Last days in Vienna, sigh....

Lovely day on one of our last, walking through the touristy areas of Vienna. The architecture here is so ornate, I’ve said that before but going through the Hofburg area has incredible statues everywhere you look, bigger than life with people battling each other or just standing there, it is truly amazing. 

We walked/rolled through the Museums Quarter to most of all the famous buildings we see from the window of the flat. 

Being Sunday the way was full of tourists as expected but we stopped at a legendary cafe called Aïda which is all pink. Let me elaborate for a minute, pink uniforms on waitresses, chairs, decor, down to the toilet paper, if you don’t like pink do not go there my friends! Vienna is well known through history for it’s cafe culture which is all I’ll say about it, you can read about it on the web if interested.

We had close seating as usual and this place is known for it’s great coffee and pastry so we have a really good coffee and pastry with cream cheese and apricot called marille here and they are considered to be some of the best in the world (their marketing, no research done). This is also the area in the Wachau Valley, that apricots are considered very special but that's another story, you can read about it here. http://www.thetraveltester.com/reason-to-travel-austria/ 

The fellow sitting directly next to me says there is a tram exhibition about to happen in about half an hour of all the trams in the last 150 years in Vienna. Celebration of 150 years of the Ring Road around Vienna. It took a wait of hanging about but was worth it. We saw the pride on the conductors faces and the different technologies used moving forward. I think what struck me the most was the early ones had no side, back or front protection from the weather elements. 

That's Bruce on the right

They were trailers with seats, the steam engine locomotive was the most dramatic belching grey coloured steam from it’s spout. 

It was followed by a fire truck!

Many, many people came to watch and photograph, standing on the track as I did until the last minute to get a view without someone in front doing the same thing, not always successfully. 

Nice uniform on this fellow

They even came in baby blue!

Or the more boring beige.

It was a treat to be involved and present at a truly Viennese event. Had we not stopped at that cafe we would not have known about it, sometimes it’s just happening that happens, some would call it kismet. 

Read more about it here http://www.vienna-unwrapped.com/ringstrasse-vienna/

We had a good couple of days, should say productive rather, not that they all don’t have good in them, it’s just getting personal things done, pedicure for me, haircut for Bruce, picked up my new glasses. 

Back to the Naschmarkt and it has even more construction going on in the middle, now completely splitting it in two parts making it awkward to get from one to the other. Some of the more permanent stalls are not accessible but others have moved, makes me wonder when it will be complete.

Saw this poster then ...

This!

The Clamato story: I found Clamato juice! In a Mexican store just up the street, had a hankering for salsa and there it was on a shelf lower down. The Caesar we make is a treat drink, not all the time, but enjoyable when made. Bruce especially likes it and has been in withdrawal for the two years we’ve been in Europe because there is no such thing as Clamato juice that he could find in Europe. He has ordered clam juice from the States and tried mixing it, he’s bought powdered form and both are terrible, so to find the real thing is quite amazing. If you are not from Canada, or apparently Mexico, you have probably have never heard of it before, such a Canadian drink, I read the first Caesar was made in a bar in Calgary, Alberta. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caesar_(cocktail)

Had to take a picture...

Flew home to Freiburg but may return to Vienna next September.

Cheers, Bev, Bruce and Lexi Cat

Schönbrunn Castle Train and Zoo

Yes folks, I finally looked up how to type an umlaut, the dots above the "o" and other letters in German, about time!

We went with Peter to the Zoo, called a Tiergarten, here in Vienna, it is the oldest zoo in the world. www.zoovienna.at  He hadn't been in a zoo since he was about five years old so he was delighted and we wanted to treat him for all the wonderful things he's done for us. 

First off we took the mini-train around the Schönbrunn grounds and marvelled that we had walked pretty much the whole way a few years ago! Train is easier and better I can tell you. 

Carriage Museum

The woman portrait on the right door is of Empress Elizabeth, called Sisi, read about here here http://www.wien.info/en/sightseeing/sights/imperial/sisi-museum She was one interesting woman and certainly did what she wanted, when she wanted, no matter what the Society norms were. 

We didn't go into the Carriage Museum, we were there to see the animals!

