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Austria Post is more expensive than Deutsche Post. I was unaware that was possible. I keep saying, every time I encounter European postal service, that I won't complain next time USPS raises their rates. It costs 45 cents (E) to mail a postcard within Germany, 80 within the EU, and 1 Euro to mail a postcard to the US.
My second round of postcards should be arriving soon; I mailed them mid last week.
I think we've walked on average 5-6 miles a day since we've been here.
Today we tried to get a tour of the Staatsoper, but there aren't tours again until tomorrow or Friday. So we wandered around a little more, then went to a brewery for lunch (1516 Brewing; the 3-grain wheat beer was good, the old Bavarian dark not so much; Ben enjoyed the blackberry beer) then decided, hey, the weather isn't quite as dismal as we expected; let's take this walking tour up north. So we walked from Ubahn Schottentor to Augarten, where there are these huge WW2-era anti-aircraft towers in the middle of a nice park, then down to the Prater, where there's an amusement park. We rode the ferris wheel and got a nice view of the city, but the weather wasn't good enough to enjoy the lovely scenery of the park. So we bought dinner and came home.
Ben would like to add that we saw the Capuchin cloister church, where photography is not allowed. On the way out, I saw a Capuchin monk. It was kinda cool. I'd never seen a monk before. We opted not to spend the admission fee on the imperial crypt. I assume dead Habsburgs look a lot like dead Hohenzollern, whose crypt was cheaper.
Yesterday we visited dead people. Falco's grave is extremely flamboyant. The broken pillar with a weeping* angel that marks a spot somewhere near where Mozart was dumped in a mass grave is poignant.
The Belvedere Museum, where they have a bunch of original Klimts, Em, including The Kiss, was pretty sweet, even if the rain we went inside largely to avoid kindly waited until we were finished to start.
*or facepalming
Monday we avoided the rain by visiting the Imperial Treasury, where they have a whole bunch of cool old shit. Like coronation cloaks, crown jewels, loot from the Turkish siege, swords, and all that stuff. Then we went over to St Stephen's Cathedral and climbed 340 steps up the tower for a nice view of the city. (The weather got briefly better, though the wind was still hella cold.) After that, we took a detour down Schoenlaterngasse (pretty lantern alley), then went back up to the Stephansplatz area and had coffee and cake at Cafe Demel. I had a piece of Ana Demel torte, which was multi-layered chocolate cake with some sort of goo in the middle (chocolate hazelnut, I think) and soaked in brandy on the bottom. Then on top was a ganache made quite possibly entirely of pureed hazelnuts, sugar, and butter. It was really good. (Ben got a chocolate truffle torte, which was also good. He had hot chocolate with cardamom, since he can't have caffeine. Both were delicious.) It was rather expensive, but it's one of those things you're supposed to do when you're in Vienna.
After that, we continued walking through the city to see the Rathaus and the Votive Church, I think, then we went back to the hotel because it was too damned cold. (I ate the remnant of my cake for dinner.)
Sunday we decided to do one of the self-guided walks in the guidebook, but our plans were thwarted by a massive rainstorm that drove us into the Vienna Museum for a few hours. We pressed onward for a bit nevertheless, and we fortuitously got tickets to the concert in St Karl's Church of Mozart's Requiem. ♥♥♥
I am so spoiled by Berlin, though. Everything is so much cheaper there (except transit tickets.) Doener stands, sandwiches at bakeries, restaurants... so much cheaper.
We still need to go to Schoenbrunn, and we're trying to find good enough weather to do that. Tomorrow might still be rainy, but warmer, and Friday morning it looks like it'll rain, but the afternoon should be dry (according to orf.at, anyway.) So we need to figure out something to do for the other day. Maybe go to Carnuntum? Maybe spend part of the day at the Naschmarkt? Dunno.
Also, I got a call from Dr Walters today. Isis has lost a lot of weight and is showing signs of hyperthyroidism. She wanted to know if she could run the test. I told her yes, and that she could start medicine if she needed to. This will affect her diabetes treatment as well. :P But we can discuss that when we get back to a place where it isn't costing me a lot of money just to receive the call.
