2007- Vienna!

What a difference a 2-hour flight makes!  Milan to Vienna on Ryan Air ($C.20. including taxes!) we went from plus-15 degrees in Tuscany in mid-November and straight into a heavy, wet snow storm.....after a hairy shuttle bus ride from Bratislava, we were so grateful to see the smiling faces of friends Maria and Andres.....and the start of some excellent eating!  Check out the Sacher Torte which Maria made for us!!We enjoyed such a great 3 days of touring, courtesy of Maria, Andres and Horst.  Early the first day, we walked through a sunny, white winter's day to the Gloriette restaurant an enjoyed breakfast in the Hapsburg's Schonbrunn Summer Palace retreat, which you can see at the top of the photo.

 Cathedrals abound in Vienna: the two we saw was the famous St Stephen's gothic-style Cathedral as well as the St Charles Church, quite a bit more modern.  We also went to a fascinating display of many crypts of the Hapsberg family...concluding with the one housing Archduke Ferdinand, who was assisinated in 1914.  He was the last of the Hapsbergs who had ruled a large part of Europe for 700 years.

A highlight for Linda and I was  our visit to the Central Cemetery, at 1.5 million internments, the largest cemetery in the world.  Here you "see" our beloved Beethoven, presiding over the musicians section, probably leading them in one of his symphonies!

Pre- Christmas festivities were getting into full swing and we loved our visit to the Christkindinmarkt hosted by Viennna's City Hall....arts and crafts, mulled wine, Potato Jim's (!!) children's activities including cookie making and wreath making contests.  It was such a festive atmosphere and one of our best memories was chatting with 3 United Nations people from various parts of the world over a mulled wine! Vienna is truly and international city.

The biggest thrill for Linda and I was hearing the Vienna Boys Choir sing at the Hapsberg Family Chapel in the Winter Palace which we had toured earlier.   The glorious sweet voices singing "Hayden's Paukenmesse" in this acoustically-perfect chapel  was unforgettable!  To celebrate our visit, we were taken out to a fabulous restaurant on the outskirts of Vienna, Marchfelderhof.  Previous famous visitors included Elizabeth Taylor and Joe Cocker who must have been just as WOWED as we were by the multitude of eccentric and odd decorations as we were.  Here you see us all enjoying scrumptious German-style fare and the Candian flag which Linda and I signed, adding Montreal and PEI to the other Candadians who had visited!
Ah, so saddened to be flying back after such a great 6 week journey.....London, the UK and Scotland with Robert, then Paris and Belgium with Linda and Gerdien, and now Tuscany and Vienna with Linda.  Thank you, dear travel companions, for sharing this memorable trip with me!!