This is Peter, our wonderful host!

The cloudy liquid in the wine glass is sturm. It is a strong, slightly sweet wine that is brewed to be drunk very young and only available now until December. More about it here http://www.kcblau.com/sturm/ Since it is still fermenting it needs to be stored carefully so it doesn't blow up - really!

Leopards, the two snuggling, one is licking the face of the other.

On to the animals, we saw probably about half available and still walked a ways.

Elephants one had a large tusk and there was a baby one too!

I didn't catch what kind of bird this is but it was pretty!

Note the very long curved bill on these ones.

A banana tree, lovely.

Orangutang's just hanging about.

Timber wolf puppy we didn't see, did see the adult wolves but they were too far away for a picture. I don't know where this picture came from to cite it, perhaps the zoo.

And now for something completely different. I've never seen this kind of lock on a bicycle before and thought it practical, this wasn't at the zoo.

We had a wonderful day at the zoo and one could go back day after day to walk through different parts of it to see different animals each time. We concentrated on what Peter really wanted to see since it was "his" day. 

Peter sent us this picture of a swimming place called Gänsehäufel in Vienna, classic don't you think?

The taxi cab driver going back to the flat was an expert on driving in Vienna, probably had been driving for many years, he took all the back routes and we wound our way through the City, truly amazing! 

If you like zoos, and I know some who don't, but if you do, Vienna has one of the best we've been to and would recommend a visit. No, they are not sponsoring me to say that, just my opinion.

Next post will be coming to you from Freiburg.

Cheers, Bx2 and Lexi Cat 

Visit to a country winery and more pictures of Vienna

Secessionist Building

Read about it's history here http://www.wien.info/en/sightseeing/sights/art-nouveau/secession

Yes, unexpectedly this is a garbage processing plant, the tower...

Read about it here http://www.wien.info/en/sightseeing/green-vienna/vienna-power-plants

Outdoor library in Museums Quarter

I don't know much about this but it was colourful and had hammocks for people to laze in as well as these large pillows. It stayed up about two weeks and people seemed to really enjoy it.

Art? Installation on the outside of a lift going to the Museums Quarter

Continues YOU-weed, THEY-weed. This is a Street Art Passageway to the MQ where "Vienna forges an artistic link to the tags and graffiti that mark the streets bordering Vienna's 7th district." Quote taken from a Public Art brochure for Vienna. website www.koer.or.at/en/ for all the projects.

For our trip to the country winery we took a taxi to Peter’s place, picked him and his girlfriend, Margit up and went to a winery on the hillsides above Vienna. 

A bit of a challenge, firstly the lift broke again, forcing us to take the long and winding stairs. Then getting to Peter’s place the taxi driver didn’t want to stay and take us to on the winery, big argument ensued between Peter and him. Finally he agreed, it was a problem with the driver’s dispatcher not telling him and booking another trip. We find this happens more frequently than it should! 

Anyway arrival at the winery and the views of Vienna are fantastic! 

What a View!

The winery’s website is www.wailandwein.at (in German but great pictures) and the general one listing all the vintners is www.winesfromaustria.com  (English) We tasted two vintages of Gruener Veltliner, common grape here, while sitting under a tree at a picnic table and generally enjoying ourselves. 

Wonderful afternoon!

It was a lovely afternoon, sunny but not too hot. We tried out some of the food: five different dips, pork crackling and pork and vegetables in aspic, served with really good tasty dark bread. Two other neighbouring wineries were open and there were parked cars and people everywhere on the road. Taxi driver coming home was a talkative bloke in almost perfect English. 

Now for one more picture of a building in Vienna, interior.

This is in a restaurant I mentioned and gave you the link to in a previous post, my photo version...

An aside where I can't resist sticking my nose into someone else's business... I went in to the beauty shop to make another pedicure appointment and the manager was there. I asked if I could speak to him about one of his staff in private, a girl was at the sink and that seemed the best way. I told him about my terrible hair cut in his shop and said this person needed more training. He seemed to appreciate the negative feedback and said "how else were they going to get better if they didn’t get feedback". Duty done and enough said but it felt good to tell him.

Next post we went to the Schoenbrunner grounds and Zoo called Tiergarten.

