August 6 – Vienna, Austria

Today was a "sight see until we drop day.  This morning we took a bus ride through Vienna to see the main sights.

Statue of  Empress Marie Theresa Hapsburg 

Building with painted design

Another building with painted designs

Statue of Mozart

Then were dropped off for a walking tour.  

One of the sights was the Hofburg Imperial Palace, the principal palace of the Habsburg dynasty and now the residence of the President of Austria. 

And of course we eyed the display window at a Vienna pastry shop...but didn't buy.

The main highlight of the walking tour was the St. Stephen’s Cathedral.  

The interior was beautiful although we weren't allowed into the nave of the church as it was restricted to worshipers.  However, we could see into it as well as other portions of the church.

We took the elevator to the top rather try to walk up.  There were great views from the top...of the city and the rooftop of the church.

After lunch we took the tour to Schӧnbrunn Palace, imperial summer home of the Habsburg dynasty.  We toured the 25 most important state rooms (likely just the 25 that could be toured on a single circuit through that portion of the palace).  The palace actually has over 1,440 rooms.  Unfortunately no photos were allowed inside.

A "statue" on the plaza of the palace (a real person in incredible make-up and costume, hoping for tips).

Then we did a quick tour of the carriage house to see the incredible collection of carriages...

plus a sleigh.

This carriage was painted black to be used for funerals.

There was also the silk train from the wedding dress of Queen Sisi (Elizabeth), wife of King Franz-Joseph of Hungary and Bavaria.  It had incredible gold embroidery.  

Then it was on to the massive gardens.  Unfortunately there wasn’t nearly enough time to tour them thoroughly but the views were great from the palace and the areas around it.

This evening we then went to a great concert.  

There were 11 musicians, two singers and two ballet dancers.  It was in a small, intimate venue and the quality of the music was exceptional.  However, this should be expected as Vienna is the City of Music and was at various times the home of Mozart and Strauss (all of them),