DAY 144 - DAY 4 VIENNA, AUSTRIA

These are some photos from our walk yesterday afternoon from outside the Opera House.

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We had a pre-dinner drink at the Club Floor of our hotel. The lounge was very quiet and we ended up speaking with the concierge for about an hour. He has been with Ritz Carlton for two years including time at Hotel Arts in Barcelona where we stayed in 1998 and this hotel.  We were surprised to learn he is only 20 years young.  He is very mature fo his age.
 

Dinner was at Ristorante Sole which is an Italian Restaurant.

We enjoyed wine, salad and sea bass.  The restaurant was intimate and the cuisine was good.  

The salad was tasty but a bit too much cheese on top.

The sea bass was delicious.  It was thin and not overpowering and we both thoroughly enjoyed its taste.

The room where we sat was small and that was a positive.

Some of the waitstaff were a bit snooty which is something we read in a few reviews of the restaurant.  Locals who you could tell frequent the restaurant were welcomed by the owner.  

This evening we will go to a restaurant specializing in Austrian cuisine.

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We walked after we finished dinner around the neighboring area.  Once back at the hotel we enjoyed a relaxing evening.  We slept well.  The bed is very comfortable and there are no noises from inside nor outside the hotel.

Keith was up early and we enjoyed coffee in the room and breakfast at the club floor.

We didn't have pastries or the bread but it all looked good.
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We did have some excitement.  When we left our room to walk to the elevator the fire door was closed and we were able to open it.  Elevator worked.  While waiting outside the club room for it to open (we arrived two minutes before its opening) we heard a nose.  Wouldn't call it a fire alarm but sounded more like noise of an aircraft.  Once open we asked what was going on and the person didn't even know there was an issue as you couldn't hear the noise from inside the room.  She called down and was told nothing to worry about and it was some type of issue in the room the staff uses for changing.  When we left the club room the elevators were not working and the noise was still going on.  We walked down five flights of steps to our room and when Keith called to reception they said all was fine. 

In the morning we went on two walks.  It was chilly on the first walk and warmer for the second walk.

We visited Stadtpark on both walks.  They are setting up for what looks like a food festival for this Friday through Sunday. We admired the statues throughout the park, the beautiful nature, many flowers, the duck pond and its overall beauty.

Close to 20 percent of the space in Vienna consisted of wooded area.  

We visited St. Stephen's Church also known as Stephansdom.  It is the main church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Vienna.  It stands  atop the ruins of two earlier churches and it has both Romanesque and Gothic form to the Cathedral.

As we walked we took in all of the beauty of the surrounding area including the architecture of the buildings.  

We stopped in a store and picked up a jacket for Keith to keep him warm.

We even saw a collection of stuffed animals with some dating back many years in a massive window display.

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Enjoyed lunch back at the Club Floor.  Kept it simple to large salad entrees and got ready to go back out for another walk.

When we began our walk it was windy and seemed cool.  Midway through our walk the wind calmed down, the sun was out and the temperature increased and it felt great.

We walked over to the Imperial Plaza.  We made stops along the way.  We took a photo of a Mozart Statue and Mozart is the Crystal Cruises River Cruise vessel we board on Friday.  There was a display of close to twenty photos of Holocaust Survivors.  Next to each photo was a card showing the name of each person, the concentration camp(s) they were sent to, where they lived and if they died where and when.   We must never forget and we must be sure this is shared with future generations of children so something this horrific is never repeated.

We walked to a couple of museums and then to the Imperial Palace which we visited on Monday.

Our tours were in the morning when it was not very crowded.  Our tour guide Johann mentioned that by afternoon these areas would be flooded with tourists.  He was absolutely correct.  There were lots of large touring groups along with others touring on their own.  At times there were wall-to-wall people.  There are areas that you walk and stop and it is hard to believe the sheer beauty of all that is around you.  This city is amazing.  

We had a great day and the day isn’t over yet.  This evening we have dinner reservations at another restaurant.
 
Cheers,

​Anne Marie & Keith