Vienna

Vienna is a beautiful and viberant old and new city of 1.5million people.  The old city is alive with high end shopping, waking strasses, outdoor cafes, beautiful buildings and tourists!  Outside the city center is filled with people bustling off to work, school, market, same as our everyday life.  The public transportation system is fantastic.  For 6.80 euro you get a ticket for 24 hours to ALL modes of public transportation; trams, subway, buses.  We stayed outside the old city center but were only 4 stops away by underground.  

We visited St. Stephens Cathedral built between 1147 and 1433.  It is Romanesque and Gothic in style.  Many of the Hapsburgs are interned in this church but only their bodies, their hearts are in another church.  Check out the special lighting effects.  

We toured Schonbrunn Palace.  Schonbrunn means "beautiful spring".   The water in Vienna is said to be the best, not chlorinated and straight from the springs.  This was the home of Maria Theresia and Franz Joseph.  They had 12 children.  All but one girl was married off to other political leaders in order to strengthen the Hapsburg empire.  The one girl was allowed to marry for love.

Our favorite stop was the Naschmarket!  We had a delicious lunch of grilled salmon, buttered potatoes, sauted veggies, sauted fresh spinach.  The market is a mixture of typical Viennese market stalls and Oriental bazaar atmosphere.  Fresh fruit, exotic spices, textiles, flowers, meat, fish.  It reminded us of the night markets in China and the Strip District in Pittsburgh.  The best of both worlds.

A couple pictures of old town Vienna.