to Heidelberg

Today was just a l-o-n-g day . . . I do love taking the train but when it is this long it is just sort of miserable . . . I mean you can only do so much! One of the top news stories last night was about three ICE (InterCity Express) trains having total failure of the air conditioning system . . . temperatures were over 110 when emergency personnel arrived . . . thankfully we had no issues! We managed to group and count all the Euro coins Colin has collected . . .
. . . other than that not much else. The train was much fuller today than on Friday which is a bummer! We are headed back to Germany . . .

Vienna, day 3

Today is Sunday so many things were closed but still wanted to not miss a beat and see as much as possible.

First Stop: Stephansdom . . . not real smart arriving in the morning as it is a church but the book said the elevator to the top opened at 8:30 which was wrong of course . . . so we took a walk around outside and saw this . . .


. . . but the best part of the church was the roof . . .



Next Stop: Mozarthaus . . . I guess it was really his apartment but he did live here for a little over 2 years. Again it had an audio tour just for kids and Colin did very good. Who knew? It was a place that did not allow photos but I did sneak in one . . .

. . . it doesn't show anything from the museum so no harm done, right?. I will admit it was VERY tempting to snap a photo of some of his musical scores though.


Moving on to: Hofburg . . . home to the Habsburg dynasty that ruled Austria for six centuries. It was massive but as Colin would say just another building with boring stuff. A couple photos of the silly boy . . .





Last Stop: Spanish Riding School . . . yes, we are in Austria but the world famous white Lipizzaner stallions are here and the Spanish Riding School is where the riders are trained. I booked the tour last week and was afraid there would be no horses on site. The Lipizzaners get two holidays a year; 2 months in summer and 2 weeks in winter so most were out frolicking on the farm but a dozen were behind for some special event. The tour was interesting but very strict . . . no photo and no touching anything. There were even an extra employee on the tour to make sure the rules were followed and no one under 4 allowed. The performance hall was beautiful . . . the largest chandeliers I have ever seen . . . in an area where horse perform. I am glad we went!

Of course always time to do a little of this . . .




By this point it is beyond hot but Colin wanted to take a carriage ride. I was in the middle of a major allergy attack . . . guess I am still very allergic to horses . . . I was beyond miserable but again took one for the team. It was short, and he was happy. We then zipped back to the hotel and went immediately to the pool . . . just what I needed to get some fresher air and wash my eyes out! Tomorrow we change locations again . . .

Vienna, day 2

After the swim, I was feeling like we had to do something so we headed out to two stops on the list . . . hey can't totally waste an evening. The first stop was to have a go on this at Prater Park . . .

. . . pretty cool and it had a nice museum at the beginning showing the history and progression over time of the ferris wheel. It is called a riesenrad . . . I guessing it translates to travel around which we know as a ferris wheel. I read some where that the London Eye was designed off this concept but of course much more modern. It was really just one ride in a large amusement park to which Colin was SO excited but there was no way he was riding the other rides.

So we went to our final stop of the night. This is the most photographed statue in the City Park of Vienna . . .

. . . if you are curious it is Johann Strauss II who is known as the "King of Waltz". I don't think it is as tacky as my guide book. It was a lively Saturday night in the park with live music and a festival so we joined right in. Colin noticed a playground as we exited the U-bahn and I promised he could play . . . it was getting late and I don't like being out in unfamiliar places so we gave the playground a few minutes . . .
. . . I tell you kids can adapt so easily especially on a playground.

to Vienna, day 1

Today we boarded a train to Vienna from Germany . . . a very long 5 hours 47 minutes later we arrived! We did a lot of this . . .

It wasn't too bad and the train was fairly new and very empty so that helped. I did our hotel reservation the night before we left . . . last minute and a good deal . . . very centrally located. Colin proclaimed, "this is the bestest hotel EVER!" I have to agree! From the minute we checked in everything was so easy and everyone so friendly! I love this place and so don't want to leave. The cold pool and hot pool are both very nice at the end of a long day too. Where are we staying? Le Meridien . . . of course everything is over priced as far as breakfast and such but with my frequent traveler card we got free drinks in the mini bar and it is restocked daily!



We quickly dropped our bag at the room and headed out. I found a great place outside for us since we had been stuck on a train all day . . . Schonbrunn Palace! First I had to stop by the Tourist Information Office to try and book a trip for tomorrow . . . we did stroll by the impressive Opera House on the walk there and saw about a dozen men and women dressed as Mozart trying to sell us tickets; seriously for a six year old? Back to the Schonbrunn . . . it is open later during the summer months so it fit the bill. The outside was just amazing . . . the landscaping is just not justifiable with words!




A very hot boy trying to be silly . . .

The best part was getting lost in the mazes . . .

. . . I cheated and asked for a map just in case but Colin found our way out!


. . . and the playground was pretty cool too!

. . . we both had fun even though it was hot . . . someone was good about finding shade.
Speaking of hot . . . the one thing I was so looking forward to was the cooler summer temperatures but apparently they have followed us from Texas. There are some days it is cooler in Texas than Europe but at least in Texas you have air conditioning which is not very likely in Europe. Anyway, back on target. We spent an hour or so exploring the outside of Schonbrunn. We hopped back on the U-bahn to find dinner. We were not having much luck so grabbed McDonald's. Hmmmm, sure seems like we are eating there often doesn't it? A swim was the perfect end to a long day . . . tomorrow will be a long one!

***The big news story was happening in Vienna . . . the Russian spies were transferred at the airport . . . we had no clue until we watched the news, LOL.