DAY 142- DAY 2 VIENNA, AUSTRIA

It is a small world.  On our way for a pre-dinner drink we walked up the hallway and passed an employee of the Ritz Carlton.  A moment later she said hello Mr. & Mrs. Steiner. This is Anastazija and I was your Penthouse Attendant on Serenity and as soon as she spoke we remember her.   She left Crystal Serenity in 2013, is married, has a four year old and is housekeeping supervisor at the hotel.  It is truly a small world.  Also in true Crystal Cruises fashion she remember us and our names.  Wow.

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We enjoyed a pre-dinner drink at the Ritz Carlton Club Floor.  ​

Originally we had dinner plans at a restaurant about ten minutes from the hotel.  Since it was raining and the temperature was going down to cold levels we revised our plans.

We had dinner at a restaurant called Pastamara at the hotel.  It is a team effort between Ritz Carlton and Chef Ciccio Sultano.

As they have been doing at other Ritz Carlton Properties this restaurant has a more contemporary look and feel and appeals more to a younger crowd.  

We had three courses.  First course was Octopus and it surely looked like one.  LOL.

Next course was a house salad and for our entree we had Swordfish.  

In spite of no ship rocking us to sleep we slept well.  Maybe it is the wine.  LOL.  

We enjoyed coffee in our room as we got ready for our first full day in Vienna.  We had breakfast in the Club Floor Lounge.

We kept it simple to cereal and fruit.  The fruit was very  tasty, particularly  the blueberries and strawberries.

Keith arranged a private tour with the concierge at the hotel a few months ago.  While the city is easy to do on your own we thought a tour would be nice (we have a second one planned for tomorrow).  Today's tour was by foot.  ​

We were met at the hotel by  our tour guide, Johannes.  Johannes  has been a tour guide for forty years.  For the first part of his career he escorted groups around the world.  As Johannes said the greater the distance the better.  In other words  he love to travel and to share his knowledge with others.  Eventually, he would guide people only  within Europe.  In addition to speaking his local language he speaks fluent English and French so his clients included people from the USA and also Canada.  

Joahannes  was a terrific tour guide sharing  a  wealth of information including lots of history.   There was always something for him to point out from the significance of architecture, to the history of Austria and Vienna to even history about a market or store we saw.  

We visited many  sites including spending an hour  at  the Imperial Palace.

We have always heard wonderful things about Vienna but we must say that the city has exceeded our expectations.  

It was on the cooler side so we did our best to keep warm wearing multiple layers of clothing. 

We did visit Hotel Sacher Wien and we had coffee and dessert at  Salon Sacher.    Anne Marie had cappuccino coffee while Keith had Sacher Melange Coffee  which is espresso coffee with foamed milk and whipped cream.  We shared a petite Sachertorte.  Sachertorte is  a  dense, chocolate sponge cake made with thin layers of apricot jam that is topped with a semi-firm chocolate icing.  It is the signature creation of the Sacher Hotel.  Believe it or not Keith loves cake and thought this was one of the most delicious desserts he has ever had.  

During our walk we saw the Walk Of Stars, The Peace Museum (we've included a photo of some of the people honored such as John Lennon, the Spanish Riding School (we will try to visit this week) and so many other places including the outside and inside of various Cathedrals.

The tour was amazing and tomorrow we will tour again with Johannes on another tour that Keith pre-arranged with the hotel concierge.

We enjoyed a nice lunch back at the hotel and then took a walk on our own.   Vienna is a beautiful and vibrant city.

​We are posting early.  More to enjoy.

Cheers,

​Anne Marie &  Keith