Tuesday October 25th
Went through several locks to get here (replaced original photos with better ones!)
Water level looking forward
There’s a boat next to us, you can see the roof. The wall shows water level.
Closing the doors.
Sunshine today!😎 High of 68 degrees.
Maria Teresa Square above. (Marie Antoinette was one of her daughters).
Below, Heroes Square. They’re preparing for a Holiday tomorrow, celebrating their independence. That came at a price; Austria has to remain neutral. They may not join NATO or take sides in conflicts.
This is also the home of a famous horse training school, mostly for shows and exhibitions. These horses have not been used in the military.
Around Vienna and St Stephen’s Square. Big shopping district. Vienna is very famous for cafe’s and coffee houses. Since most Viennese live in small apartments, they meet friends or read or just hang out in coffee houses for hours each day.
We saw several Starbucks, but no, did not stop there!
An original part of the Roman excavation.
The bank is an example of modern (1900’s!) architecture.
You know I found the chocolate shop.
At Michael’s Cathedral, in St Michael’s Square! Baroque (which we did not know loosely translates to “ irregularly shaped pearl”.)
This afternoon Schonbrunn Palace, the summer cottage of Empress Maria Theresa. They did not have much money at the time, so could only build a palace with 1442 rooms, which was tight since she had 16 children and many servants. Once the children turn 14 or 15, they each get 12-14 servants each. You can see the shorter third floor windows where Maria Theresa had a floor split in one wing to add an extra floor to accommodate the additional servants. Those servants had to be pretty short....
1918 marked the end of the Hapsburg empire, when WWI ended which Germany lost, along with Austria. After that, the palace was turned into apartments and offices until 1945 where it was used to house English officers. Today, it’s apartments and offices again, with approximately 1000 residents.
No photos allowed inside so imagine lots of ivory, gaudy gold and red. Tapestries, inlaid wood floors, big ballrooms and tiny servant quarters. There were small doors in each room leading to secret corridors between the rooms where Royal occupants wouldn’t have to see servants carrying out chamber pots, and they could stoke the stoves from the corridor side.
Maria Theresa also wanted something pretty to look at so she had these gardens built. I’m guessing these would be beautiful if there were flowers instead of dirt piles. They are changing over from flowers to tulip bulbs to plant for next Spring. There are a bunch of statues to look at in the meantime.
Some of the public toilets cost money. Here’s Pamela’s receipt for € .50!
Fun facts about Vienna:
They are a Social system with approx 55% income tax which pays for all medical and dental care, vision etc., education including University, pension (our Social Security) and 2 full years paid maternity leave. Their water comes from the Alps so all their tap water is mineral water. An annual transportation pass is €365 or €1 per day. Vienna also offers subsidized housing for low income citizens. About 2/3 of Vienna residents rent apartments rather than own homes.
Lastly, here is tonight’s dessert: carrot cake and maple walnut cake with malt ice cream. Steak, cod, weinerschnitzel and mozzarella with eggplant were some choices on tonight’s menu.
Auf weidersehen!
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