. After my morning shower, etc., I grabbed the laptop and went to the lounge to update the blog, check email, and upload photos while Tina took over the bathroom for a more leisurely get up.

Soon joined by Tina, Denise and Shanda, we go downstairs to breakfast. By 8:15 AM we’re ready for our shore excursion in Vienna, but it has clouded over and begun to rain, so we made a quick stop in our rooms to get umbrellas. Then we turned in our room keys for our boarding passes, grabbed a receiver for our walking tour and headed out side to get on the bus.

Vienna (Wiem) is a big city, capital of the Republic of Austria with nearly two million inhabitants. The cathedral of St Stephen, built between 1263 and 1511, is the symbol of the city with towers over 450 feet tall making it one of the most impressive churches in Europe. Originally settled by Celts, the Romans soon made Vienna one of their important bastions against the barbarians on the north side of the river (http://www.aboutvienna.org/).

During the middle ages, Vienna was home to the Badenburg Dynasty, and in 1440 AD, it became the resident city of the house of Habsborg eventually becoming the capital of the Holy Roman Empire and a cultural centre for arts and science, music and fine cuisine. In 1804, Vienna became the capital of the Austrian Empire and continued to play a major role in European and world politics. After WWII, much of the city was in ruins but the people banded together over the next thirty years rebuilt the inner city using much of the same styles as had been in existence before the war. Today, Vienna is host to several United Nations Organizations along with other world organizations such as OPEC. But perhaps more importantly, Vienna is the home of Johann Straus composer of the famous Blue Danube Waltz.v

Our guides arrived and everybody boarded our busses for the one hour bus tour of Vienna. Soon we made a circuit of the city on the ring road passing by many famous and beautiful buildings. Our destination was the heart of the city, St Stephens Square, where we began our 90 minute walking tour. St Stephan Cathedral (http://www.sacred-destinations.com/austria/vienna-stephansdom.htm) is thevmother church of the Archdiocese of Vienna and the seat of the Archbishop of Vienna. Its Romanesque and Gothic form seen today, was largely initiated by Rudolf IV and stands on the ruins of two earlier churches, the first being a parish church consecrated in 1147. With its multi-colored tile roof, become one of the city's most recognizable symbols. Like many important buildings throughout Europe, it is undergoing significant restoration and maintenance.

Starting in the square we make our way along pedestrian only shopping areas past stores with names like Cartier, Prada, Benneton, Tiffany, Tommy Hilfiger and many others. Not exactly a place where we will shop much. At the end of the guided tour we went off on our own looking for a place to stop for a rest. We found a Chocolate shop where we could sit out in front under the umbrellas. We ordered coffee and watched people walk by. Just as our order came it started to rain -our timing was excellent! Fortunately it only rained for a few minutes and quit by the time we finished our drinks. We checked out the goodies inside before leaving but with prices approaching $40 for a six ounce box of chocolates, we decided to get a few small treats and walk back to the ship. We arrived back at the ship in time for lunch then spent the afternoon relaxing.

Since we were going to the Mozart Concert in town, we had an early dinner before boarding the bus for the Arsenal, a military museum in the heart of town. Arriving at the Arsenal, we got off the bus and walked into what turned out to be a simply stunning performance hall. Since we were one of the first to enter, we got front row seats, no more than ten feet from the performers.

It turned out to be a chamber orchestra with three violins, a viola, bass fiddle, electric piano, flute, clarinet, trumpet, French horn and drums. We were given a 90 minute performance with pieces by Mozart, Strauss and Franz List. Along with the music we were given two ballet pieces with dancers from the Vienna Ballet Company and three operetta pieces, one of which was a duet, performed by members of the Vienna Opera Company. The entire show was simply magnificent!! The acoustics were incredible and the music marvelous.

After getting back to the ship we all went into the lounge for a bowl of Hungarian Goulash - pretty good! By 11:20 PM we decided to give it up and go to bed. What a great evening adventure!

To see all our photos click on the following link:

http://picasaweb.google.com/mjdolanski