Cheers, Bx2 and Lexi Cat

More Vienna, yes, we are still here ...

We did the shop together, nice since the bike takes all the weight then went directly to the Museums Quarter (MQ) for a pomegranate drink, yum, while we waited for the Leopold Wasser restaurant to open at 12:30 for a grill cooked burger which we shared. Bruce’s appetite is back with the cooler weather! Yeah! 

We watched people and dogs but being Monday it wasn’t too busy there. Nice to get out into the sun and air and enjoy good food, burger was wonderful. Home and a cleaner is cleaning the area around the elevator, he pushes the button for it to open and Bruce isn’t quite quick enough before the door closes or tries to with Bruce caught in-between. Cleaner shoves the door open, we get to the fifth floor and door won’t open. I pried it open with my fingers to get us out. Now the damn thing is broken again. Contact Peter and go through the usual. He said they used substandard parts when putting it in and now they are worn out, as with many in Vienna. Well it’s a major problem for us for sure! 

Days out for lunch, shopping but not really any sight seeing, pleasant days though. I need to take some pictures of the detailed architecture here, works of art, just hanging out over doorways and windows. Here's a start ....

Went out for brunch on Sunday and after had an ice tea each, served in a mini-carafe with lemon, orange and mint. Vienna does know how to make interesting drinks! They will use any fruit like pomegranate and rhubarb and many contain herbs like basil, mint and spice of ginger. You saw the picture where they used roses on a previous post. Very inventive and some are tastier than others to our palates of course I appreciate the inventiveness of their making. 

Street "art" or graffiti, you decide.

On the domestic front I got a long awaited hair cut. Bad cut in Germany, tried a correction which made it worse, and needed another when I came to Vienna. Stopped in a shop up the road from the flat and he’s booked out for a month so make an appointment anyway for now. Get another hair cut to last me over and it’s worse than both German ones! Ugh, should have known I’d be in trouble when she asked me AFTER the cut if my hair was naturally curly or a perm. Who perms these days anyway? Well, now I have a good cut and feel better and have another appointment for trim before going back to Freiburg.  The fellow is truly so very good it was a great stroke of luck to meet him! There are very many hair and personal services in the neighbourhood we are in, difficult to choose who is going to be the best to engage and for what. Example the worst haircut at the shop also gives the best pedicure, obviously by different people, different skill sets. I truly live by my mother’s rule, “if you can’t say something nice about someone then don’t say anything at all”. So I won’t give a bad review to the first “stylist” she’s young and just needs better training. 

We breakfasted out, I had scrambled eggs with vegetables in, asked what vegetables and the waitress said, what ever they had on hand. Well there were chopped carrots and peppers, green onion and while I’ve never had carrots in my eggs before it was tasty. Did the shop, went back to the MQ for an iced tea, a British couple moved tables because of cigarette smoke, I don’t think they’ve been here long, it will become an annoyance to them. On the way back to the flat smelt the grilling hamburgers so stopped for one to share. Quite a warm day but a breeze so nice to be out again. 

Back down to the Naschmarkt market around 11:00 a.m. on a weekday and it’s quite quiet, easier to move around and see more. It’s such a fascinating place for us, and you know how we do like markets, kids in a candy store would describe us well in markets. So many different fruits, vegetables, example black potatoes, and a multitude of other things, spices from all over the world, teas, fish and meat. 

Much of it is Turkish so there are many falafel stands. We bought more hummus, the stall owner is very liberal with his samplings. In fact, most are and some yell Stop! at their stalls to offer you something. They will ask where are you from and the ruse often works! One fellow, large bloke was dining at a seafood restaurant and they gave him a bib after he spilled on his shirt. This big, almost mean looking fellow, wearing a bib! We had Indian food again, jumbo prawns for me that were some of the best I’ve ever had. Bruce had lamb biryani, the rice was spiced so wonderfully.

I liked the presentation.

This is the mini-sweater and dirndl I mentioned in the previous post.

Picnic supper tasting very small amounts of things bought at the market, pomegranate seeds, messy, more on that in a bit, hummus, avocado, stilton cheese, dried lingonberries, a feast even after lunch. I don’t think you can commonly get lingonberries in Canada. I have a Polish friend who loves them. 

