25 July: Vienna
This morning was the big "explore Vienna in a morning" opportunity. The hop-on-hop-off bus seemed the best means of sweeping the city. There are 3 circuits but we knew we only had the one shot so just stayed on the red inner city circuit.
I have posted a photo of the lack of water in the river on FB and apparently rivers all over Europe look just like that. Very few cruises are running so nearly all tours are by coach. Just imagine the logistical nightmare of having to acquire not only hundreds of extra coaches but also land accommodation.
Because of the promised refund of our tour (due to the fire) Peter suggested we really splash out and do a half hour horse carriage ride. What a thrill that was. It gave us a slow closeup peek at the overwhelming beauty of central Vienna. How could it excell beyond Prague, Salzburg and Passau? Easily. Photos just do not capture it because you can't fit buildings of that magnitude into the photo frame. I've tried but I gave up.
Then back to the bus to finish the circuit. We now have to curtail our activities a) because of Peter and b) because of the seering heat. So 1 pm we had to bale out. Peter needed to rest and I needed to get my hair done because it's Friday. I'm sure you'll be impressed by the photo of my model of a hairdresser. What a beauty!!!!
So what to do for the rest of the afternoon?  You guessed it. Go shopping! 😃 One of the women who assisted in our fire trauma was looking for a shopping mate and knew this street. Her husband needed an afternoon nap too, so we girls hit town. Well,  one block of the aforementioned street actually.
The only reason we came back at all was to wake the guys up to get changed for dinner. Not any old dinner but a coach ride to the Marchfelderhof Imperial Dinner. This county inn was established in the 17th century and boggled our minds once more. The whole exterior was illuminated and an Austrian band was playing to greet us. A red carpet was rolled out right across the street and each of us was greeted like royalty. Inside was absolutely packed with an eclectic mix of memorabilia collected over the 4 centuries. There was no space anywhere on the floor, walls or ceilings of this vast multi-roomed country Inn.  The banquet was divine and we were entertained by brilliant Viennese musicians. Yet another extraordinary experience.
Tomorrow we board the coach at 8.30 to go for a trip to the Vienna woods.