Wednesday, April 18

VIENNA

Walked down Skodagasse and made our way to the old city centre.



First a beautiful old cathedral, the Votivfkirch, with a huge banner hanging down the front - appears to cover a restoration project.

In front of this gothic cathedral is Sigmund Freud Park.

Next we walked past the university to the Rathausplatz, with a beautiful park and the city hall. Across the street is an awesome building that is the Burgtheatre.














Next to the park is the parliament building. In front of it is an incredible set of sculptures in white stone.

Adjacent to this is the Justice building.













Then there are a complex of buildings around a park that are museums. We went into the museum of natural history with incredible displays.

Walked around the other buildings, including the museum quarter with a large piazza inside.












We made our way across to the imperial palace - an incredible building...












Stood in awe for some time, then decided to take one of the horse-drawn carriages for a 40-minute tour of the inner city - well worth the 65 Euro fare.

Our driver dropped us off for lunch at a fancy-schmancy cafe, but we opted to walk along the street a bit farther to an Italian cafe - across from the university - where we had salad with chicken (SE), and salmon penne with rocket-salad (HK), and a beer each.



We made our way back to Sigmund Freud Park and University avenue, and slowly walked back to Pension Baltic. On the way we found a store selling office supplies that also offered internet access for 1.50 Euro for 15 minutes. Sent a quick email message to let people know we were alive and well in Vienna.

Had a rest until 6:30, then walked down the street to an Austrian cafe, called Iederen, for dinner. We treated ourselves to wienerschnitzel, served with a potato salad and, of course, beer. Delicious !!