Had breakfast at the hotel. It wasn't too bad - even had a cook making omelettes to order. They also had pre-made eggs benedict, so I had one of those. Not enough sauce, I thought - but that was no doubt better for me! I ate with the Irish mob, once they arrived.
We met at the bus at 9am for the morning city tour with Eleanor, our guide for this. Unfortunately, it was really cold and windy and horrible outside. We drove around the streets in the bus for a bit first, and then went on a tour in the Hofburg. This was all rather rushed with not really enough time for photos. I took a few snaps though:
Next we drove to the Donau City, via the Prater. This is all modern buildings that are allowed to be over 85m high (as opposed to inside Vienna). They weren't interesting in my eyes, so I didn't photograph them (not that we actually stopped here!). After this we continued on into the city. We stopped outside St Stephens and then walked past a few statues and fountains, the Capuchin Church (which is the emperors' crypt), to the Albertina Museum.
This is where our guide left us. Those who wanted to, could get the bus back to the hotel. I decided to stay and do some sight-seeing on my own.
I walked down to Kaerntner Street and stopped at the Maltese Church:
on my way back to St Stephen's via some pretty buildings and fountains:
I managed to go into St Stephen's (free of charge even!). It's quite pretty, though not outstanding:
I then headed in the general direction of the Opera first. I passed by St Peter's along the way and am very glad I went inside, because it was gorgeous:
I continued on and photographed the Plague Monument and the pretty mural on the building behind it:
The Opera itself was beautiful:
Next up was the Secession Building. This cost 8.50 Euro admission. It did have the Beethoven frieze by Gustav Klimt, as well as some other very recent artworks (which literally looked like rubbish to me). I didn't think it was worth it, even with the nice video and explanations of the frieze:
I headed off towards the Museum Quarter and Maria Theresia Square to get some more/better photos:
before going to my actual destination of the gorgeous Parliament Building:
Next stop was Town Hall. There's a lot going on around here - there's often concerts and performances in the summer, as well as restaurants and bars and cafes. I was tempted to stop for a coffee, but wanted to see some more first and maybe come back for a bite to eat before tonight's musical performance at a palace in the city:
The Hofburg Theatre was just across from here too:
I could see the Votive church from here so headed in that direction to see what I could see. Unfortunately I couldn't get in because it was closed:
My intention to stop for a coffee and dinner in this part of town was scrapped because I was getting quite tired and irritable, so I caught the subway back to the hotel and just had a coffee at the subway station near the hotel and skipped dinner altogether.
I met up with the concert attendees from the tour at the bus at 7.30pm and we went to the Auersperg Palace for the performance. No photos were allowed during the performance. I don't remember it being so much fun, actually. The performers (chamber orchesta) seemed to really enjoy themselves. There were a couple of dancers doing ballet type stuff and a couple of opera singers too. Most of the music and dancers were funny ones. It was a very enjoyable evening. Though whether it was worth 40 Euros is debatable. I managed to take a couple of pictures of the building:
About 10pm it was back on the bus and to the hotel. I need an early night so I can catch up my blog....not likely before Warsaw though!
