Naschmarkt and more! Saturday in Vienna

Lipizzaner horse stable just down the street from our hotel

cool statue atop the Opera House

another cool sculpture, this one outside an art museum

Naschmarkt!

this vendor played the role of obnoxious big brother for this photo!

yup, it's octopus!

fresh sauerkraut, just like Mom used to make!

olive oil and vinegar stand, and you can taste them all!

treats, as described in post!

The Vienna Opera House, I like the trolley in the shot

a line of horse drawn carriages waiting for tourists

this driver is sleeping!

The salon where we went to the concert

the older gent at left was the lead violinist and director

Kursalon Wein (Wein is Vienna in Austrian)

quiet square with St. Stephan's in the background and two jumping crazies in the foreground!

the entrance to the Imperial Palace, one block from our hotel

FOOD!

Danny's masterpiece, bread,falafel,hummus and sweet pepper

Well the first thing that happened this morning was sleep! We really packed our Friday so that we could get on the right schedule in Austria, but it caught up with Danny. He slept till almost 12...which some might say is jet-lag, while others might say he is almost a teenager! Jerry and I took a stroll together out to the square, Stephansplatz, to get some coffee. I am happy to report that after yesterdays cafe prices I did a little Internet research and came up with the Dunkin Donuts of Vienna- Aida! Of course we are talking espresso and Viennese pastries, but from a money standpoint they are similar, and there are a bunch scattered around the city. The gals all wear cute pink uniforms, the interiors have lots of glass and wood,  and I was also happy to note the 50% tray with yesterday's baked goods! Even a three day old pastry here is fantastic, so we bought a whole bunch! Like in any other big city the people watching is the best, from the people with their fancy dogs, to the older women dressed in beautiful fur coats, to the ubiquitous Japanese tour groups. We rousted Danny and stuffed him with a couple of pastries and then headed off to the Naschmarkt. This markt is a Viennese tradition dating back to the middle-ages, when farmers would haul their milk,meat and veggies in from the fertile countryside and sell it to the city folks. These days, along with stalls selling middle-eastern food,fish, meat,veggies,flowers,spices and pastries there is a flea markt. Jerry described the merchandise on display as follows; "it looks like some dug up an American landfill and brought the contents here" and some stalls still smelled that way! But it certainly was fun to look at, and we ate our way through and brought a good selection back with us. This later became our dinner, though we hadn't planned that. It is still freezing cold, and by 4'oclock we were ready to try our next Viennese tradition, the coffee break. Every day at 4 most of the city drops into a cafe and relaxes with a cup of coffee, or something stronger, and a little snack. We took Danny to another Aida(my goal-visit as many as I can this trip!) where he tried the Blueberry Vanilla Torte and Jer and I shared a flourless poppy seed torte. And coffee, more delicious coffee, of course! We returned to the hotel for a bit of emailing,reading etc. and Jerry went to the hotel bar to meet to work mates who had just arrived. He lost track of time, and so did we, so when he returned it was time to get going to our concert. We walked through the night lit streets of the city, down little alleys and cobblestone streets to the Kursalon. This building was constructed between 1865 and 1867 in the Renaissance style, and is one of the most splendid buildings in Vienna. The Strauss brothers, Johann, Joseph and Eduard came to the Kursalon Wein and took their music to new heights. They toured Europe and America in 1872, setting off Strauss hysteria. Johann's popularity was unsurpassed, and he began composing his own operettas for the stage, bringing the waltz,galop,polka and march in as integral parts of the Viennese operettas. There is a concert in the Kursalon which presents pieces by Strauss and Mozart, along with opera singers and dancers, that bring the music to life. It is a musical taste of Vienna, and perfect if you do not want to go to a whole opera or ballet performance. We had purchased the lowest tickets (priced like Broadway!) but when we arrived, the usher liked Danny, and showed us to the front row so no one would block his view. Cute does pay kids! We had an absolute blast! When we got back to our room at 11pm, we were starving, so out came all the middle-eastern food for a "midnight feast" of falafel, hummus,peppers,bread,etc. Man did it taste good.

Off we go, into the wild,blue yonder!

