May 16th through 19th, 2013
Vienna for Four Days, 3 km, making total 902km:)
Hotel Lassalle €55 ($74.74)
22C and still very windy



May 16

Hotwired a 4-Star Hotel

We had arrived in Vienna one day earlier than expected and now it was time to move over to another hotel which we had pre-booked, the Lassalle. Usually, we stay in nice 2 or 3-star accommodation. In Linz, a big city, we really enjoyed our stay at a 4-star rated hotel. A week ago, Dave used Hotwire to find a 4-star at a 3-star price (non-refundable) in Vienna. You don't know which hotel you will get until after you book and you cannot check reviews. We got the Lassalle, which has only so-so reviews. But we were happy to be stepping up a level.


We put our things in the left luggage room of the Resonanze. It was a pleasant 20 minute walk to the center of town past one gorgeous building after another, the click-clack of horse drawn carriages never far away. We visited tourist info office near the Opera House. We were happy they had a few tickets left for the Sunday Mass at the Hofmusikkapelle where the Vienna Boys Choir will perform. The Choir also has an evening stage performance but we thought it would grand to hear them in the setting from which they came, the church.


We also bought a 72 hour Vienna Card which allows us to use the bus, metro and trams unlimited. It is a great deal at €14.50 (65 plussers get discount of few €) Since we were not planning on visiting a lot of museums we opted not to get the €19 version of the Vienna Card which, in addition, gives small discounts on for museums and several restaurants.

Outside the office, we ran into a couple on their way to the Spanish Riding School to see Lipposan horse training. We followed them over and, for next day, we purchased Spanish Riding School tickets to watch the 10 am to noon practice.

 

Validation? We Don’t Need No Stinking Validation!
 
We hopped on a trolley to get back to our hotel. We did not see a box to validate our Vienna transit cards at the platform and expected to see one in the trolley. 
No machines there either and we sat back to enjoy views of the city during the ride. A pair of ticket inspectors was on the trolley and began checking tickets. We promptly obliged their request to see our tickets and showed our Vienna Cards. 'What’s this? These are not validated,’ one of them stated. ‘Step off the trolley at the next stop’. Once on the curb, he explained that we should have validated our cards BEFORE getting on the trolley and being caught on the trolley without valid tickets could make us subject us to a 100 euro fine! "We couldn't find a validation machine," didn’t appease them.  ‘Just this once, and because you are tourists’; they agreed to validate our tickets and let us go with just a warning. They hand wrote a time-stamp on our Cards and walked away. It was the first and last time we ever saw any ticket inspectors in Vienna. Everyone uses the transit system on the ‘honor’ system. There are not big queues to buy tickets, no turn-styles, and no validation boxes at the trolley stops!



Views from the Top
 
There is a great view over the city from the Sofitel near the canal. We took the elevator to the top for a cappuccino and a chance to see the view. 

Then we found “Harvest”, a wonderful vegan restaurant near our hotel Resonanz where we sat outside and grazed at colorful plate of beet salad, enormous beans, perfectly cooked root vegetables and some sort of potato casserole. All were healthy and delicious.

We picked up our bags and bikes and rode 3 kilometers down to the Lassalle hotel.
 
 
Dave booked the hotel near the Donau for us for four nights. The Hotel Lassalle is more of a business hotel. It caters to groups, either business conventions or organized tours. A few independent travelers like us float in once in a while. It is and away from the center but a 6 minute walk to the underground. It has several grocery stores within 5 minute walk of the hotel. Dave had gotten the great internet rate of €55 but the rate it doesn't include breakfast which was fine with us. We tend to overdo breakfast when it is a big delicious buffet. We had small fridge and stocked it with wonderful fixings for self-catering.


 
May 17th


Lipposan Horses

We arrived at the arena at 9:50am, none too early since the seating is limited. We got one of the last rows of four in front. It afforded a view of the arena. The good seats on first level were quickly taken. The people arriving later had to go to the 2nd level which is quite high up.

Five riders on horses went through training exercises for 30 minutes. The horses were then led away and the same riders entered on different horses which they put through 30 minutes of training. Progressively more accomplished horses entered, with beautiful form and lifting their legs high all to the music of Mozart, Straus, Beethoven and Shubert

Afterwards we split up. Junko and Hiro had different plans than we. (They like the museums more than we do.)

