Vienna was really hot in September. The temperature reached 35C and it was like walking around in an oven. We planned our activities for each day carefully so as to minimize exposure to the sun.
Imperial crockery at the Hofburg
The Hofburg was walking distance from our hotel, which was located very close to Stephansplatz, the buzzing center of Vienna. It was worth a short visit, for its collections of imperial glass and silverware among others. There was also a large exhibition on Sisi, as Empress Elizabeth (who was assassinated in 1898) was known. We also visited the Spanish riding school in the same complex and witnessed the morning exercise routine for the Lipizzaner stallions, which was really nice and worth the wait of an hour in the queue. Vienna is quite an expensive city, as compared to the other places we visited on this trip. I tried schnitzel for lunch, and it reminded me of the milanesa I used to have in Porto Alegre – basically a breaded beef/chicken dish. Nothing to get excited about.
Schonbrunn palace
Next stop was the Schonbrunn Palace, located a 20 minute train ride away. We took an audio guided tour which covered almost all the rooms open to the public, some 60 of them. Going through all of them slowly listening to the audio become tiresome and we breezed through the more boring ones. The gardens were well laid out, not as nice as Versailles, but still worth walking through. Again we carefully avoided the peak sunny times and managed to complete the visit without getting burned.
On the way to Melk
Next day, we took a tour which began with a coach trip into the Wachau valley, and then a boat cruise on the Danube to the town of Melk where there was a Benedictine monastery to visit. The countryside on the way was lovely and though it was a hot day with little breeze, the cruise too was quite good. We had lunch at the restaurant outside the monastery and then went in to see the various treasures inside like artefacts studded with precious stones, a massive library, chapel etc. The return to Vienna was by coach and we hopped off at the state opera house, which again was walking distance to our hotel.
Dancing in Stephansplatz
We came across a set of performers in Stephansplatz, who seemed to be doing some local folk dances. It made for a pleasant end to the day.
