Wiener Waltzer

Vienna is a beautiful city. It has wide, tree filled boulevards lined with imposing buildings. The old town area is filled with cobblestone streets that have been pedestrianized, so you can window shop to your hearts content. It is also a city that is full of music. There are multiple opportunities to see concerts and we were also serenaded by street musicians (who were also playing Strauss and Mozart, not overturned buckets like they do in New York!). I often feel overwhelmed in cities that are really large (London, Paris). Vienna is perfect because it is sized compactly enough to walk in, but still offers all of the amenities you could want. Unfortunately, we only had a couple of days there and I was feeling a little bit of “burn out”. It turns out that many European royal families had big palaces that are now museums where great art work and royal treasures are currently displayed. They also all had summer palaces that have beautiful gardens that are now open to the public. In Paris the Bourbons had the Louvre and Versailles. In Munich, the rulers of Bavaria, the Wittelsbachs, had the Residence and Nymphenburg (what a name). In Vienna the Hapsburgs had the Hofburg and Schonbrun. By the time we got to Schonbrun I found it really difficult to work up enthusiasm for another ante-chamber decorated for Queen somebody-or-other in gold rococo style. And this is me talking, I love that kind of stuff! I’m surprised Andy hasn’t keeled over yet. The good news is that the Viennese refer to themselves as Wieners (In German Vienna is Wien), so that helped keep a smile on my face.

Wiener

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Comments

  • Fabulous description. Glad to hear that you are getting the castle thing out of your system, even a history-loving Capricorn has her limit, I suppose. Do these places sell miniature castle replica souvenirs like our Empire State Building does, just curious.

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