This morning I blitzed the stables and we stumbled into the kitchen at about 7.30, Woo ! Today was our first day trip to Vienna by another kind invitation from Jk who was on her holidays and offered to drive us the hr or so down the autobahn, along with her 7yr old son plus 10yr old half brother..Naturally i got bundled in the back seats with the kids, mostly stared out the window at the changing landscape..spartan valleys with lush hills gradually getting flatter and denser urban zones...listening to snippets of the conversation up front - some talk about this ball J and I could be going to on Saturday possibly fancy dress - JK has a few costumes...wait did i hear the words BEER WENCH!
Found a free sparking space -- lucky or what eh! - Then skedaddled on down to UB to buy a 4 euro 70 day ticket to go anywhere on the trains, better than London I think ? The boys were ultra excited to be on the
Ubahn, it was jk's sons first train so they made much noise and as jk put it everyone knew we were here!!
haha!
J's first point of call was the Brazilian Embassy since her next stop is to helpX in South America
Meanwhile Jk took us to The Hotel Sacher...famous for..dun dunnn duuuuhh the Sacher Torte - the route we walked along was full of expensive shops, imagine like Mayfair London..I didn't quite realise we were going inside! I was quite happy to press my noise against the window like a passing peasant- though once inside couldnt really go out again...paid to hang our coats up - throw it over the back of the chair!
Anyhow it was all red plush with little gold motifs on the furniture, walls..on the waiters..the tearoom or lounge had that hushed atmosphere of the rich, the boys were a little in awe, jk and I just muffled our giggles! Hot chocolate and cappacinos plus The Torte to share between us ... one of the kids went Tssh its the same
as any other cake...I must say I quite agree! You were handsomly paying for the privlidge just to be there, but I supposeits not something one does everyday and it was our first time to Wien for all of us! ...So i even pocketed the sugar which had the name on too!
England like she mentioned because I would love to show her about London and invite her out to places as she gracefully has done with J and I.
Afterwards we took to the spire of gothic Stephansdom (it has a multicoloured roof!) not realising there were 345 steps to haul ourselves up in a dizzying fashion! Apparently the church houses a 400 yr old bell -Pummerin bell - which is now only rung on New Years, although we only saw the place were it used to be..boo!
More stairs surprise surprise ! Fantastic view of course from the top, the city spread out for miles!
They had some random artifacts at the top - one was an Ottoman cannonball used to bomb the church - also a beefy man behind the till - we wondered how he could be so fat if he had to climb 300 narrow stairs - perhaps he had a secret elevator..
Back to pick up a famished J equipped with visa to Rio - found a sausage- würstel -stall - Did I mention it was another glorious day? J desperately followed all the sunshine patches lapping up every ounce of warmth
Last stop Schönbrunn Castle...wait you call this a castle?! More like a palace ..of banana custard extravagance pipped with lusciouswhipped cream....mm must stop making food comparisons !
Would have been gorgeous during the summer with baroque gardens, flower beds in bloom, sparkling fountains ... although winter gave it a certain beauty...like icing sugar!
Too expensive to go in thus us peasants went for a run around the Hapsburgs' grounds ..also flipping humongous..its extends 1.2km practically on all four points of the compass! Made another climb to a summer place perhaps, which is now a cafe! wooo -- hot chocolate!
Silent drive home, the kids were worn out, i was worn out....and i really must learn TO NEVER FALL ASLEEP WHEN 'FRIENDS' HAVE CAMERAS' ...Why I oughta!! 'shakes fist in angry 1950s fashion''!
Despite the fact that we didn't actually, rest, so to speak, it was a grand day out in the sun with good company and I felt strangely refreshed for going back to work !
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