Due to jet lag, we all woke up early, were out the door by 7:30 and had a quick breakfast in a local cafe before meeting our personal tour guide Lisa Zeiler, a local Viennese lady who provided wonderful historical context and insight into Vienna's contributions over the centuries.
Being a religious holiday in Austria, the churches were full. The compensating factor was that beautiful music presentations were ours to enjoy free of charge - a beautiful choir-orchestra-organ recital at St Agustine Church (great acoustics) and a string quartet playing Vivaldi's four Seasons at St Stephen's Cathedral.
Medieval courtyard (now updated)
Lovely old Diglas Cafe, where Lisa and Shirley bought candied violets, created for the empress back in the day.
Lunch at very traditional Reinthaler's Beisl (we appeared to be the only English speakers) where we had Tafelspitz (beef rump roast boiled in broth, with a condiment of horseradish mixed with applesauce and a side of caraway hash browns). Very tasty, (although I was wishing for a spot of Sri Racha) and again we were soooo full.
The next few hours we walked off our lunch by exploring odd bits of Vienna.
Tomorrow: a day trip to Melk Abbey, a cruise on the Danube and likely more foodie adventures.
Posted with Blogsy
I bet the music in the church was beautiful!! Looks like some yummy food!
ReplyDeleteLove your scarf Shirley!
Man, even the candy shop looks kind of like a church! What holiday was it?
ReplyDeleteSt Augustine's looks glorious! Enjoying the blog. hugs.
ReplyDelete