To eat the pomegranate, we looked for videos on the web to see how to seed and every one said the juice stains as item number one. Operation pomegranate: we took the top off and scored the outside which allows you to peal the layers out and fairly successfully get the seeds out except, I popped one, juice everywhere, wall, fridge, my favourite top, which I should have removed prior. Seeds are yummy though and reportedly good for you so was worth it I suppose. 

Saturday and our local artisan market is on. But firstly I decided I wanted new glasses, not really needed, as such, but wanted a change, ones I’m wearing have a small scratch on the lens and I’m just tired of the frames. There is a nice looking glasses shop up the street so went in to “just to” try on frames. A while later I have new glasses, well, not yet in ten to fourteen days while the lenses are being built. Small change in the prescription, left eye weaker than the right but here they are, drum roll please, http://brillengiovanni.com go to Marken, they are called Gotti, the light blue ones. I’m very pleased!

A stop at the Mexican food shop yields green tomatillo salsa and taco chips, then on to the artisan market. 

What caught our eye and intrigued was a leather belt, more the buckle actually and then I went into the shop to find handbags, beautifully, made in the Czech Republic. Walked out of there with wallets for both of us and a handbag for me. Bruce gave me the bag and wallet as an early birthday present! Thanks Love! They are of a fine quality leather and etched and coloured in beautiful designs. Bruce says he doesn’t think he’s owned anything more beautiful, admiring his wallet now, as I write this. 

Then I spotted some unusual earrings in the next shop and bought them and a ring to match. Packaging is in small boxes with handles on top, lovely too! 

Whew, a lot of money was spent today but we both know that when you find something that is unusual, hand crafted, the bonus is you are helping to support an artist, you fall in love, true love, buy it because you’ll always rue not doing so. 

We’ve both experienced that before, mostly over non-utilitarian items, for me it was a tiny hand thrown pot, so thin light shone through on Granville Island, by the time I thought I had to have it it was gone and the artist wasn’t showing there anymore. For Bruce was a kimono, hand stitched and large enough to be a wall hanging on Salt Spring Island. These things, while beautiful and wanted were impractical. What we bought today is more practical, we can admire and wear them daily so, again, supporting artists, and using the product daily is a win-win. Off the old soap box once again.

We’d stopped for lunch at a favourite restaurant which is in the atria of a pre-school and many other offices of which I don’t know about, mostly arts according to the brochures seen. There was a hoard of people dropping off bottled water, clothing, diapers, all manner of things and all at once it seemed. The street was overloaded with cars and truly swarms of people seemed to inhabit the area with the goods they brought. At first we didn’t know what was happening, only that Bruce couldn’t get by a van to get to a slope in the curb. Watching, since we had no choice, I think they had organized a relief mission for the thousands of Syrian refugees who had crossed into Austria last night, bused in from Hungary. I missed a taped interview that happened while we were there, in English too, being more worried about getting Bruce out of the well meaning fray. I’ll try to find a link to the story for more information, didn't find that particular one but many people are helping out.

A cooler Sunday with wind and we’re out fairly early so have breakfast in a glassed in solarium at the Leopold Museum. We don’t drink a lot of coffee in restaurants but may remedy that since Vienna is said to have the best coffee and having had one it truly was.

I tried sitting or reclining on the blue blocks everyone uses in the MQ but I’m too short and kept slipping down, they don’t work for me…http://www.mqw.at/en/about/mq-courtyards/  go to the bottom of the page to read about the design and function of the furniture. Being short or PQ vertically challenged is a disadvantage most of the time, well there are worse things for sure.

Cheers, Bx2 and Lexi Cat

Some Different Things in Vienna

Unusual site in Vienna

Saturday was the opening of Mariahilfer-strasse pedestrian mall. It’s the largest shopping mecca in downtown Vienna with all the usual big trendy chain stores, including United Colours of Benetton, which we see in every city we’ve been to, and never go in to. Crews have been noisily working on the mall since we’ve been here. Lots of balloons floating around, a zip line which I’d never seen before, two climbing walls and that’s just in the three blocks we walked! All free as far as we could tell and the ages of children doing both were quite young. Bands of musicians of course and scores of people which is why we ducked down a side street for a sushi lunch, crowds aren’t really our thing.

