~Day 19~ Vienna

Had a nice breakfast at the hotel and spent a little time figuring out the subway and then I had a plan. I would go to the Weiner Prater (huge rickety ferris wheel) and then spend the rest of the afternoon seeing the city. Btw, Wein means Vienna in German. So Weiner means Viennese. I know a few of you reading this blog would have had a field day with all the Weiner jokes. Xarxet guys - I'm looking at you.

Here is what the Ferris Wheel looks like (except I'm pretty sure mine had more rust and some missing bolts).



Ate at Starbucks (I WAS IN A HURRY) and then did a bus tour, like Misty and I did on our free day in London. There were three separate tours - each 1 hour - Old Vienna, New Vienna, and the palaces. I did them back to back. :) I had an awesome seat on the bus and it was nice and warm.

Interesting tidbits

• Saw the United Nations building
• Saw Cafe Landtmann where Sigmund Freud used to have coffee every day.
• Over 1/3 of the city of Vienna was destroyed in WWII.
• Austria (landlocked) used to have a Navy. Their military port was in current day Croatia and their trade port was in current day Italy.
• Saw where Sachertorte (like Jamie gets from La Madeleine) was invented
• Saw Danube Island (they split the Danube into two for flood protection. They piled up all the land from the second river bed into an island in between. It is now used for hiking/jogging/swimming.)

Once they forced me off the bus, I walked around the city center and window shopped. The city center is a blocked-off pedestrian area and it was packed with people.

Oh and dog lovers - when I rode the subway in Vienna I saw a ton of dogs! Yay for dogs on subways!