Anyway. Time to get off the computer.
My second round of postcards should be arriving soon; I mailed them mid last week.
I think we've walked on average 5-6 miles a day since we've been here.
Today we tried to get a tour of the Staatsoper, but there aren't tours again until tomorrow or Friday. So we wandered around a little more, then went to a brewery for lunch (1516 Brewing; the 3-grain wheat beer was good, the old Bavarian dark not so much; Ben enjoyed the blackberry beer) then decided, hey, the weather isn't quite as dismal as we expected; let's take this walking tour up north. So we walked from Ubahn Schottentor to Augarten, where there are these huge WW2-era anti-aircraft towers in the middle of a nice park, then down to the Prater, where there's an amusement park. We rode the ferris wheel and got a nice view of the city, but the weather wasn't good enough to enjoy the lovely scenery of the park. So we bought dinner and came home.
Ben would like to add that we saw the Capuchin cloister church, where photography is not allowed. On the way out, I saw a Capuchin monk. It was kinda cool. I'd never seen a monk before. We opted not to spend the admission fee on the imperial crypt. I assume dead Habsburgs look a lot like dead Hohenzollern, whose crypt was cheaper.
Yesterday we visited dead people. Falco's grave is extremely flamboyant. The broken pillar with a weeping* angel that marks a spot somewhere near where Mozart was dumped in a mass grave is poignant.
The Belvedere Museum, where they have a bunch of original Klimts, Em, including The Kiss, was pretty sweet, even if the rain we went inside largely to avoid kindly waited until we were finished to start.
*or facepalming
Monday we avoided the rain by visiting the Imperial Treasury, where they have a whole bunch of cool old shit. Like coronation cloaks, crown jewels, loot from the Turkish siege, swords, and all that stuff. Then we went over to St Stephen's Cathedral and climbed 340 steps up the tower for a nice view of the city. (The weather got briefly better, though the wind was still hella cold.) After that, we took a detour down Schoenlaterngasse (pretty lantern alley), then went back up to the Stephansplatz area and had coffee and cake at Cafe Demel. I had a piece of Ana Demel torte, which was multi-layered chocolate cake with some sort of goo in the middle (chocolate hazelnut, I think) and soaked in brandy on the bottom. Then on top was a ganache made quite possibly entirely of pureed hazelnuts, sugar, and butter. It was really good. (Ben got a chocolate truffle torte, which was also good. He had hot chocolate with cardamom, since he can't have caffeine. Both were delicious.) It was rather expensive, but it's one of those things you're supposed to do when you're in Vienna.
After that, we continued walking through the city to see the Rathaus and the Votive Church, I think, then we went back to the hotel because it was too damned cold. (I ate the remnant of my cake for dinner.)
Sunday we decided to do one of the self-guided walks in the guidebook, but our plans were thwarted by a massive rainstorm that drove us into the Vienna Museum for a few hours. We pressed onward for a bit nevertheless, and we fortuitously got tickets to the concert in St Karl's Church of Mozart's Requiem. ♥♥♥
I am so spoiled by Berlin, though. Everything is so much cheaper there (except transit tickets.) Doener stands, sandwiches at bakeries, restaurants... so much cheaper.
We still need to go to Schoenbrunn, and we're trying to find good enough weather to do that. Tomorrow might still be rainy, but warmer, and Friday morning it looks like it'll rain, but the afternoon should be dry (according to orf.at, anyway.) So we need to figure out something to do for the other day. Maybe go to Carnuntum? Maybe spend part of the day at the Naschmarkt? Dunno.
Also, I got a call from Dr Walters today. Isis has lost a lot of weight and is showing signs of hyperthyroidism. She wanted to know if she could run the test. I told her yes, and that she could start medicine if she needed to. This will affect her diabetes treatment as well. :P But we can discuss that when we get back to a place where it isn't costing me a lot of money just to receive the call.
Anyway. Time to get off the computer.
