After the wonderful day yesterday on the wine tour, I
decided that today would be the perfect day to visit some of the local sites in
Vienna. First stop? The Hofburg Palace. It was considered the “winter palace”
and it is on the ringstrasse in the city center. I always try to get to these
places early because they are filled with tourists as one of the “must see”
places. For the price of admission, you are able to visit the Silberkammer (the
Silver Collection), the Imperial Apartments and the Sisi Museum. I think the
price was about E12 and included the audio guide. Some of the areas you can
take photos must most of the apartments and Sisi museum you are not able to.
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| Outside of the Palace |
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| Table centerpiece |
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| Centerpiece |
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| Table set for a light meal! |
Just to clarify Sisi was the nickname of Empress Elizabeth
and was a much loved but tragic figure that lost one child in infancy, one to
suicide and then she was assassinated later in her life. The museum has a
wonderful amount of article belonging to the Empress as well as restored
apartments for her and the Emperor. I am a sucker for royal palaces!
After that I walked across the courtyard to check out the
Spanish Riding School. This is where the Lipizzaner stallions perform. You can
watch performances (you have to book in advance as they sell out) or you can
watch the horses go through their morning exercises to music. I managed to show
up for the last ½ hour of the morning exercises and the ticket lady gave me the
ticket for ½ price. Score! I am not really a “horse person” but I can
appreciate the training and commitment that is requires for these famous
animals. It was nice to sit for a half hour and watch the horses prance around
to music.
At this point my back was starting to bother me quite a bit
(the entire trip but that’s another story) so I decided to head back to the
hotel to rest a bit. But I wanted to make a stop at the grocery store that is
located within a few blocks of my hotel. I was looking for some liquor for a
family member that he used to get when he lived in Germany and visited Austria.
After asking at the front desk, I found that it could be found in this grocery
store and figured I’d stop on my way to the hotel. It is called Zielpunkt. This
was to come in handy later on when I wanted a quick and easy bread and cheese
meal!
After a rest I headed out to the State Opera House. Although
not an opera fan (due to lack of exposure) the opera house was supposed to be
beautiful inside and they provide 45-minute tours in different languages.
Called the Staatsoper, it is located on the ringstrasse as well just a few
blocks from the Hofburg Palace area. The cost of the tour was E6.50 and they do
only provide tours certain days and times. It was interesting to hear the
history of the opera house as well as hear about how they do the yearly New
Year’s ball and transform the auditorium into a dance floor in just a few days.
Apparently they have a different show/performance each night and you have to
book tickets well in advance. Had I realized this I would have tried to get
tickets but the word is they are very expensive. The two South African ladies
on my wine tour actually traveled to Vienna for the opera shows they had
tickets for and the wine tour was just”filler” for their trip!
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| Staatsoper |
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| interior staircase |
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| Beethoven |
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| auditorium |
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| auditorium |
My next stop was a much-needed break for coffee and the
famous Sacher Torte at the Hotel Sacher. I’ve decided to do a post on just
pastries in Vienna so that will be discussed later.
Next up? Walk around the Ringstrasse. After taking the ring
tram tour I had seen several things I wanted to get a closer look at (the
Parliament building and Wein and Co. to name a few). So I decided to walk the
Ringstrasse to check things out. It really is a lovely walk and they have it
set up so nicely that you can bicycle as well (with different lanes for bikes
and walkers). Although I had to make several stops to rest (wonky back) it was
a lovely day and sunny and breezy. Picked up a few bottles of wine and circled
around towards the area near where the trams start out and there are several
kiosks of street food.
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| Vienna Parliament |
I had thought that for tonight’s dinner I would get street
food and enjoy a local bratwurst instead of a sit down dinner. It was amazing.
And for the bratwurst and a Diet Coke (Cola light) I think it was E3. And the
people watching around the tram area was priceless!
This was a little bit lighter day as I knew that tomorrow I
was taking the train out to Salzburg and I knew that was going to be much more
intense. So back to the hotel to prepare for the day tomorrow. Honestly I could
walk around the city of Vienna all day and not get bored.
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