Throughout the night we continued our journey up the Danube River, toward Austria and the capital city of Vienna. We spent a quiet morning sitting on the deck watching the Danube, which by the way is not blue, flow by while enjoying the quaint towns dotting the banks.
On the top of one hill were perched the ruins of a castle with castle walls extending quite a distance to the castle gate
. Farther up the river above the town of Hainburg was another castle.
By noon time we were entering the lock just outside of Vienna to take us up to the city. The river has become a dividing line between old Vienna and "new" Vienna with large, modern buildings on the north side of the river.
After lunch we boarded buses for a tour of the city. Many of the buildings in Vienna were once palaces of the rich aristocracy. The buildings are adorned with sculptures and gilding. After touring the Ring Strasse by bus we disembarked to tour the National Library and the Palace of the Hapsburgs. The ceiling of the library is covered with beautiful murals, and the walls are lined with over 200,000 books printed in the years 1501 - 1850. All books in the library must be liberal arts books. In all, the library owns 8 million books.
We also had the opportunity to enter the Augustine Church of the Imperial Palace where the Vienna Boy's Choir performs.
On the way back to our bus we stopped by to say “Hi” to the Lipizzaner Stallions, who were resting in their stalls.
Then it was back to the ship for dinner.
Tomorrow we will tour the Schoenbrunn Palace.
Waltzing to Vienna
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Vienna, Austria
Other Entries
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1Getting Ready
Aug 134 days priorJarrettsville, United Statesphoto_camera1videocam 0comment 0 -
2Across the Big Pond
Aug 143 days priorLondon, United Kingdomphoto_camera7videocam 0comment 0 -
3On to Budapest
Aug 152 days priorBudapest, Hungaryphoto_camera17videocam 0comment 4 -
4Around Budapest
Aug 161 day priorDanube River, Slovakiaphoto_camera26videocam 0comment 2 -
5Waltzing to Vienna
Aug 17Vienna, Austriaphoto_camera33videocam 0comment 2 -
6Enjoying Vienna
Aug 181 day laterVienna, Austriaphoto_camera23videocam 0comment 1 -
7Little Durnstein and the Wachau Valley
Aug 192 days laterDürnstein, Austriaphoto_camera20videocam 0comment 1 -
8Into the Czech Republic
Aug 203 days laterCesky Krumlov, Czech Republicphoto_camera30videocam 0comment 0 -
9Wandering Through Regensburg
Aug 214 days laterRegensburg, Germanyphoto_camera25videocam 0comment 0 -
10Out and About in Nurnberg
Aug 225 days laterNurnberg, Germanyphoto_camera29videocam 0comment 1 -
11Bopping through Bamberg
Aug 236 days laterBamberg, Germanyphoto_camera26videocam 0comment 0 -
12The Walled City of Rothenburg
Aug 247 days laterRothenburg ob der Tauber, Germanyphoto_camera28videocam 0comment 1 -
13Walking Wertheim
Aug 258 days laterWertheim, Germanyphoto_camera23videocam 0comment 0 -
14Hiking Heidelberg
Aug 269 days laterHeidelberg, Germanyphoto_camera35videocam 0comment 0 -
15Rudesheim and the Castles of the Rhine
Aug 2710 days laterRüdesheim, Germanyphoto_camera44videocam 0comment 0 -
16A Morning in Cologne
Aug 2811 days laterCologne, Germanyphoto_camera13videocam 0comment 0 -
17Around Amsterdam
Aug 2912 days laterAmsterdam, Netherlandsphoto_camera24videocam 0comment 0 -
18Heading Home
Aug 3013 days laterJarrettsville, United Statesphoto_camera0videocam 0comment 0
Comments

2025-02-09
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Elaine
2011-08-23
SO excited that you are getting to see some of the same wonders that I have seen!
Elaine
2011-08-23
PS - Enjoy Schoenbrunn Palace and look for a sign that says AMALIE!!! It's in the back gardens.