Mozart was Here
Vienna was once the seat of the Hapsburg Monarchy and the center of the Holy Roman Empire.
After breakfast this morning we started our tour with a guided bus ride through the center of town. This gave us a chance to cover a lot of ground and see the many beautiful buildings.
After the bus tour we disembarked and started the walking portion of the tour. We walked through the grounds of one of the palaces that has been converted to government buildings. Since it was Sunday all the shops were closed, but Karen managed to find one and slipped into it when a bunch of tour people needed to go to the WC. It was a shop that sold hand made in Austria petti point so she just had to get some.
Once everyone got back from the WC we moved on and saw some of the stables for the Lipsinger Horses, but alas, no horses. We saw many of their 'cousins' pulling tourists around the center of the city. We walked some more and ended up at Saint Stephens Cathedral. Bill and Ric stopped at a coffee shop while the rest of up peeked into the cathedral and walked around the streets.
After returning to the ship for lunch, we met our private guide Brenda, and went back into town. This time, it was to get the 'inside scoop', how Venetians live and their history.
Brenda showed us the old city wall and gave us a great history lesson. She was so knowledgeable! We walked the back alleys with its many nooks and crannies, narrow and winding roads and its medieval and baroque houses seeing every day life.
She showed us where Mozart gave his first recital and the room remains exactly as it did then. This room was in a building owned by the Tetonic Knights and it was a beautiful place. Without having a private guide, we would have never seen this.
We stopped at a lovely Venetian coffee house where Mozart and Beethoven once played. It was very pretty inside and we enjoyed apple struddel and Sacher Torte. How amazing to be in Vienna and be able to do that.
We continued our tour around town in the Jewish section and saw the temple that had to be disguised even before World War II. Emporer Franz Joseph allowed them to practice their religion as long as the buildings that they worshipped in were disguised to look like other buildings. The hidden door is just right of the men below.
Brenda was well studied not only on history, but church history. In fact, at the end of our tour we told her our group was well versed in the Bible but we learned so much more because of her knowledge.
After breakfast this morning we started our tour with a guided bus ride through the center of town. This gave us a chance to cover a lot of ground and see the many beautiful buildings.
After the bus tour we disembarked and started the walking portion of the tour. We walked through the grounds of one of the palaces that has been converted to government buildings. Since it was Sunday all the shops were closed, but Karen managed to find one and slipped into it when a bunch of tour people needed to go to the WC. It was a shop that sold hand made in Austria petti point so she just had to get some.
Once everyone got back from the WC we moved on and saw some of the stables for the Lipsinger Horses, but alas, no horses. We saw many of their 'cousins' pulling tourists around the center of the city. We walked some more and ended up at Saint Stephens Cathedral. Bill and Ric stopped at a coffee shop while the rest of up peeked into the cathedral and walked around the streets.
After returning to the ship for lunch, we met our private guide Brenda, and went back into town. This time, it was to get the 'inside scoop', how Venetians live and their history.
Brenda showed us the old city wall and gave us a great history lesson. She was so knowledgeable! We walked the back alleys with its many nooks and crannies, narrow and winding roads and its medieval and baroque houses seeing every day life.
She showed us where Mozart gave his first recital and the room remains exactly as it did then. This room was in a building owned by the Tetonic Knights and it was a beautiful place. Without having a private guide, we would have never seen this.
We stopped at a lovely Venetian coffee house where Mozart and Beethoven once played. It was very pretty inside and we enjoyed apple struddel and Sacher Torte. How amazing to be in Vienna and be able to do that.
We continued our tour around town in the Jewish section and saw the temple that had to be disguised even before World War II. Emporer Franz Joseph allowed them to practice their religion as long as the buildings that they worshipped in were disguised to look like other buildings. The hidden door is just right of the men below.
Brenda was well studied not only on history, but church history. In fact, at the end of our tour we told her our group was well versed in the Bible but we learned so much more because of her knowledge.
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