Vienna, Austria.

 What memories Neal and I have of Vienna! Now we can share them with Danny. Way back in the day, when Ed and I were learning German, we took a class in Vienna. The city drew us irresistibly. We tried to get visas to retire in Vienna, but failed. Ended up in Norway, so the story wasn't that sad! Later, Neal went to VU to get a Masters degree. He loved Vienna, too, but again, couldn't get a visa after the student one.

Riding in to Vienna on the train from Prague gave both of us a little rush. 

St. Stephen's Cathedral, or Stephansdom, is CLEAN! Vienna has spent the pandemic cleaning. It is beautiful! It was all blackened the last time we saw it.


The pride of Stephansdom is the multicolored tile roof. Here is the double-headed eagle symbol of the Habsburg Empire. (link to YouTube documentary)


Next to Stephansdom is a sculpture made from one million Euro cents showing clasped hands. It is a temporary display, made with the help of the people of Vienna.

What else is famous about Vienna? Sachertorte! Coffee houses! We took Danny to Demel for sachertorte, with Reinhardt and Sarah. Sarah and Reinhardt joined us for our weekend in Prague, and now for our weekend in Vienna.
Danny got to experience the heavenly chocolate with apricot sachertorte and the coffee house feel. I got to try a white wine spritzer, which I have to make at home.

Speaking of "making at home", I signed us up for a Viennese cuisine cooking class. I went through TripAdvisor to find Nabiel Michael. He taught us in his home, to make three courses, ending with Apple Strudel that included rum-soaked raisins. We learned to make dumplings to go into home-made beef broth. I have reproduced that at home and it was delish, but not so beautiful. We made potato salad the way my German grandma used to make it; no mayo, just apple-cider vinegar and mustard. At home, it came out sooo good. The top of the evening was Schnitzel, "crispy as hell and fluffy as heaven". Nabiel kept us entertained and plied with prosecco. By the end of the night, we had to be rolled out of there.

Every whisk has its own purpose!

It was summer and we had to cool down. So Neal took us to Schafbergbad, which has many levels of pools and a giant waterslide and lounges you could drag into sun or shade and food places that sold Ben & Jerry's! What a wonderful relaxing day.


Not happy with relaxing, we headed over to the the amusement park, the Prater

Lots of roller coasters. Neal and Danny rode this one. We all rode the giant swing way up in the sky. What a view!

The other Viennese high point is heurigers! Ed and my German class had an outing to one that is one of my fondest memories of Vienna. They are wine taverns serving only their own Viennese wine, only served from the current vintage, until 11 November. Neal, Danny and I found one for lunch, Zum Martin Sepp. Clever marketers, they had a vending machine outside selling their wine!

 
During Ed's and my German class, we made friends with a British guy, Phil Moran. He managed to move to Vienna! He married and had two kids, and I got to have dinner with them. It was so good to catch up. Check out Phil's video work. His latest is "City of Spies".

We visited the Schönbrunn Palace  and other famous sights, but I have no pictures of them. Vienna is memorable, enjoyable, and worth another visit in the future.

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