before walking to Wien Mitte station (via Stadtpark with the Johan Strauss statue) 
to check whether we needed to reserve seats for the train tomorrow. It was a pleasant walk but fairly unnecessary as we were told "no need to reserve, just get on the train and take whatever seat you want". We then headed over to Stephensplatz and had a look through St Stephens church. It was quite dark compared to many of the others we have seen 
and appeared to be in the process of having a "60 minute makeover" as the top half of the church looked like it had been steam cleaned (on the outside) and the bottom half was still dirty. I am sure it will be very impressive once it is totally finished.
We then walked toward the Hofburg Palace (winter residence for the Hapsburg family) 
via the State Opera House 
and found a Harvest Festival in progress in Heldenpaltz (place where Hitler declared Austria and Germany to be one nation). 
Our entertainment was a group of Morris-like dancers who had branches as garlands and these were interwoven above the dancers heads in some form of structured routine. 
There were also a lot of stalls selling fruit, vegetable and farm-type products as well as agriculture related activities. Kind of like an A&P show combined with a farmers market in Viennese style. 
It was very relaxing and offered a short break before we headed off in search of Sigmund Freud's house. After quite a walk we successfully found it 
and spent about an hour or so looking through exhibits about his life. If my recall serves me right then the name plate shows his hours of practice as well as his title. Having walked that far we then, of course, had to walk all the way back - stopping briefly at the Rathaus (Town Hall) 
and Parliament Buildings. 
via the State Opera House and found a Harvest Festival in progress in Heldenpaltz (place where Hitler declared Austria and Germany to be one nation). Our entertainment was a group of Morris-like dancers who had branches as garlands and these were interwoven above the dancers heads in some form of structured routine. There were also a lot of stalls selling fruit, vegetable and farm-type products as well as agriculture related activities. Kind of like an A&P show combined with a farmers market in Viennese style. It was very relaxing and offered a short break before we headed off in search of Sigmund Freud's house. After quite a walk we successfully found it and spent about an hour or so looking through exhibits about his life. If my recall serves me right then the name plate shows his hours of practice as well as his title. Having walked that far we then, of course, had to walk all the way back - stopping briefly at the Rathaus (Town Hall) and Parliament Buildings. By the time we got back to the hotel we had time for a quick coffee and then it was off to the Mozart Requiem. It was really pleasant (even if your not a classical fan) as the setting was beautiful and the performers all very talented. 
We finished the evening off with a quiet relax in the bar of the hotel. I ordered Sacher Torte (as it seems wrong to come to Vienna and not try their speciality!!) but the waitress forgot to bring it so might have to try and get some before we leave tomorrow. She was very apologetic and gave us free wine and nibbles to make up for her mistake so we did okay.
Tomorrow is Schonbrunner Palace and ?Sacher Torte and whatever else we have time for before we catch our train to Prague mid-afternoon.
No comments:
Post a Comment