More Vienna

On Wednesday, the 6th of August, we started the last leg of our trip. We had to say 'Good-Bye' to my mother , since she was taking the train back to Mannheim. The car was packed and we started our drive to Vienna. It was an overcast and slightly foggy morning, so we were only partially able to enjoy the beautiful views while driving through Carinthia and Steiermark. The mist lifted just as we were leaving the mountains and entering the great flat plains in Niederoesterreich.

Jason needed measuring sticks from the hardware store ( which he only seems to be able to find in Europe). We figured once we turned in the car in Vienna, this would be hard to accomplish and so we exited the autobahn in Wiener Neustadt and found all the big hardware chains in an Industrial area at the edge of town. All day we had wondered, where all the traffic was, but it finally caught up with as as we left the Wiener Neustadt, and for a whole hour we had to sit in a mayor traffic jam due to construction. We reached Vienna in the early afternoon. As we gased up the car, we got a detailed map of Vienna, which was very helpful in getting us to our hotel at the Roosevelt Platz, jut by Votivkirche. At the Hotel Regina our room was ready and we were able

to freshen up. When booking the hotel, it was not easy to find a place, that allowed 4 persons in a room. Hotel Regina occupies a grand old palace and was opened as a hotel at the end of the 19th century. The girls loved walking the grand staircase and the long hallways with pictures and remnants of the past. Our room looked out into the inner courtyard and it was nice to be able to open the windows, since the weather was hot and muggy.

After a small break we got back into the car and returned it to the rental place. Driving in Vienna's inner city is truly no fun and so we were happy to be rid of it. The rental place was at Schubert Ring - the opposite side of the Ring (the inner city in Vienna is circled by what is called "The Ring" , huge boulevards, that connect and make a several mile circle; the inner part is mostly pedestrian. Outside the ring it is free for all). That gave us a good opportunity to walk back across the inner city. We walked past many of the great sites, the Opera House, the Hofburg, Hotel Sacher, Stefansdom, to name just a few, to get back to the Schottenplatz and the area of our hotel. We had dinner in a Kaffeehaus with soup and sausages and - off course - torte for desert.

The next morning, after our fabulous breakfast buffet, we took the underground to Schoenbrunn to visit Schloss Schoenbrunn, the summer residence of the Habsburg emperors. The extremely humid heat and the hundreds of people made this an interesting experience. We were early enough to get right in without having to get a timed ticket for later. We semi raced through the 40 rooms on the self guided tour, because the girls lost patience fast amidst the many people that pushed and shoved through the exhibits. I was quite disappointed how poorly the tour was done. On the headsets you were not able to skip ahead and already the long introduction set us back. Yelling Spanish and Italian tour guides did not help, nor did drones of Japanese tourist, who refused to let anyone pass. Back outside we saw, that the admission line was now snaking through the courtyard and the wait time must have been hours. Schloss Schoenbrunn is surrounded by beautiful formal gardens. We walked around for quite a while and climbed up to the Gloriette from where there is a great view over the castle and Vienna itself. We refueled by having a cold drink and siting in the shade next to the Imperial Carriage museum, one of several other museums on the grounds of Schloss Schoenbrunn.

Back in the Inner City we followed a walking tour suggested by my travel guide and took in all the great sites we had just skirted the day before. I was really blown a way by the beauty and grandeur of Vienna. The Viennese did a great job of rebuilding and keeping up old buildings after WWII. Let's face it, Vienna used to be the center of a huge empire, and this shows in the rich architecture, museum collections and just the whole face of the city. The Austrians are very proud of their history, heritage, and traditions. One of the places, where this shows best is the Hotel Sacher, home of the "Original Sachertorte" (now, that is a long story to be told another time). We had seen the day before the line, that waited to get into the cafe, so when we were able to get right in, we seized the moment and decided to have a lunch of torte, chocolate and coffee. The Sachertorte was fabulous, off course and so were the coffees. The girls loved their hot chocolates and we were able to keep them civilized in these surroundings for a while. After this unorthodox lunch we continued our walk through town until the girls complaining became unbearable and we had to head back to the hotel. A little rest and some TV did wonders and everyone was calm again for more sightseeing. A street trolley follows the Ring and it was a lot of fun to let the city pass by and enjoy the views from the seat of the trolley. We got out at the Stadtpark to stroll around, and surely we found a playground, which made the girls very happy.

We finished the round on the trolley and headed for dinner. After yet another typical Viennese dinner we walked around some more and explored little streets and alleyways around the Naschmarkt.

Friday was a very special day, because we got to visit my cousin Barbara and her family. Barbara is actually my niece, since she is the daughter of my cousin, but she is slightly older than me, which has always lead to jokes and amusement.