A much quieter Sunday in the Museums Quarter, locals and tourists having breakfast and lunch. I had my first wiener schnitzel, it was house made and good but when I asked in German to take away, the waiter thought just take it away, not take home, again. Looking up the words in translate now! Writing in my little red book I carry everywhere, thanks again Ivan. This is the second or third time of happening and I’m not going to let it happen again. The salad was superb as well so I’m really missing out on good food for later. My fault entirely but frustrating too, okay enough whining… The restaurant is called Corbaci -  http://www.stadtbekannt.at/corbaci/ Look at the tile work on the ceiling, better picture on the website than what I could have taken I think. We’ll be back and I’ll use the correct words for take away next time.

Hear Me Roar Human! Actually she's yawning.

Lexi and I sometimes “argue” she does something bad and I yell no. At night these days she wakes about 04:00 and wants to play. I do not know why, perhaps first light. She sleeps on my legs most of the night quite peacefully, moves when I do and we both like it. The other night we had a round of “no’s!!!” and she took one paw and swatted me in the head! Didn’t hurt but she is becoming more of a pill and discipline problem. Hah, we made an appointment at the Vet’s today for tomorrow to get her nails cut, a kitty pawdicure. Maybe that’ll slow her down some.

Appointment was ignored by the vet and he/she had four people in the waiting room when we went. They weren’t taken in while we were there so I finally went to the desk, behind a door and asked. She said to call first so she could say how many people were waiting. There was a husky dog, quite small, beautiful white blue eyes that had a permanent look of curiosity about him. A cat meowed the whole time, not ours. Mom and daughter brought sandwiches and drinks so I figured the wait was going to be long. We just carried Lexi home again, unboxed her and she looked at us like what was that all about…

We cancelled our trip to Budapest, Hungary. The flat we chose had air-conditioning but the taxi to/from and doing any touring in this heat would have not been enjoyable. This heat wave (a couple of weeks ago from this post) is amazing and not in a good way. It’s affecting all of Europe and not due to leave us for another week or so. Debilitating for those without air conditioning which we thankfully have and is not very common in most parts of Europe. Peter has been escaping to a mountain lodge in Styria where they get amazing views of the night sky, away from the City. It takes two hours and forty five minutes to get there but he says it’s worth it.

Yes, folks, that's a sail boat, bent out of shape on top of a hotel... why?

With all the research done on rollerstuhl taxis, taxis with ramps for wheel chairs, I compiled a list of companies we’ve used or were going to in Hungary. They certainly vary widely in price but part of that is due to distances of course. I will say that every one we’ve used has been prompt, drivers are caring and nice, with the exception of one, well you can’t win ‘em all. Problem is, while they have air conditioning it mainly stays in the front and doesn’t filter to the back where Bruce needs it most. Most are a type of van with no wide opening windows in the back either, which was another consideration in cancelling Budapest.  

What is this? We figured it was for the ducks easy in and out of the pond.

Monday and I’m off to do a shop before noon. One of the Indian restaurants we’ve been to before was open and I stopped in to get some lamb/spinach curry for Bruce especially, although I enjoy it too. Waiting outside with a bottle of sparkling water a woman came up to the table and started the usual speech/imploring to give her money. She is nicely dressed, pregnant and I gave my usual response of I don’t speak German, she kept on so I gave her my partly used bottle of water and left. As doing so the waiter was outside and wanted the water bottle back. Okay faux pas there I would guess and if I go back perhaps he won’t be as friendly. In Germany you pay a deposit or pfand on some recyclable bottles, not here, but perhaps it’s different for restaurants. 

We went to the Naschmarkt on Saturday, very busy, crowded but lovely. For those in Vancouver, think Granville Island. Here is a website that describes it well. http://www.wien.info/en/shopping-wining-dining/markets/naschmarkt

I didn’t realize it was so close, a ten minute walk, although we’d passed it several times by taxi. You see Vienna has many one way streets so it’s easy to get confused about location from the starting point of the flat. 

