Vienna

The enormous lobby of the Art History Museum
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There was so much to do in Vienna that we are going to have to go back. 2 days just wasn’t enough. The central district holds all of the main museums and art galleries, as well as the old residences of the royal family. We checked out the Art History Museum and were amazed by the entrance lobby, let alone all of the antiquities and art it holds. After 3 hours wandering and gazing up at the hundreds of paintings including the famous ‘Hunters In The Snow’ by Peter Brueghel the Elder, museum fatigue set in and we escaped to wander past the towering Saint Stephens Cathedral and along the Danube Canal.

One of the numerous museums in central Vienna, football fever becoming apparent in the foreground
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The city was busily preparing for the opening of the UEFA Champions League 2008 which was being hosted by Austria and Switzerland this year. Huge marquees, blow-up footballs and fan zones were being set up for opening game on the Saturday. Not being football fans, we were kind of glad to be away before the action really started.

...2 days just wasn’t enough!

We did another bike tour to get a good overview of the city which was well worth it. The thunderclouds were threatening again on our second day but we avoided getting wet this time. Central Vienna has kilometres of dedicated cycle lanes so getting around by bike is really easy. We visited the famous block of flats by artist Friedensreich Hundertwasser which features over 100 trees planted on the roof and on the balconies. Also, since Hundertwasser believed that humans were not meant to walk on flat surfaces, none of the apartment floors are flat! A nearby museum diverts the many tourists away from the doorbells of the apartment residents. The souvenir shops and public toilets across the lane are (of course) also designed in the same style. The bike tour was made a little more interesting by the other Austrian tour guides who kept approaching our guide and demanding to see her guide licence (which she didn’t hold as she was a English student travelling, she had to talk her way out of it).

Block of flats by artist Friedensreich Hundertwasser. Note trees on roof...
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On our final night in Vienna, we decided to get dressed up and check out the opera. Seated tickets sell out well in advance and can go for as much as €200, but if you show up an hour or so early and queue up at the side door, you can get standing tickets for as little as €2! We were lucky and got positions at the back in the centre, but the theatre is small enough that you can easily enjoy the show. It was good fun mixing it up with the local high society!