After checking into our hotel on Thursday we walked over to the shopping =
centre. It makes Canal Walk look like a 7/11. We only shopped at the Spar =
(which was huge). We bought some odds and ends and of course loads of =
chocolate (yum). Lindt slabs are R15! I also got my hands on some =
Landj=C3=A4gers, which I have been craving for a while.
We had dinner and then went for a swim in the heated pool at the hotel. It =
was really nice. They put quite a bit of effort turning it into a little =
tropical oasis. The roof has a piramid shaped skylight and the the rest is =
covered in little lights to make it look like stars.
On the way to the drop off point on Friday I saw a Segway store. It would =
have been cool to try one out.
We did a quick walking tour through the centre of Vienna. The city is laid =
out very well and has a solid public transport system. I really like that =
in the countries we have visited so far you can buy a single ticket which =
will allow you to use any of the public transport facilities for a day. =
The walking tour finished at St. Stephens Cathedral so we went in and took =
a look around. The Habsburgs (who were the early rulers of Austria) have =
their hearts buried here. Their bodies are buried in the =
Kaisersgruft.
We then walked to the Belvedere Museum and saw Klimts’ “The Kiss”. On the =
way there we saw the monument the Austrians built for the Russians so they =
would leave them alone after running their country for 10 years after the =
second world war.
Next stop was the Leopold Museum to see some more of the Klimt collection. =
There was also a large collection from Egon Schiele. I like his work.
We then climed back on the bus to visit Schonbrun Palace, which was the =
summer house of the Habsburgs. It is huge, back in the day it would =
accomodate 1500 live in residents!
We the drove to the Schnaps Museum for a talk and some tasting. Turns out =
things like Archers isn’t real Schnaps. It must be 100% distilled, without =
flavourent (the flavour must come from the fruit). They also make a mean =
Absinth and some really nice cream liquers. I bought a cream liquer for new =
years eve. The guide who is the son of the owner was an excellent host and =
knew all about Witblits and Mampoer (which they would call Schnaps).
Then it was back to the hotel for dinner and more swimming in the pool. =
Today we are on the way to Munich and will be stopping at a world war 2 =
concentration camp enroute called Mauthausen.