"A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step."- Lao Tzu
Vienna, we have found, is very traveller friendly. The u-bahn is easy to figure out, in terms of which subway stop you want.
Our B&B is so close to everything, that we haven't had to commute more than 4 stops from here.
Our first stop, the Grand Hofburg Palace.
This palace has 640 years of history. Beginning in the 13th century with the Habsburg family empire.
This is where the Emperor Franz Josef and wife, Empress Elisabeth lived.
Well loved by their people of Vienna, but in 1918, after World War 1ended, Austria was created as a modern nation-state and the Habsburgs rule was finished.
No photos are allowed inside the tours of the palace, but outside had an incredible array of statues that reminded me again of Roman sculptures.
The front of the palace at the Michaelerplatz (square), was difficult to photograph. We stood waaaaaay back to get this shot.
We made it to Vienna and the palace!!
Most of the sculptures had Hercules in them. There are four in total. All show Hercules wrestling with his great challenges.
Huge and impressive. The best part....olive leaves hide a wee bit. lol.
More sculptures along the route into the palace.
Empress Sisi (Elizabeth) who was married to Emperor Franz Josef until her death.
The 'Princess Diana' of the 1800's. Hers was a tragic life and sad end.
She was married at 16 years to the Emperor but it was not by her choice. He loved her dearly, but she never wanted to be in the public eye. She spent a lifetime looking for ways to escape her very public life. Her end came, when she was assassinated on a trip to Geneva by a man who wanted to kill any royal. She was in the wrong place at the wrong time.
With ankle length hair she was considered one of the most beautiful women of her time.
The New Palace, actually a wing off the old palace. Now home to the Austrian President and 5000 government workers.
On an interesting and historic note, the balcony just above the orange sign, in 1938 Hitler stood there and spoke to the Viennese people after Germany invaded Austria.
Deb and I purchased a book titled "1000 Places To See Before You Die." Each time we are planning a travel adventure, we check the book to see if there might be one of those '1000' places that we can see.
Thus, in Vienna, there are a number to see.
One, off our list, is 'Demel.' It is a famous cafe filled with homemade Viennese chocolate everything. Their claim to fame includes the Sacher-Torte. A chocolate cake, dry not moist.
We opted for the 10 Euro special. Coffee and a piece of cake.
The wait time for a table, Sunday when we went, was less than one hour. Very worth while.
The coffee came with cream but also a HUGE dollop of whipped cream on a plate for our coffees? OMG! When in Rome......
Into our cup we poured the cream, then the coffee, from the cute china vessels, then a big dollop of whipped cream. Oh yeah....I am hoping Debbie will whip me up some cream each morning when we get back to Canada...because I could really get used to that.
Beautifully decorated with chandeliers and lights with crowns, and flowers, little bistro table and chairs....and busy, busy, busy.
Downstairs is where all the delicious homemade, right there, desserts can be purchased. They come at a higher price than we would pay, as a rule, but I am sure they are entirely worth it.
No....we didn't buy anything....
Yet....
Above and below are the famous Sacher-Tortes.
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