Chose Indian food for our lunch and it was excellent. Will definitely go back maybe on a less busy week day. Didn’t see a whole lot of fruit and veg but so many restaurants, likely we missed parts of it. Lots of Turkish influenced foods like dried fruits, nuts, teas, hummus and vendors were yelling out to the crowd for attention to their unique products. Saw a tiny dirndl and a tiny sweater, hand made with sheep and goats on it. 

Yummy!

Bought yummy hummus after trying all the vendor’s types and olives - RED olives! Hmm, makes me wonder if they’ve been dyed and reading this article found out they are! http://www.delallo.com/articles/red-bella-di-cerignola-olive They are called Cerignola grown only in a specific area of Italy. They have a unique flavour that is extremely tasty.

Restaurants in the market vary from very up scale to casual dining and it seems all nationalities are represented. It’s an obvious meeting place for people and some were very elegantly dressed. Areas were under construction so walking through with the crowds was a bit difficult but of course everyone managed patiently. Warm sunny day but not too hot so it was a pleasure to be out and about.

We’ve today, Saturday before flight on a week Monday decided to stay another month here. We haven’t seen much of Vienna and feel short changed by not spending more time. This is due to the heat wave and the broken elevator several times. Peter is happy, he likes us, we’re happy. Peter also wants to take us on a wine tour, show us more of Vienna and I can’t agree more that we can explore this wonderful City further.

Cheers, Bev, Bruce and Roaring Lexi Cat

Touring Vienna by Bus

We had decided to go to the Danube River, and just so you know, it is a lovely shade of blue, and since we haven’t figured out the metro system, even yet, decided just to walk/roll and see where we got to. Out through the Museums Quarter again because the elevator system puts us conveniently close to the old district, we walked past more museums in palatial buildings and stumbled onto a hop on hop off bus doing city tours.

Statue of Empress Maria Theresa

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Theresa

Oh well since we are sometimes spontaneous we hitched, paid for, a ride. They have a deal for both Vienna and Budapest so we signed up since we’ll be in Budapest mid-August. Now these hop/on/off busses are really touristy but they do provide a good overlook of a city and we use them in large cities. 

We first stopped at Schoenbrunn Palace https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schönbrunn_Palace and since we’d seen it we just had a mediocre lunch there. The line ups to buy tickets were horrendous. I am so glad we did the tour of the interior, gardens and zoo when my legs were a lot younger! It is a fabulous place, a not to miss in Vienna in my mind, but I remember hardly being able to walk to the metro to get back to the hotel, so tired. 

Outside Belvedere Palace

Then we stopped at the Belvedere Castle and grounds, again not too much touring but a delightful spot. 

Sphinx Statue, human head, lion body representing strength and intelligence

Meanwhile on the bus we wound through Vienna in one direction, the opposite of where we’d planned, to the river, but that’s okay. We bought a 48 hour ticket so we can go the opposite direction tomorrow or Saturday. 

Parliament Building

Many people, read experienced travellers, think these buses are a waste of money, if you do the research ahead you can take a regular bus(s) at a fraction of the cost and see everything. I don’t agree, firstly because, call me lazy, but I don’t want to do all the research, I want to learn but it’s so much easier just plugging in and listening. Secondly, we can afford the easier way. Thirdly, the tour operators are usually really nice people and yes, they get paid to be, but truly most we’ve met are knowledgable about the city, the tours and the sights. 


Our first driver was a hoot, the ramp coming off was quite steep and she stood in front to “catch” Bruce, scared me, didn’t want her or her toes run over! She had long pretty nails and had to pull up the ramp handle very carefully so as not to damage them which she carried off with aplomb. The woman who sold us our ticket was also very knowledgable and told us snippets of information we didn’t get on the tour, good sales person, friendly but not pushy. Anyway it was a lovely day, not to hot and full of touristic sightseeing. Vienna is a beautiful city and we get to see more of it tomorrow including the Danube River.

Coffee - Important in Vienna! This is the smallest house.

