- Reaction score
- 2
- Points
- 430
My trip to Vienna rated PG 12 (just for Lexi)
Started by my leaving at midnight on a bus to go to Zagreb Train station followed by a 7 hour ride to South Banhoff Strasse in downtown Vienna. The ride there was simply amazing. The views, as soon as we got out of Croatia, were spellbinding. Bloody Train cops were acting like Gestapoe in Croatia. â Å“PASSPORTS!â ? was there way of being friendly.... Into Austria mountains covered in snow. Huge caverns and gorges spotted with small towns and Chalets, just like you see in post cards. My mouth dropped at the absolute beauty of the towns, nestled in snow, with rivers running though them. Breathtaking.
In Vienna, also called Wein in Deutch, we arrived somewhat tired but excited. Got into a cab, a Mercedes, and off we went to the Ibis Hotel on Maria-Grubtel Strasse in downtown Vienna. Checked in and got a quick shower...then headed out the door for some serious fun.
Walked for about 3 hours checking out the local shops, looking for anything weird...you know. Anything that isn't North American...you know the drill. Came back empty handed, but a full belly of Vienna's finest McDs and a few beers. Found a great restaurant just a block from the hotel.
For those who don't know, Gasthaus's are usually family run affairs with good homecooking with fresh ingredients. Gary and Inge Francechi were the best. The food was outstanding, but if your looking for Spatzle, your out of luck. It's a German thing only, Austrians don't do it too often. Look them up, 1060 Wein, Aegidigasse 15.
The next day began at 0730. We planed to go to the center of the old city, to a place called Stephanstrasse. We got on the subway and took off. Going up the escalator we were greeted by sky and a few modern buildings, and I comented that I didn't think I was going to be impressed when I heard this enourouse â Å“BONGâ ?. I turned around to see the biggest, oldest church I'd ever seen. At least 30 stories tall and just as long. My mouth hit the ground and stayed there for the rest of the day. We went and saw the entire old section of the city. The Keiser's apartments, the Parliament buildings, the Keiser's palace, the Art museum, the Stadpark where Strauss is buried, the original Crystal Palace...the list goes on. Sufficed to say my feet and that of Mike's were killing us, to the point that the top of both big toes were bleeding. We walked about 45km that day alone...and I got some terrific footage on the camcorder. Sorry folks, I only used 35mm film so no digital shots.
That night we went back to Gary&Inge's for our meals. Had one beer...tasted like another. Meet up with a couple who we made friends in quick time. Gina and Marcus were a great couple to meet, and had us in stitches. I did my rendidtion of Arnold Shwatrzennegger to everyone's laughter. We stopped drinking at about 3 O'clock, then staggered home looking like a poor rendition of the Monty Python's Ministry of Silly Walks.
0900 next morning we were off again. This time to the Armouries Museum. This is the Austrian War Museum. Looked at such artifacts as Archduke Ferdinand's car that he was shot in and also his blood soaked uniform that he died in, quite sobering. The fact that we were looking at the actual trigger that started the Great War was a bit unsettling...and the room was dead quiet. This museum is an absolute must see for any history buff. We came out of it very depressed. The feeling of the exhibits are quite melancholy, a huge difference from our own war museums, which are normally â Å“we kicked butt!â ?.
We then went on to the Keiser's Palace or Schonbrunn. Absolutely gorgeous! This is where Mari Anttonette was raised and where Keiser Willhelm died. We also toured the grounds, HUGE. So big that we had to call it quits after 2 hours of walking. Oh well...back to the hotel to get changed and showered.
Of course we went back to see Gary and Inge for supper. They had pork chops waiting for us, and it was the best tasting food I'd ever eaten. Again into the beers...BIBLICAL PORPORTIONS! Met up with some fellow Canukians named Steve and Mike. They were bumming around Europe and just happened to come in. We saw the Canadian flags, called them over to our table. After a few questions about where they were from,(you never know...they could've been Yanks
) we invited them to sit and have a few with us. Now by that time we'd been drinking for about 3 hours, mostly Schnapps and beer with the odd Slievovich shooter and were kicking into high gear. We told them to keep up and the drinks were on us unless they fell back then the tab was on them. At midnight they begged for the tab, to our delight.
The next morning we slept in...past our train timing. We were supposed to be on the train leaving at 0600...and I had just woken up then! Needless to say we made another train and no one, save you out there, know about it. Again going through mountain passes, snow covered villages, seeing the splendor of the edge of the Alps. Skiers going down fresh powder.....Wunderbar!
