Vienna, Austria - The City of Music

This morning we   drove through the Hungarian plains to Vienna, once the center of the mighty Habsburg Empire. Having a day at leisure we decided to rent bikes, which I love to do whenever I get the chance.

Kathy biking in Vienna.

There is a bike path around the wide boulevard surrounding the inner city of Vienna.  The city is ideal for biking. They also make it very easy for you. When visiting Vienna, you can go to a local tourist office and pick up a citybike tourist card (approx $3 each). It will allow you to take advantage of this program. There was an automatic bike station minutes from our hotel. You can borrow bikes at automatic stations throughout the city. Vienna had approximately 50 stations and the bikes could be returned at any station, regardless of where your journey began.

As we were biking I was on the lookout for the Cafe Sacher. This famous coffee house is a glamorous meeting point for tourists and lovers of Austrian pasties alike. Most Viennese coffee houses bear the names of long deceased proprietors. In a very good Viennese coffee house a cup of coffee can be served in at least twenty different ways. We treated ourselves to a Creme Schnitte with sour cherries and an Original Sacher Cafe. I must admit that my beloved Starbucks was a distant second to the coffee at Hotel Sacher!

The next day our guide Brigitte, was with us the whole day as she gave our group a private tour of the Schonbrunn Palace.

Since the 1960's, Schonbrunn Palace has been considered one of Austria's most important cultural treasures.  Primarily a summer residence of the Habsburg Empire from 1562,  the palace was opulent and provided an insight into the lavish lifestyle of the monarchy. The palace and gardens illustrated the interests and aspirations of the Habsburg monarchs. The dynasty ruled  in Austria from 1273 to the end of the First World War in 1918. We than traveled through the Vienna Woods  to a beautiful medieval monastery just 30 minutes outside of Vienna. The monastery was founded in 1133 and currently has 77 members. The monks have prayed seven times a day since 1133.

What better way to end our much-too-short stay in Vienna  than with a fine four-course dinner at Kuchlmasterei, a gourmet restaurant in Vienna. We than attended a concert in a beautiful Viennese concert hall. The orchestra performed well-known arias composed by Mozart and famous pieces like "The Bleu Danube Waltz" and "The Radetzky March"  composed by Strauss. Opera singers and ballet dancers added to the ambiance of the evening. At the end of the concert, the young performers received four standing ovations. What a treat!

Click to view clips from our dinner and Mozart concert in Vienna...