Last night when we arrived in Vienna, we walked down the main shopping strip next to the train station, found our hotel, and checked in. We asked for a recommendation for dinner, because we were hungry by then. She recommended the Schnitzel Haus, which we could see from the window. That turned out to be just our speed. Bryan got the turkey schnitzel with fries and I got the pork schnitzel sandwich. Then we walked down to McDonald's to get an ice cold drink and use the free WiFi. This was the first affordable fountain drink we've seen, and we made good use of the free refills. :)

Then, because I still had stomach upset, we turned in early without really seeing any of the town . It was very warm in our room, but thanks to the shutters on our window, we were able to close the window up at 5:30 when the sun woke us, and actually sleep in until after 8 a.m. Bliss! By the time we were showered and ready for the day it was way too late to FaceTime anyone, so we just headed out to take in the sights of Vienna.

First things first, we walked down to the equivalent of a Dollar Store and got me a new pair of sunglasses. Then we went to a bakery for breakfast. The woman behind the counter spoke no English, and I wasn't feeling like eating any educated guesses today (hoping my stomach would sort itself out) so we got Bryan a croissant with chocolate somehow incorporated and moved on. The next bakery we found not only had someone who spoke English well (who was beckoned out from the back to help me) but he gave me a pamphlet that listed all their breads and things with the allergy info clearly marked on it, so I will be able to choose something different tomorrow. :)

Next we walked into the old town, visited tourist information, and started our self-guided walking tour at the Opera House. Throughout the day were accosted by men in powdered wigs hawking tickets for the off-season concerts. They varied in degrees of friendliness and or pushiness. After waving them off again, Bryan would read aloud the section from Rick Steves' Guidebook about what we were looking at, and then we would move on .

I was disappointed in Vienna at first glance. It has a much more large city feel than I had expected (or than we have experienced on our trip yet). Something about "Vienna" just sounded amazing, and I wasn't sure what all the fuss was about as we wandered around clicking the occasional photo. But then again, I still wasn't feeling too well.

We walked down the pedestrian zone shopping strip that apparently used to be quite posh, but now is just a bunch of over-priced stuff. There was a McDonald's about every few blocks. We went into St. Stephen's Cathedral, but Mass was in session, and so they had a big, wrought iron gate in the way of really seeing very much. Then we went a bit farther and saw the plague monument and St. Peter's Church.

We stopped for some lunch at a street cafe. We ate chicken and rice and enjoyed sitting down for a while. Then we kept walking. We went to the Hofburg Imperial Palace, but we couldn't decide wether to pay for just the tours of the rooms, or the rooms and the treasury... or if we should spring for the combo ticket that includes the other palace and the gardens. We finally decided on the combo, and then we didn't have enough cash on us. So we left to find a bankomat. But instead we decided to go lay down in a park, because I was tired. And that seemed nice. So I lay bare foot in the grass in a park in Vienna . And it was nice just to be in the shade and chill out for a while and not make any decisions at all.

Bryan found a green spot on the map and took me to wander through what used to be the Imperial Gardens and now are the "Volksgartens" (people's gardens). This perspective of Vienna I liked a lot. We returned to St. Peter's for a free organ concert at 3 p.m. I really enjoyed that. We went back into St. Stephen's Cathedral (now that Mass was finished) and used our free iPod audio guide to tell us about what we were looking at.

We walked down the strip towards the river, stopping to get gelato along the way. I had blueberry this time. Then we went into a park that has the most benches I've ever seen all in one place. We picked one by the water and I watched the birds while Bryan found us a place in our guidebook to eat a good dinner. While I was watching an old woman came and dumped three bags of birdseed and three loaves of bread in the water for the pigeons and ducks. Then what looked like koi fish started eating the bread as well, and this attracted a heron who came and caught a fish. He swallowed it right in front of us. It was pretty impressive!

Finally, it was time for dinner. Bryan had selected The Plachutta for dinner. Their specialty is "Tafelspitz," which is beef boiled in broth and marrow, with vegetables all served together in a copper pot . Sides include apple-horseradish, and potatoes (think hash browns). It was delicious! Bryan had beef with fried onions and potatoes in a cream-based beef sauce. We both enjoyed our fancy dinner a lot.

After that, we walked all the way back to the pension, which was far across town. While we were gone, they had delivered a fan! :) I am sure that will make sleeping easier tonight. Oh, and Bryan wants me to mention that another thunderstorm has rolled in. Because that is apparently just how it works here. So, despite my early reservations, I ended up really enjoying our day here in Vienna. It is a beautiful city. And there is more to see tomorrow! Tomorrow we will check out in the morning, stash our bags somewhere, spend another day in Vienna, and then catch the night train to Venice.

Vienna was our first big city and took both of us a bit of adjusting to get used to. We ended up enjoying ourselves and the city, but I think I could have helped matters by purchasing us a transit pass when we got there. It would have saved us a lot of walking and made the day much more enjoyable. We really wiped ourselves out just walking back to the hotel after dinner. The dinner was really good and I look forward to visiting that restaurant again someday.