Paris to Vienna

Monday 22nd October (Paris to Vienna)

Uneventful 1 hr 40 minute flight to Vienna, arriving around lunch time at the airport. Caught the airport fast train direct to the city (with all our bags!) and then a taxi to the Sofitel Vienna where we are staying. Walked into town to get our bearings, passing many beautiful old buildings. On our walk back to our hotel it was just starting to rain and was around 4 degrees!! Dinner back at our hotel included Weiner Schnitzel which we both thought needed some sort of sauce as it was a little dry. Started to catch up on our diary which was many, many weeks behind, handled a few emails and off to bed. We still only have CNN &BBC news as English channels!

Tuesday 23rd October (Vienna)

Had a wonderful sleep in at Sofitel Vienna. Woke to more rain and around 2 degrees. Downstairs for buffet breakfast then to see the concierge to find a dentist as I (Pam) have broken off a back tooth and it is sharp and ragged. Into a taxi to see the dentist who was very professional, (but did not wear gloves!) and had a large surgery with 3 or 4 dentist chairs where his patients were in various stages of treatment. He just flitted from one to the other – like mass production which we do in some of our colo-rectal clinics in Sydney. Filed off the jagged tooth, charged me only Euro10 then Paul and I were off to find a cup of hot coffee as we were freezing and it was raining. At this stage we had about 4 layers on, finished off by a big overcoat and then a raincoat. Eventually found one of the Hop On Hop Off buses for our tour of Vienna. Difficult for me to appreciate the beauty here as the weather was so miserable and we were wet and cold but did manage to have a lovely tour in the warm bus then back to our hotel where it was warmer, to catch up on our diary. Some beautiful winter clothes here but very expensive. Am actually rather pleased that we already have around 60ks and cannot really afford (weight wise) to buy anything. Its not that I have purchased a lot of gear – it’s simply because we have been away for 3 months, and gone through a number of different climates, that our bags are full. Paul thinks that this comment is rubbish as we have already sent home 20kgs of gear and we still have 2 large carry on bags which we do not want the airline to weight. I find it hard sometimes to pretend that my carry on bag is as light as a feather. It nearly pulls me over! Just watched the weather on the T.V. and am very pleased to see that Dubai is around 36 degrees. Much more to my liking!

Wednesday 24th October (Vienna)

Great sleep. Downloaded emails x 35 – then computer crashed without us having read any of them! Unable to boot or restore any. Luckily we had backed up our diary and photos the night before. Off on the red bus today to explore the Danube River area then rang the family to advise them of the computer crash. Off again at 3:30pm to visit Schonbrunner Palace, which was the residence of the Hofburg dynasty and home to the last Austrian emperor as Austria became a republic after WW1 in 1918. Did a tour of the palace which was opulent, very large and made Warragal Road look like a dog kennel/out house. The grounds and gardens were very formal and the size of a small farm. Beautiful. Then had dinner at the “Cafe Restaurant Residenz Schonbrunn” which consisted of smoked salmon pate, turkey-hen fillet Colbert on paprika foam and a chocolate tartlet. After this we were off to the Orangerie Hall in the grounds of the palace to listen to the Schonbrunn Palace Orchestra playing a selection of Mozart & Strauss e.g. The Magic Flute, Don Giovanni, The Marriage of Figaro as well as melodies such as The Blue Danube Waltz (one of my Mum’s favourites). A male and female ballerina which were excellent as well as a soprano and a baritone. Such culture for us..... we thoroughly enjoyed it. Still very cold and rainy!!