We catch the high speed train from Innsbruck to Vienna. I have booked us first class, just more comfortable when on the train for three hours. Our steward comes along and introduces himself; Mike or Magic Mike he says….without the six pack!

Beautiful countryside once again; Denis loves travelling by train so I had arranged a few legs of our trip via trains. Must say it is easy to do in these countries that have so many train routes. We left the mountain area and found ourselves in rolling countryside. We arrived in Vienna in three hours and grab a taxi to our apartment. We are met by our host who is Viennese. His AirBnB profile indicates that he speaks five languages, including Dutch as his mother was from the Netherlands. Always amazes me as to the multiple languages that Europeans’ speak, a real gift.

I believe I mentioned before that I did not write about the history of Austria on this trip, as I had covered it in my blog from two years ago. Thought I would mention though, that there is a national election on September 29th. The people will elect the 27th National Council. This snap election was called in the wake of the collapse of the ruling ÖVP–FPÖ coalition and the announcement of Vice Chancellor Heinz-Christian Strache’s resignation on 18 May 2019, following the Ibiza affair. The Ibiza affair was a recording of a secret meeting held in Ibiza between a Russian who indicated they would ensure positive press coverage for Strache’s party, the FPO, in return for government contracts. The election was called the day after Strache resigned. We keep hearing that the Russians don’t meddle in other countries politics and elections…yeah, right!

We get settled in, find the local grocery store and relax on the upper floor deck; still some sunshine for us to enjoy a glass of wine. None of us feel like walking too far to find a place for dinner. Debbie finds a Spanish restaurant that is a two minute walk from the apartment. Perfect….nice change from the heavy German/Austrian menu.

Saturday arrives and we are off to the Naschmarkt. A tourist website tells me “Vienna’s best-known market has around 120 market stands and restaurants for a colorful culinary offering ranging from Viennese to Indian, from Vietnamese to Italian. The Naschmarkt has developed into a meeting point for young and old. The Flea Market on Saturday is already a cult event.” I wasn’t aware that there was a flea market on Saturday’s. The market is about a ten minute walk from our apartment. Robin and I visited here two years ago when we were here. Walk along the market and it is already quite busy. Stop for a coffee at a small outdoor cafe at the market and enjoy the sun. A little cool this morning…..just 7 degrees. We are layered for the cool weather and it is supposed to reach 19C this afternoon.

We then make our way to the centre of Vienna. We had booked tickets to go see the famous Lipizzaner Horse Show before we left Canada. Good thing as I do believe that it was sold out. We enjoyed the program….not so sure Denis did…..thinks he likes the bucking horses at the Calgary Stampede a bit better. Took one picture of the arena before the performance started, but one could not take pictures once the horses came into the arena.

The Spanish Riding School (Spanische Hofreitschule) is a Viennese institution. The horses perform a “horse ballet” to classical music.

From my guide book – “The Lipizzaner stallion breed dates back to 1520, when Ferdinand 1 imported the first horses from Spain for the Imperial Palace. His son imported new stock in the late 1500’s and Archduke Charles 11 established the imperial stud in Lipizza (in Slovenia today). Italian horses were added to the stock around the mid 1700’s and by the 18th century the Lipizzaner horses were well established and had a reputation for being Europe’s finest horses.”

During this trip we have heard a lot about the Nazi regime. Well, here we go again. When the second world war broke out, Hitler’s army wanted the Lippizaner stud so that they could breed military horses. In 1945 the American army seized the Lipizzaner and other horses and transferred them back to Austria. We weren’t sure why Hitler’s army wanted to breed military horses during WW11 as this was a mechanized war.

Love the beautiful buildings, monuments and statues in Vienna.

We then stop for lunch at an outdoor cafe where they have blankets on the chairs and they have the heaters going. We then go our own way. Debbie and Denis go off and take a Hop on Hop off bus. Robin and I went to the Albertina Museum. We missed going on our last trip here. Enjoyed the works of Monet, Picasso, Renoir, Miro, Durer and others. The building that houses the art was once used as Habsburg’s imperial apartments for guests. It is always amazing to us at how proficient these artists must have been as we have seen their art work throughout our travels at many museums and art galleries.

On the way back to the apartment, Robin and I stop at Cafe Mozart which is just across the street from the museum. This is one of the coffee shops that was recommended by our landlord. We shared a piece of the famous Viennese “Sacha Torte”. Very good…..as Robin would say “of course, it’s chocolate”!

On Saturday night we attended a Mozart concert at the Musikverein concert hall. I had bought tickets for this concert when we started planning this trip back in April. This concert hall is so beautiful and said to have the best acoustics of any concert hall in Austria. We were able to take pictures of the concert hall prior to the concert beginning, but not during the concert itself.

