One Day in Vienna

By the time we got to Vienna, we were pretty tired. It was nice to enjoy a little down time in the hotel. Later we headed out to see St. Stephen's Cathedral (Another Big Church), where we climbed the 343 stairs of the south tower.

In the afternoon, I had my heart set on seeing Albertina (the art museum) and the others decided to join me. We saw significant Impressionist and early 20th-century art (Monet to Picasso) and modern graphic works (Warhol and others), plus special exhibitions of the Austrian artist Florentina Pakosta and the Austrian photographer Alfred Seiland.

The Sacher Cafe was just outside the Albertina museum, and according to Beth's guidebook, Sacher Torte is a dessert specialty of Vienna. We could not resist!

After the sugar rush, we walked around the grounds of the Imperial Palace which is where the President of Vienna lives and works. There were many ornate and historic buildings which I'm sure had far more significance than we could absorb at this point in our journey. I was fascinated by the lion statues out front, which to me seemed quite regal. The lion holds a crest with a lion on it. It appears that lion may also be holding a crest and I had to wonder if that crest also has a lion on it. #LionsForever.

The Hundertwasserhaus is an apartment house in Vienna, built by Austrian artist Friedensreich Hundertwasser with architect Joseph Krawina.

The walk there was pleasant and there was a casual, artsy vibe in the area around the Hundertwasserhaus.

In the evening we journeyed to a wonderful restaurant that was out of the way tucked into a side street in a neighborhood. The food was excellent and many traditional Austrian options. We may have been the only tourists in the place and everyone was sitting outside in a large garden drinking beer. I had beef stroganoff with potato pancakes and will never forget it. It was a lovely way to celebrate our last night together (no pictures).