I Love Vienna - Day 2

Our second day in Vienna, Saturday, September 21, was very special. We toured the Spanish Riding School, which is located in the Hofburg. Can you imagine a magnificent structure like this housing animals?

But, then, these aren't "just" animals. These are the Lipizzaner Stallions - equally magnificent as their home.

Of course, I had seen these beautiful horses performing, on TV. But I didn't really know much about them. Our tour guide filled us in on the history of the Lipizzaners, and the customs of the Spanish Riding School.

We were allowed to take photos of the horses, from outside the stables, with their heads looking through. But when we actually walked through the stables, we were prohibited from taking pictures or touching the horses. You can't imagine how difficult it was to restrain my hands! They slooked at me and seemed to be begging me to pet their soft muzzles. But I complied with the rules. (I did speak softly to a couple of them.)

One of the stallions - full-blooded Lipizzaner - was brown, instead of white. Our guide explained that the horses are all born black, gray or brown, and turn white as they age. This particular one, along with two others that the Spanish Riding School has, will stay dark. He told us that having a dark Lipizzaner in the stables is considered good luck. The stallion, despite his different color, participates and performs in everything the others do.

We also learned about the riders and the training. The horses are trained according to their personality, therefore a more high-spirited stallion would be trained in jumping, rather than the more disciplined dressage.

We also got to view the tack room, which was beautiful in itself! Every horse and rider has a saddle that is custom fitted to them. As you can see, each saddle and each bridle is identified, by a plaque on the wall, with the horse's name. Each horse is given two names - the first being the line of the sire, and the second being the name of the dam.

This is a picture of the Winter Riding School, where exercise sessions and performances take place.

And this is the Summer Riding School, with one of the world's largest oval horse walkers.

We still had a little time, after our tour of the stables. While I visited a few more shops, Dan sat on a bench, outside the Hofburg, and struck up a conversation with a local Viennese man, who could speak some English.

Dan and Norbert

When I returned, this man named Norbert, told us the story of this modern bank building, the Raiffeisenbank, which stands across from the Hofburg, with all of its glorious Baroque architecture. Apparently there was a lot of controversy when this building, known as Looshaus, was built - such a modern, plain structure, right in the heart of the old, historic city. Norbert told us the people called it a house without eyebrows! I just looked it up on Wikipedia, and enjoyed this quote: "It was said that Emperor Franz Joseph had not only avoided passing next to Looshaus for the rest of his life by using the exit at Michaelerplatz, but also had to leave the windows of the Hofburg nailed so that he did not have to see the "hideous" house anymore." (I thought it was quite charming, in its more modern way.)

Looshaus

Back aboard ship, later in the afternoon, we enjoyed an on-board dance performance of the two dancers who had been part of last night's performance at the Palace Lichtenstein. They danced for us and persuaded a number of people to come forward and take some waltz lessons. 

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I Love Vienna! - Day 1

Friday, September 20, we looked out our cabin balcony to see dawn breaking on Vienna. These are some modern skyscrapers, all built since the 1970s. Later I would learn that the building with the "wavy" profile is the DC Tower. It is the tallest building in all of Austria, and it was built to simulate the waves of the Danube.

We would spend two days in Vienna. This morning we had signed up for a city tour, and in the evening we would attend a concert. Dan's cold was even worse today, but he was absolutely determined to attend the evening concert, so he stayed home that morning.

I went ahead with the morning tour, sticking with Lee and Jo for most of the day. Vienna is BEAUTIFUL! I recently read the book (and saw the movie), The Lady in Gold, about the Klimt painting o f Adele Bloch-Bauer, so was excited when I saw places I recognized from the book, such as the Ringstrasse and the Vienna Secession art building. The Vienna Secession was the start of modern art in Austria, and Gustav Klimt was a leader in this movement, challenging conventional art ideas.

The Vienna Secession building

Here are a few other street scenes of this marvelous city.

We spent quite a lot of time at two major sites: The Hofburg and St. Stephen's Cathedral. 

The Hofburg is the former imperial palace of the Habsburg dynasty, and now serves as the official residence and workplace of the President of Austria. At the center of the Hofburg is Heroes' Square. Our tour guide also pointed out the entrance to the place where the Vienna Boys' Choir practices. I would have loved to have heard them sing! The Spanish Riding School is also located in the Hofburg, as are the stables for the Lipizzaner stallions, which we would tour on our second day in Vienna.

St. Stephen's is the most important religious building in Vienna and is easily recognizable because of its extremely tall south tower and its multi-colored tile roof.

As time was running out on our walking tour, we had an interesting interaction with a sidewalk cafe server near St. Stephen's. Five of us sat down to order some refreshments - Lee, Jo, an Englishman named Peter, his wife and I. It was then that I realized that our small stash of Euros was on board ship, in Dan's wallet, so I decided to just sit with the others and visit while they ate and drank. The waiter came and took an order from Lee, Jo and Peter's wife, and then it was my turn. I said I wouldn't be ordering anything, and the waiter said, "Then LEAVE! You must leave!" Thinking maybe I could redeem myself, I said, "I'm happy to place an order if you accept credit cards." "No cards. Only Euros. You'll have to LEAVE," he repeated. As I stood up, totally embarrassed, to move away from my party, Lee spoke up, saying that he had planned to pay with a credit card, as well. (Up until now we'd used our Visa everywhere, by the way, without any problems.) Swinging his arm up and pointing away from the table, the waiter ordered all of us, "LEAVE, You must all leave!" I've had so many "firsts" on this trip, and this was another ... the first time I've ever been "evicted" from a cafe. Ha ha.

