Moving on to Vienna

Weissenbach is just a small hamlet so not much in the way of sightseeing there. It is situated on the largest lake in Austria, Attersee. We were less than impressed with this hotel, either the hotel is very tired or the staff very tired at the end of the season or both. Dinner was ok but served by a grumpy server. I had goulash with Austrian dumpling while Wendy had schnitzel. Another guest in the dining room learned over and explained to me that the dumplings were a very old Austrian country dish that poor people would eat, made from chunks of old bread and squeezed into a ball then baked. I found it very heavy and only ate about 1/4 of mine. The beef goulash was delicious. We shared a chocolate dessert that was nummy, best part of the meal.

Our Headwater reps, Jill and Colin, picked us up at 10am and drove us to the closest train station, Attnang-Puchheim. We caught the 11:35 train to Vienna. 1 3/4 hr trip and then onto the subway (u-bahn) and within 30 minutes of arriving in Vienna, we were checked into our hotel which was only a couple of blocks from our stop. The room we checked into was tiny, and I mean tiny! Hard to come into after our lovely hotels from our Headwater and HF trips. We just left our stuff and went out for a much needed cappucinno after telling the hotel clerk that if at all possible we needed a bigger room. We were told the place was full. After we were caffeinated we headed for St. Stephens, the Vienna cathedral. It is a glorious church, built around the 1240's on top of an earlier church.  We love to go into these old churches which are dark, cool, full of history, and so much quieter than the streets. 

We were a bit overwhelmed by the crowds in Vienna, after walking in the country for the last week. Bus loads and bus loads of tourists. We wandered around for awhile in the old city, which is contained by a ring road. The best thing is that many of the streets are pedestrian with only the odd car or taxi with a special permit. Makes for more pleasant walking. 

We ended up at an Italian place for dinner, thinking pizza was what we needed tonight: comfort food!  (Not looking forward to going back to our 'cupboard' to sleep tonight.) This restaurant was a unique operation for us: you are given a card when you come in and then find a seat, before going to the right counter to order a pizza, or pasta, or salad or whatever. Then to the drinks counter. Each station loads the order onto the card, and then at the end you pay at the front counter whatever is listed on your card. Wendy chatted with the pizza maker who turned out to be from Ottawa.

We went back to our hotel and checked at the front desk, and the evening clerk said he had a cancellation and we could move into our new room. We checked it out and were pleased that while not big by any stretch of the imagination, it was acceptable. We quickly moved our stuff over and ended up happy.

This morning we decided to take the tram that circles the ring road. We bought 24 hr tram passes and hopped on. This way we could get off and on when we saw something we wanted to look at. It's a much cheaper way to see some of the sights than the "hop on hop off" buses found in most big cities. They have a commentary but we had a guide book so we thought it was a good deal. We did jump off at one spot on one of the Danube canals. We went for coffee at a cafe over top of the canal.  You can take a boat from here to Bratislava in one hour! Imagine!

The canal at this point is the border between old city and new city. Baroque vs skyscraper!

 

These new modern buildings looked like they were slanting into each other.

We jumped back on the tram and got off next at the Rathaus (City Hall). 

Today it is surrounded by fencing as the grounds are being set up for the 500th anniversary of the Reformation. But apparently during the month of Christmas a huge advent calendar is displayed on this building using the windows. Each day in December a new one is opened. Wouldn't that be fun to see? We tried to imagine which windows are used for that.

We heard music that immediately drew us up to the fence to see what was going on. A full orchestra was practicing on the stage and the group in front was a choir with their choir master up on a chair conducting, his music pages blowing in the breeze. We stood and listened to the entire Hallelujah chorus from Handel's Messiah! What a treat!  This was followed by a little Bach. This is a rehearsal for tomorrow's concert. (We chatted at our spot along the fence with a couple from Oregon who told us they tell everyone they are from Vancouver! Proud Americans!)

We wandered home for a little lunch (apples and cheese) then headed off to find a laundromat. We had the address but it was a little farther than we thought. Then we got to figure out the washers, spin-dryers and dryers. We went home on the tram with some nice clean clothes. Oh the joy of clean pjs!!

In the evening we attended a Heurigen, a Viennese wine-garden near the vineyards on the north side of the city. We took the tram to Nußdorf, and went to this one, in operation since 1711. 

Although there was a lovely garden courtyard, we opted to eat indoors as it was cooling off by then. We tried their 'new wine', actually last year's vintage, and the some of their Gruner Veltliner, the wonderful crisp Ausrtian white wine. 

Then we headed to the deli counter to choose an appetizer, bread with choice of spreads, and some hot dishes. The gal serves them out, and weighs them.  You pay her right there and carry your food back to your table. Another gal came by our table with a big basket of chocolate-covered fruits but she  didn't work for the restaurant, and was making the rounds of tables at other nearby Heurigen.

The place was filling up and getting noisier as we headed out for our tram ride home.