Day 3

Vienna

We woke in Vienna to a day that was record setting cold with rain. The temperature as we set out for our Vienna tour was in the low 40’s with wind and rain. We put on every item of clothing we had with us and set out, initially for a bus tour but then followed by a seriously frigid walk.

These are VERY cold people

Vienna is an absolutely architecturally beautiful city that deserved far more time than the one day that we’re here.

The high point of the walk was a glimpse of the Lippizaner  horses that are stabled in a historic building in the center of the city.

At the end of the walk we had “free time” to explore on our own. We used it to take a cab back to the ship to get warm.

After lunch, the chef lead a walk to the Naschmarkt, an area of multiple stands selling produce, meat, fish, spices, cheeses, etc. We put back on all our layers of clothing and went along. We took the subway (U-bahn) to the market then walked along the stalls admiring the displays and stopped a a cheese shop where the chef had a arranged a tasting of cheeses, antipasti, bread, hummus and white wine.(Just in case the 8000 calories we had had so far that day had not been enough.)

Beautiful and delicious plate of different types of hummus and falafels to scoop it up

Beautiful produce

We walked to the opera house after our market tour to entertain ourselves until we could pick up our tickets at will call at 6 PM. It was still COLD and damp so we went to Mozart Café, a famous Vienna coffee house around the corner from the opera for coffee and since it had now been maybe an hour since our last nourishment and we would have no opportunity for dinner, we ordered decadent desserts and a wonderful Viennese coffer topped with whipped cream, of course. Two of us had the traditional strudel with vanilla sauce and two had the most intensely chocolate and decadent dessert anyone can imagine, all served by a tuxedoed waiter.

Half eaten strudel in the background because who wanted to wait for a photo

The tradition is that the table is yours for as long as you wish so we stayed until time to pick up our tickets.

The opera house….true elegance!! Just being inside made us feel so special!

The opera was Don Giovanni and it was WONDERFUL!! The setting was perfect, the performers fantastic, everything was perfect and really special. Nicki and Norma sat in the top balcony near the center and Michele and Joannie sat one level down. The view was great from both places. Each seat has a little box in front of it with the subtitles in English or German. Very cool idea!!!

 I had a conversation with the people sitting next to me, a woman and her husband visiting Vienna from Strasbourg. I mentioned that I would be visiting Strasbourg in the fall as we were leaving to retrieve our coats and they said I would be passing their home in Colmar. When I said that I would be visiting Colmar, they gave me their contact information and told me to get in touch with them when we come!

We took a cab back to our ship just in time to sail.