Returning to the ship, I found that Dan was feeling some better, and was still certain that he was going to attend the evening concert at the Garden Palace Liechtenstein. So after dinner we got ready to go. It was about a fifteen-minute bus ride from the ship. When we walked inside, our jaws dropped in amazement. What a beautiful palace!

Painted ceiling

The concert was performed by a small chamber orchestra, as well as two solo singers and two ballet dancers. It was an experience that I'll never forget. Dan was so happy to have come, and continues to talk about that wonderful evening.

The dancers were lovely, although my effort at getting a video was pitiful! Still, here's a little peek of what we saw.

The tradition, in classical music venues, is to end orchestral performances with two Strauss pieces - the Blue Danube Waltz, second to last; and the Radetzky Marsch (known as the unofficial anthem of the Austro-Hungarian military) as the final piece, with audience participation by clapping during the playing of the chorus.

It was a perfect day! Did I mention, I LOVE Vienna?

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Melk and Dürnstein

Dan woke with a full-blown cold this morning - Thursday, September 19. We opted out of the tour of the abbey in Melk so he could sleep in a bit and rest up. We spent a long time that morning visiting with John, a Canadian who was interested in buying a vacation home on a golf course somewhere in Texas.

When everyone got back from the abbey tour, we had lunch with Lee and Jo (our Aussie friends), then sat top-side, on the sun deck, as we came into port at Dürnstein. It was an awesome setting and a charming little town, noted for its landmark, the blue and white tower of the abbey church.

Perched high above the town are the ruins of Dürnstein Castle, which was built between 1140 and 1145. It was almost completely destroyed, in 1645, by a blast carried out by the troops of the Swedish General Lennart Torstenson. This castle is famous for being the place that Richard the Lionheart was held prisoner by Leopold V, after the Crusades.

Although the sun was shining, and it was beautiful, it was cold and windy in Dürnstein, so Jo and I stayed on board, while we were docked there. Dan and Lee hopped off and did a little exploring. (I wasn't so sure Dan should be out in that wind, since he was already fighting a cold, but ...) The crew was busy re-stowing the electric bicycles, which had been used by some passengers that morning for a tour. Lee used his charm on one of the crew-members, and managed to get permission to take one of the bikes for a spin around Dürnstein. He had the time of his life!

That evening we were invited to Portobello's - a small, intimate dining room at the bow of the ship. Everyone received an invitation to this special meal one evening during the two-week tour. This was our evening. The meal was several courses and Italian cuisine. Seating was assigned (unlike our usual, more casual meals), so we got to know some new people that evening (all were from Australia). It was a lot of fun.

Around midnight, the Scenic Crystal docked in Vienna. I could hardly wait to tour that city the next day.

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Salzburg - Home of Mozart and of the Von Trapp Family

We woke to a beautiful sunrise, in Passau, Germany.

By 8:00 a.m. we had eaten breakfast aboard the Scenic Crystal and boarded buses which would take us across the Austrian border and into Salzburg. As we crossed this bridge over the Inn River (a tributary of the Danube), we left Germany and entered Austria. 

Crossing over the Inn River, into Austria

Salzburg is probably most famous for being the birthplace of Mozart. At every turn there is some sort of reminder of this most famous Salzburgian. 

Salzburg is also famous as the home of the Von Trapp family, and many of the scenes in the movie, The Sound of Music, were filmed here. Most prominent is the Nonnberg Convent, which sits high on a hill, overlooking the old town. This was the place where the real-life Maria lived as a postulant (nun apprentice) for a couple of years, beginning in 1924, and it was also depicted in numerous scenes in the movie.

Nonnberg Convent

The town was one of the most relaxed and pleasant ones for us. We had fun browsing through some of the shops, sitting at yet another sidewalk cafe, watching the horses and carriages pass by, and soaking in the warm sunshine. 

Looking up, you can't miss seeing many beautiful domes and spires adorning Salzburg's sky. One example is the Neue Residenz, originally built in 1588 as the private residence of Prince Archbishop Wolf Dietrich von Raitenau. Its tower houses a 35-bell Glockenspiel. We did not get to hear the bells, as they only ring three times a day. 

Another magnificent building with towers and domes is the Salzburg Cathedral. This is the site of Mozart's baptism.

High on the hill, near the Nonnberg Convent, stands the Hohensalzburg Fortress, a castle dating from 1077. Wow! That's 932 years ago!!! 

When we left the city of Salzburg, we boarded buses and took a one-and-a-half hour tour up into the Austrial hills. It was jaw-droppingly beautiful! Alpine meadows, forests, lakes and chalets. I'd already been impressed with the German countryside, but Austria was magnificent. I was ready to find my own chalet and make a move! At times on our route we were able to see the Austrian Alps!

Wolfgang Lake, looking toward the Austrian Alps

Finally we reached our destination, a lovely Alpine chalet-style lodge, where we would be served dinner. We were welcomed into the lodge with a fanfare.

The apples strudel we were served for dessert was the very best we tasted on the entire trip.

The entertainment, after dinner, was a joy ... talented musicians, young and old, performing Bavarian folk music and selections from The Sound of Music.

Children doing the Schuhplattler, a traditional Bavarian folk dance. 

A man playing the alpenhorn.

Theme from Sound of Music.

After the dinner and entertainment, we were bussed back to the ship. Dan seems to be coming down with a cold. I probably gave it to him, since I had one before we left home. 

While we slept, the Scenic Crystal moved on down the Danube to Melk.

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