 
We decided to visit 4th district with its Nasche Market and the imposing and unique Karlskirche, with its two massive columns which are beautifully carved with biblical scenes.

And to our delight, we stumbled across several Japanese stores where I stocked up on my favorite tea, Ho Ji Cha.

The Nasche market is a trendy place and popular with tourists and locals alike. It is a fantastic place to eat and buy local specialties as well as delicacies from around the globe.


 
May 18
 
Schönbrunn Palace, Most Popular Attraction in Vienna

Schönbrunn Palace is a former imperial 1,441-room Rococo summer residence of successive Habsburg monarchs. The newly formed Austrian Republic became the owner of Schönbrunn Palace following the downfall of the monarchy in 1918.

After our yogurt and muesli breakfast, we headed to Schönbrunn Castle. Dave and I bought the "Classic Pass" which included 4 areas;.

1) the Grand Tour of the Palace. Along with hundreds other tourists we were herded through 40 impressive Palace rooms. We received headphones which gave a brief explanation of palace life, it's architecture, paintings and other curiosities. I liked the fact that we could linger in rooms we were particularly interested in and speed through the, to us, less interesting ones. Junko and Hiro had chosen a more encompassing tour which included the furniture room and Sisi's Castle, both located in different parts of the city.

...2) we walked through the romantic arbor and had wonderful view of the privy garden.

3) we took a detour through the forest and several more garden statues to hill top Gloriette, the panorama terrace, from where we looked back to the palace and its beautifully groomed gardens. Meanwhile, dark clouds that had gathered and dumped a torrential downpour. It looked like it was not letting up soon so we braved the storm and made it to

4) the maze, of interest to children really (Dave went during the rain).

I had my little umbrella which helped a lot but Dave was soaked.

Finally, it appeared to lighten up a bit. We were pretty hungry and decided on going to the Nasche Market (again) where we enjoyed a seafood lunch.

The sky was cloudless by now and it looked as if it had not rained at all.

....For the next few hours we got to know the city by just hopping on tram or bus and see where it took us.


 
May 19

All Rise!
 
The best reason to attend a Mass is to hear the Vienna Boys Choir. The last mass we had attended was in the Sistine Chapel in Vatican City to watch Pope John Paul ordain newly promoted Cardinals, not bad......

Next, while, Junko and Hiro went to finish Sisi's palace tours, we went on a self guided walking tour, not forgetting to look high above us too at the richly decorated gables, and numerous huge eternal statues looking down at us mere mortals.


Yolanda Flew to Vienna and Her Arms Were Not Tired

Yolanda flew in from Rotterdam to cycle with us until Budapest. We hadn't seen each other for an eternity, it seemed, only 2 years. Dave, the sweetheart waited over an hour for her at the metro to pick her up. Sis arrived and looks great. She lost a ton of weight since we last saw her. It is great to have her with us.

Junko and Hiro Write:
 
Vienna (Wien)

大観光地。たくさんの人でごった返している。田舎から走り出てきた私達には刺激的、なんて言っているうちに2日も経つとすっかりこの都会に慣れてきて、あそこは行ったことがあるけどここは行っていないと仕分けし始め観光にいそしんでいる。あさってから先に進まなければならない事も忘れすっかり観光客気分。ドナウ河流域はその昔ハプスブルク家の庭であったという。その沈まないはずの帝国が沈んて約百年。今や共和国としてたくさんの観光客に栄光の歴史を公開して立派に生きている。宮殿にも目を見張ったが、ハプスブルク家歴代の皇帝146体の棺の並んだカプチーナ納骨堂を見てリアル感に心が揺さぶられる想いがした。思わず一礼して外に出た。

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References: 

....1) The Danube Cycle Way; Donaueschingen to Budapest by John Higginson
... 2) Bikeline Maps & Guides; Donau-Radweg 1, (5 books in the series)

Our plan in a nutshell; 2900 total kilometers at 50 km per day - 2 days riding for 1 day off for a total of 58 riding days & 90 total days - April to July, 2013 :)