July 22
This morning, we had a later start of 9:30 and we were
driven to the city and then took a walking tour. It focused on the buildings on the Ringstrasse, the lovely boulevard laid out on the site of
the old city walls in the mid-19th century. Imposing palaces, elegant public
buildings and grand residences line this world-famous avenue. Highlights of the
tour was seeing the Hofburg Palace, winter residence of the
Hapsburgs and home of the Spanish Riding School with its Lipizzaner horses, and
Vienna State Opera concert hall with its facade adorned with elaborate frescoes
depicting Mozart’s opera The Magic Flute.
The walking tour ended in the main square at the Gothic St. Stephen’s Cathedral where we had some free time.
We started in the Cathedral and then went in search of my
obligatory magnet. We tried the plum pastry Kaiserschmarrn which was excellent.
Our ship had a minor issue, so it went for repairs, and we moved back to the original location over lunch before our afternoon tour of the castle.
Due to the ship having to be moved back to its original space got a later start on our tour which caused us to miss our time slot for the castle tour, we had free time first and then the visit. (they just reversed our tour to accommodate the time issue) Viking does a great job of rearranging things when needed.
Schönbrunn Palace is the magnificent summer home of the Hapsburg Dynasty, built to rival the sprawling Château de Versailles.
In 1775, Empress Maria Theresa, the only female ruler of the Hapsburgs, added the grand neoclassical Gloriette colonnade so she could have sweeping city views. We saw the imperial apartments and grandly furnished rooms where she resided. We learned about her extraordinary reign, which featured many military campaigns and domestic reforms in medicine, education and civil rights.
Maria Theresa was ruler of the Habsburg dominions from 1740 until her death in 1780, and the only woman to hold the position in her own right. She was the sovereign of Austria, Hungary, Croatia, Bohemia, Transylvania, Mantua, Milan, Galicia and Lodomeria, the Austrian Netherlands, and Parma. Since we were visiting many of these countries we heard much of her story and about her husband and 16 children in our upcoming ports. It was a nice tour with a bit of free time for the gardens.
We had 10 minutes until dinner, and Viking made a special early time for those of us going to the Mozart and Strauss concert. They had front row seats for us for The Vienna Residence Orchestra concert. It was a collection of Strauss waltzes and selections from Mozart’s The Magic Flute.
It was fabulous! There was a soprano and either a tenor or baritone (many on the tour disagreed on which it was) and 2 ballet dances. There were 5 strings, a pianist and a flautist. They were in period costume (just the singers and dancers) Unfortunately, no photos were allowed while performing. At the end there was a split second where I could have grabbed a photo, but my camera battery was dead. They were off the stage before Greg could get out his cell phone. After the concert, we had a late evening drive to see the lights of the city.
Back at the ship they had had goulash soup which was excellent.
For larger photos:
City Tour, Schönbrunn Palace &
Mozart & Strauss Concert - Vienna, Austria https://photos.app.goo.gl/Lz8ruSwt5N3BxQHG6
Tomorrow, we have an all day tour of called the Jewels of Vienna's Ring.
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