Jason had to work in the morning, so the girls and I took the trolley to the "Hundertwasserhaus" and "Kunsthaus". Friedenreich Hundertwasser was probably Austria's most famous painter, architect and sculptor. In 1983/4 this famous appartment building was constructed in Vienna, which draws tons of tourists every year. While strolling around this Friday morning, I was wondering why the streets were so empty. We later found out, that this day was a holiday, which explained the absence of hustle and bustle in the city. At 10.30 we were back at the hotel, where Martin, Barbara's husband picked us up, to take us to their house for brunch. They live with their children in a very nice part of Vienna. The family occupies the bottom floor of a condo building and they also own the yard, which is on several levels, the highest one of which has a swimming pool. Marlene and Amelia were delighted to find out that they could speak English to their cousins, since the two younger ones, Viktoria and Clemens, are attending the American school in Vienna; Patricia, the oldest is at 13, well versed in English, as well, so all the kids were after the initial awkwardness running around playing together. After brunch they were even swimming in the swimming pool. It was nice for us adults to have grown up conversations. Barbara and I figured that it has been about 20 years since we last saw each other. I really hope we don't have to wait another 20 years for the next meeting. We got along really well and soon it was evening. The Ulm's were heading out to finish their summer vacation with friends in their vacation home. They had graciously interrupted their travels to meet up with us in Vienna.

In the afternoon a long awaited thunderstorm had come upon the city and the air had cooled down considerably. We were quite cold on our evening walk, which, off course, did not keep the girls away from their ice cream.

Our last day started with a bit of a hang up. As we tried to check in on line for our flight the next morning, we noticed that Jason was on a different flight than the girls and me. I had to spent a whole morning in going to the airport and getting everything (or so I thought) straightened out. After that , Jason had to work again and I took Marlene and Amelia back to Schloss Schoenbrunn, this time to the Kindermuseum. This museum is for children about the life of children at the Imperial Court. We learnt about personal hygiene, playtime, education, and food and table manners. Everything was very hands on. We played in the playroom of the royal princesses; we learnt to set the table for a typical 5 course dinner; we dressed up wigs and hairpieces, and we had a look at the schoolbooks used for the princes. In each room there was a wheel showing how life was at court and how the same aspect of life was for normal people. The best part though was dressing up. All children got to dress up in period clothes (Empress Maria Theresia and Empress Elizabeth). There were dresses and undergarments in all sizes. There were hoop skirts bodices, wigs and gloves. There were formal dresses and "casual" wear. The girls loved it. I think the museum was done very well. The girls really learnt something and cleaned up with all the Disney Princess expectations, at least for that moment.

After that I got to spent an hour on Saturday afternoon by myself and went to the Cafe Central. It was the coffeehouse of the intellectuals and literati at the turn of the century. Even though it was destroyed during the war, it was rebuilt in the old style and now serves coffeehouse fare to tourists and locals alike. When I returned everyone was watching the Olympics, but ready to head out for more exploration. We went to the Prater to ride the big Ferris Wheel. The Prater is the Conney Island of Vienna. It has been an amusement park for over 100 years. The Riesenrad was built in 1897 and has delighted generations of riders. People ride in train car like carriages, about 20 guest at a time. It took about 15 minutes around and we had nice views of the city. After that we walked around some more and the girls got to ride on more rides, but the weather was cold and rainy, which drove us back in the city.

A few nights ago, we had found a small cellar restaurant named "Kolar", where in a small clay oven they bake fresh pita bread and then fill it and rebake it according to customer specification. The whole place was a little away from everything and had the feeling of an underground student pub. In the US it would never be allowed to have children in such a place; but, hey, this was Europe. It was, as well the only place we ate in Vienna, we did not feel ripped off as foreigners.

Back in the hotel we had an early night after packing, since we had to get up early for our 7 am flight the next morning. The hotel provided a car service and a very generous bagged breakfast for us. We made it to the airport without problems and out flight to London was uneventful as well. It was quite a long time we had to wait at Heathrow for our connecting flight, which resulted in not quite necessary, but very interesting book purchases on my part. I don't know, why books always look more interesting in the U.K. I love books written by Indian authors and the U.K. is definitely the place to get them. Our flight to Seattle was not very eventful as well. Marlene loved watching movies for 11 hours straight. she did not sleep for a single minute. When we were finally home, she fell asleep in the chair, we carried her to bed and she slept for 15 hours straight. Amelia was more difficult, because she did not have the attention span to watch movies. I had to change the channel for her constantly, which as a result kept me awake, not to every ones pleasure. Our suitcases did not make it to Seattle, but were delivered 2 days later (what else is new).

Over all we had a great summer vacation. I think everyone loved the variety. At first I was a little worried, that it might not work out, but everything went well. The girls are already asking, when we are going again.

Europe Phase 2 - Carinthia