Friday, September 13th, 2013
Upon landing (it is cloudy), we take the train and then the subway to get to the hotel. The location is great, the room was spacious, but certainly in a category lower than indicated. It’s a bit late, so we look for a near place for lunch, we go to the Rathaus. After lunch, we go to the Burgtheater, cross the Volksgarten and arrive at the Hofburg. We cross the various courtyards and reach the Michaelerplatz with Michaelerkirche.
Then we walk along the main streets, crowded as ever. Moving from Graben we stop to visit the Peterskirche, then we go up to St. Stephen’s Cathedral. After visiting the church, the Hoher Markt with the Ankeruhr. From there we reach the Ruprechtskirche. It is normally closed (I never found it open), this time we are lucky and we can enter. We walk a bit without a goal, so we head to Griechische Kirche, to Dominikanerkirche and Jesuitenkirche. From there we are close to the Stadtpark, so we decide to go there. Unfortunately as we enter it starts to rain.
We seek shelter under the trees and we have to wait a long time before the rain decreases. After passing by the monument to Strauss, we leave the park and reach a subway stop. Before returning to the hotel we stop at Karlskirche. We go out for dinner and then back to the hotel, concluding this first day in Vienna.
Saturday, September 14th, 2013
It is raining. The weather is not nice, so we decide to take the Mariahilferstrasse, where we go to some stores to shelter a bit from the rain. We reach Mariahilfkirche. The weather is slightly better, so we go to the Upper Belvedere. It almost stopped raining. We walk along the gardens, we go down to the Lower Belvedere, we pass by the monument to the Red Army and return to the center passing by the Opera. We stop briefly at the Albertina and then lunch break.
In the afternoon we go to the Danube, we stop on the island and then turn a bit in the area full of offices. Back to the center, we pass by Altes Rathaus, the Judenplatz with the Holocaust Memorial and nearby the Kirche am Hof. Short break at Café Central, then back to the hotel. For dinner we decide to go to Grinzing, neighborhood known for its wines. We walk a bit in the streets, and then we choose a restaurant at random. Then we return to the hotel.
Sunday, September 15th, 2013
Today it is sunny (it will be the only time of the whole trip ). We go to Schonnbrunn, where we visit the palace and the gardens. Before the weather goes worst, we go to the Prater and climb on the Panoramic wheel. There’s a lot of people, but it doesn’t take too much. We take the subway again and we go to the Wienzeile, where there is the typical market, but all the stalls are closed.We admire the Art Nouveau buildings in the street, we reach the Secession and from there the Museumsquartier. Once back at the Hofburg we cross again the Volksgarten. After dinner we make a tour of the city to take some photos of the monuments.
Monday, September 16th, 2013
Breakfast at the Belvedere, then back to the center. There is a little sun. We turn around the Cathedral and in the adjacent streets. So we head to the Minoritenkirche. Then we go and see the 2 towers at Augarten, “Flakturm”, anti-aircraft towers of World War II.
Then we have lunch in a pizzeria nearby. In the afternoon we walk a bit along the Danube, then we go to the Burggarten. In the evening we meet with Carmen, a friend of ours with whom we have dinner.
Tuesday, September 17th, 2013
Last day of our trip. Even today it’s raining and cold. We go to Heiligenstadt, a suburb of Vienna where there are some houses of Beethoven (we visit one). Back to Vienna, we go to Maria Treu Kirche and, moving by tram, to the Regierungs Gebaude and the Postsparkasse.
We go then to Franziskanerkirche we see some palaces in the surrounding area. Then we go to Demel, historic pastry in Vienna for a chocolate. After it, we get the bags at the hotel and leave the city to the airport.