After a couple of crazy weeks of organizing care for girls,dogs and house, Danny and I are skipping town!
Jerry has been asked to present at a conference for the international division of his company which is being held in Vienna, Austria! We decided to treat Danny to a special twelfth birthday trip, since this year, with 12/12/12 being his 12th birthday, is pretty cool and calls for a special gift. So 12 days in Europe it is! 7 days in Vienna and 5 days in Rotterdam for Jer to do some follow up work at his Dutch office. Notice how Jer is working through all of this? and I am not?! How great is that! Though at times, getting ready to go was so stressful that I wanted to stay home! If you plan family vacations you know exactly what I mean, don't you! My good friend Roseanne is staying with the girls, spending some nights at the house, leaving them some nights to practice independence, but checking in every day o keep the ship afloat. God Bless her! Without her generous help I would be at home right now, not in my fancy hotel in the historic district of Vienna's old city. And so, I will blog about the trip over the next few days, and I hope you enjoy the posts.

Our flight from Detroit to Amsterdam on Thursday afternoon was fantastic! After hanging out in the VIP lounge(thanks Jerry) we boarded to find the plane only half full. I actually had all four seats in my middle row to myself, after Danny and Jerry moved to empty 2 seats on the window side. So I watched a movie, read, and slept like I was in my own bed! Crazy! We landed in Amsterdam at 5:30 am and boarded immediately for our next flight to Vienna. That is only 1hour 10 minutes, so we were up and down in a blink.

 Grabbed a taxi to the hotel(again, love this business travel!) and we were checked in and on our way out into the city by 11am. First stop, Cafe Hewelka, said to be the oldest coffee house in the city. Vienna is said to have more coffee houses than Switzerland has banks, so this is my kind of city! Cafe Hawelka is a shrine, practically a museum, and has hosted the likes of Andy Warhol,Tony Blair and John Irving, ho mentions it in his book Hotel New Hampshire. The place is dark and velvety, and has a great art collection, the requisite tiny tables, and no menu. The owner, Leopold Hawelka, comes up and asks you,not in English, what you want. We said coffee and he said "and cake" so we said yes! Danny and Jerry devoured the torte and apple pastry that was served. We payed the very steep bill, no menu=no prices, and left. It was an experience to be sure, and a great way to start out!

 We strolled across the large square to St. Stephans Cathedral, the first must stop in all the guide books. St. Stephen's Cathedral is the mother church of the Roman Catholic archdiocese of Vienna and the seat of the Archbishop of Vienna, Christoph Cardinal Schönborn. The current Romanesque and Gothic form of the cathedral, seen today in the Stephansplatz, was largely initiated by Duke Rudolf IV (1339–1365) and stands on the ruins of two earlier churches, the first a parish church consecrated in 1147. The most important religious building in Austria's capital, St. Stephen's Cathedral,with its multi-colored tile roof, has become one of the city's most recognizable symbols. We climbed the 345 twisty narrow steps to the top of the tower, der Alte Steffl, for a great view of the city. In one direction you can see three countries, Austria, Hungary and the Czech Republic. But the birds eye view of the city is really worth the climb. One crazy thing, the steps are only about 20 inches wide, and people are going both up and down the staircase! I would not want to be trying to climb during the tourist season!

 On leaving the Cathedral we wandered around all the streets surrounding it, and poked into several gorgeous churches and neat little shops. Jerry and Danny got a giant sausage from a street vendor and ate standing up like the natives were doing. The air around the stand smelled amazing! More walking, more churches, and a trip to the butterfly house, Schmetterlinghaus housed in an antique glass building, which Danny picked out and then a brief sit down at the hotel.

We then headed out for an authentic Austrian meal to finish off our first day in Vienna!
 Down a winding cobblestone street(good thing I am not the stiletto wearing type!) We went to Gosser Bierklink- a restaurant in an old world house that has been there for four centuries. It has all the arched doorways, quirky gates leading who knows where, dark wood trim everywhere and Gothic stained glass windows. A favourite spot for beer connoisseurs, it serves dunkeles(darks) and helles(lights) and Jerry sampled both and pronounced them wonderful, thought the dark was better! Danny, who by this time was practically falling asleep at the table, opted for the apple dumplings, covered with powdered sugar and swimming in a cider sauce. I tried the kas'nocken, little pasta dumplings topped with melted Tyrolean mountain cheese and crispy fried onions-think of the best mac/cheese ever...then multiply by 3! Jerry had a Bauern-something or other, which was a platter of potato dumpling, sauerkraut,schnitzel,sausage and ham. He could fell his arteries clogging as he ate-but it was delicious! We strolled back to our hotel through the empty streets, lights shining down from the beautiful palaces and churches that are all around us. Wow!