Regards
BTW...I think that if Gina and Marcus are reading this I'm now the Schmedbruder !
Started by my leaving at midnight on a bus to go to Zagreb Train station followed by a 7 hour ride to South Banhoff Strasse in downtown Vienna. The ride there was simply amazing. The views, as soon as we got out of Croatia, were spellbinding. Bloody Train cops were acting like Gestapoe in Croatia. â Å“PASSPORTS!â ? was there way of being friendly.... Into Austria mountains covered in snow. Huge caverns and gorges spotted with small towns and Chalets, just like you see in post cards. My mouth dropped at the absolute beauty of the towns, nestled in snow, with rivers running though them. Breathtaking.
In Vienna, also called Wein in Deutch, we arrived somewhat tired but excited. Got into a cab, a Mercedes, and off we went to the Ibis Hotel on Maria-Grubtel Strasse in downtown Vienna. Checked in and got a quick shower...then headed out the door for some serious fun.
Walked for about 3 hours checking out the local shops, looking for anything weird...you know. Anything that isn't North American...you know the drill. Came back empty handed, but a full belly of Vienna's finest McDs and a few beers. Found a great restaurant just a block from the hotel.
For those who don't know, Gasthaus's are usually family run affairs with good homecooking with fresh ingredients. Gary and Inge Francechi were the best. The food was outstanding, but if your looking for Spatzle, your out of luck. It's a German thing only, Austrians don't do it too often. Look them up, 1060 Wein, Aegidigasse 15.
The next day began at 0730. We planed to go to the center of the old city, to a place called Stephanstrasse. We got on the subway and took off. Going up the escalator we were greeted by sky and a few modern buildings, and I comented that I didn't think I was going to be impressed when I heard this enourouse â Å“BONGâ ?. I turned around to see the biggest, oldest church I'd ever seen. At least 30 stories tall and just as long. My mouth hit the ground and stayed there for the rest of the day. We went and saw the entire old section of the city. The Keiser's apartments, the Parliament buildings, the Keiser's palace, the Art museum, the Stadpark where Strauss is buried, the original Crystal Palace...the list goes on. Sufficed to say my feet and that of Mike's were killing us, to the point that the top of both big toes were bleeding. We walked about 45km that day alone...and I got some terrific footage on the camcorder. Sorry folks, I only used 35mm film so no digital shots.
That night we went back to Gary&Inge's for our meals. Had one beer...tasted like another. Meet up with a couple who we made friends in quick time. Gina and Marcus were a great couple to meet, and had us in stitches. I did my rendidtion of Arnold Shwatrzennegger to everyone's laughter. We stopped drinking at about 3 O'clock, then staggered home looking like a poor rendition of the Monty Python's Ministry of Silly Walks.
0900 next morning we were off again. This time to the Armouries Museum. This is the Austrian War Museum. Looked at such artifacts as Archduke Ferdinand's car that he was shot in and also his blood soaked uniform that he died in, quite sobering. The fact that we were looking at the actual trigger that started the Great War was a bit unsettling...and the room was dead quiet. This museum is an absolute must see for any history buff. We came out of it very depressed. The feeling of the exhibits are quite melancholy, a huge difference from our own war museums, which are normally â Å“we kicked butt!â ?.
We then went on to the Keiser's Palace or Schonbrunn. Absolutely gorgeous! This is where Mari Anttonette was raised and where Keiser Willhelm died. We also toured the grounds, HUGE. So big that we had to call it quits after 2 hours of walking. Oh well...back to the hotel to get changed and showered.
Of course we went back to see Gary and Inge for supper. They had pork chops waiting for us, and it was the best tasting food I'd ever eaten. Again into the beers...BIBLICAL PORPORTIONS! Met up with some fellow Canukians named Steve and Mike. They were bumming around Europe and just happened to come in. We saw the Canadian flags, called them over to our table. After a few questions about where they were from,(you never know...they could've been Yanks
) we invited them to sit and have a few with us. Now by that time we'd been drinking for about 3 hours, mostly Schnapps and beer with the odd Slievovich shooter and were kicking into high gear. We told them to keep up and the drinks were on us unless they fell back then the tab was on them. At midnight they begged for the tab, to our delight.The next morning we slept in...past our train timing. We were supposed to be on the train leaving at 0600...and I had just woken up then! Needless to say we made another train and no one, save you out there, know about it. Again going through mountain passes, snow covered villages, seeing the splendor of the edge of the Alps. Skiers going down fresh powder.....Wunderbar!
Regards
BTW...I think that if Gina and Marcus are reading this I'm now the Schmedbruder !