Aside, a reminiscence since a fruit fly just landed in my drink. I was with my ex-husband and we met a couple who were friends from Germany. The male friend wore knee length dress shorts, probably lived in them looking at his tan. He was asked to leave since shorts weren’t “appropriate attire” for the patio according to this ritzy hotel’s rules, it is a patio in summer, come on! So he left, went to the nearby hotel, changed, came back, ordered a drink and had a fruit fly land inside it. Not a happy man now, he said “this fly is wearing shorts please remove it and give me a new drink”. 

It's an ATM! At Praterstern permanent fairgrounds with the oldest ferris wheel

Second day of touring Vienna in the opposite direction of yesterday. We got to the Danube and walked to a park alongside it called Bundesbaeder Alte Donau, Federal Bathing place in Donau where we had to pay two euros each to get in. The park was full of families in swimming togs, some having picnics, some eating at the small outdoor restaurant. There were some very tanned people about, so this must be a regular outing for them. Back on the bus to return to the centre and a large family boarded the children were good, just restless and everyone talked the entire time, got a bit tiring for us. The audio function didn’t work which was a shame because that’s an important part of learning what all those beautiful buildings are, and would have helped tune out the noise.

Arsenal Museum

When people come to Vienna they expect and do see many old, ornate buildings but the modern ones are beautiful as well. 

Striking, perhaps maybe a stretch to call it beautiful

Many large companies have headquarters in the Donau District and they have built strikingly modern buildings there. We can see the tops of some of them from the flat so it was good to look at them up close.

So that was our two days of sightseeing, and it was a good thing we did it then, it's very hot here now.

Cheers, Bx2 and Lexi Cat

Comic Characters in Vienna

We overlook the Museums Quarter and decided to take a closer look. Three lifts transport us down to the middle of it and it is hopping! www.mqw.at 

Look at those spikes on her knees. 

First off we see many, many people in costume with brightly coloured wigs portraying cartoon characters, mostly. They seemed to have professional photographers with them but that didn’t stop the rest of the crowd including me from snapping away. Very colourful and artistic and they brought their persona attitudes with them. Some costumes looked to be professionally done. A sight to see! 

Then there were the two wolves, what a pair of comedians they were, interacting with the crowd. Came over to Bruce and gave him a high five and a hug; knelt on all fours so small children could pat their nose; tickled a fellow’s feet who was lounging on a seat. 

Hams and friends

What a couple of guys!

Note the blue blocks behind, they are seating for about four people, eight if you are good friends. There is a hole in the middle to put an umbrella in and they cover the whole Museum quarter. Handy and extra seating for concert goers or a busy day like it was.

There was also a large rectangular pool where they set up battery operated, radio controlled boats to zoom around, amongst decorated crates depicting drinking bars with Barbie’s attached, yes, somewhat different. Anyone in the crowd was allowed to have a go. 

Barbie and Ken at the bar

The operator brought him in close for the picture - Thank you

A sign on the outside of the pool said “don’t feed the alligators” someone has a sense of humour. Actually the day was cooler than past days and families were out enjoying the weather. Much laughter in the air and the restaurants that line that square were pretty full. This also seemed to be like the Alameda in Sevilla, the alternative lifestyle neighbourhood which would make sense since the venues are called Museums but are geared more to the arts culture. It was a very pleasant day with unexpected viewing of unexpected things, which is, of course, a benefit of travel. 

Double rainbows tonight, a reverse of the main one in colour which I didn’t realize before, picture wasn't great but what a sight, sun shining off the towers and the sky is beautiful!

Wow!

We've booked part of this winter in Sevilla, will likely stay longer but for booking purposes decided two months would get us going. Our wonderful blogger friends in Sevilla helped us with that booking, you see I found a fabulous looking flat in an area we haven’t been to before. It is devoid of architectural wonders, a working class area for Sevillanos. Thankfully our friends advised that while the neighbourhood was fine, it was quite remote from downtown. Andy and Ali had the same problem when they booked a flat outside and took too long to get to the inner city. So I canned that place, politely of course, and was able to book close to where we’ve lived before, back in the older part of the City. One blogger said she wants to be astounded every time she walks out her door and we agree wholeheartedly. We don’t get that in Freiburg but the flat is new and for a purchase it was a good one. 

More to come, been busy with the camera this last week so have broken up the posts.

Cheers, Bx2 and Lexi Cat