When we go to find our seats, we are escorted to the Orchestra platform; we all look at each other. We are basically seated just to the side and a little back from the orchestra. This gave us a perfect view of the Conductor of the orchestra. All of the orchestra members are dressed in period costumes and wigs which added to the performance. In addition to the orchestra, we were entertained by a Soprano and a Tenor opera singer for a few songs. We all thought that seated where we were, was absolutely wonderful. The best part; as I mentioned before was watching the conductor. You can tell this man loves his job. He would point to the violin, cello, horn or drum section and he would give a little shrug, give a little wink, raise his eyebrows, point his baton and give a little twirl. Not sure one would see this if you were seated in the main auditorium.

Just before the intermission, the conductor starts to conduct the audience by clapping. He would clap slowly, speed up, clap slower then stop. He would expect the audience to follow. If someone kept clapping when he stopped, he would simply shake his finger. He would then point at his eyes and then the audience, as if to say….”I am watching you and you better listen to what I am telling you to do”. This was so entertaining; he did it again at the end of the evening. The concert lasted almost two hours and we all enjoyed it.

On our way back to the apartment after the concert, we walk past the Karlskirche (St. Charles Church) is lit up, beautiful at night. This Baroque church was built between 1716-1739. A huge copper dome on the top and two tall twin towers anchor the church.

On Sunday, we head off to Schonbrunn Palace. Although Robin and I had visited here two years ago, we decided to return so Debbie and Denis could see it. We take the subway to get there. Once again, cannot believe the crowds. We arrive at 9:30am and there must already be 10 – 12 tour buses in the parking lot.

OK, I don’t want to offend anyone, but following is a rant about rude tourists who travel in large groups. These people, often Asian, are pushy, take over the whole sidewalk or take over a whole room in a gallery or museum, making it very difficult for other’s to get by. Often during this trip, in major tourists areas, all of us have had to elbow our way through, stop them from running us over. Last night at the concert, as I was about to ask an usher a question, this Asian man tries to but in. I put my had out and stopped him and told him it was not his turn! My favourite saying when something like this happens….”Shame on you”. I was thinking it, just used my inside voice! I really think the tour guides for these large groups need to have some “tourist etiquette” lessons with these people. For example, when we toured Hitler’s Aerie, our guide would tell us to stand to one side so other people could get through and she was also respectful in keeping her voice low, but loud enough for our group to hear. Ok, that is the end of my rant.

Tickets for Schonbrunn Palace are for a specific entry time and ours was 10 to 10:15 am. If you are later than this, you forfeit your entry. We have seen this in several places we have visited.

Schonbrunn (means beautiful spring) was the summer palace of the Habsburg’s and is now a Unesco World Heritage site. The land was purchased in 1569 by the Holy Roman Emperor Maximillian 11. The land was used for hunting and a recreation ground of the ruling class of the day. The Schönbrunn Palace in its present form was built and remodelled during the 1740–50s during the reign of empress Maria Theresa (spoke about her in length in my blog from 2 yrs. ago) who received the estate as a wedding gift.

In November 1918, the palace became the property of the newly founded Austrian Republic and was preserved as a museum. After WW11, the palace was made into an administrative centre for the British army. With the reestablishment of the Austrian republic in 1955, the palace once again became a museum. It is still sometimes used for important events such as the meeting between U.S. president John F. Kennedy and Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev in 1961. It is also used for concerts. In 2017, some 3.8 million people visited the palace, Vienna’s most popular tourist site. The palace and grounds cover 186 hectares (about 460 acres).

Unfortunately one cannot take pictures when touring the interior of the palace.

The palace itself is a huge building and is built in the neoclassical style and decorated in the Rococo style. It has 1441 rooms of which 40 are open to the public; we did the “Grand Tour” and visited all 40 rooms. All very opulent with the finest of materials used in the furnishings, beautiful paintings on the walls and ceilings, wonderful art work and the finest of wooden finishings. The grounds of the Schonbrunn are immense and the formal gardens, in a French style, are meticulously tended.

Subway back to the apartment and our final dinner out tonight to a traditional Viennese restaurant. Monday morning we catch an early flight to Amsterdam, overnight there and then back home to Calgary on Tuesday.

We have been very fortunate with the weather on our trip.

We have enjoyed sharing this trip with my brother Denis and our sister in law Debbie. A wonderful three weeks in Germany and Austria both of which have much history and much beauty. Thanks again to Robin for sharing these trips with me….wouldn’t have it any other way.

My final chapter on this trip. I do enjoy writing my blog and hopefully provides the readers with some insight to the places we visit.