Ahhh Vienna

 We sailed through the night, passing through the first of our locks. I slept through that part of the night but woke at around 3 AM, unable to get back to sleep. At breakfast in the morning everyone was talking about the marvel of going through the lock. To me it was all part of the trip. I have navigated houseboats through locks on the Murray river so it wasn't anything special. We also went through a few on our Russian river cruise. The only real difference was how the lock operated, with a roll down gate instead of sliding or barn door gates.


We sailed through breakfast  and casually watched the land go by and noticed a lot of fishing shacks on the side of the river. These can be anything from a basic cabin to what would seem a two story shack. They were dotted on the river bank, some on stilts, some on the levee or dykes as they are called over here.


Soon the outskirts of Vienna came into sight and also the second of our locks. The Vega being a relatively new ship has some extra features you don't see on the other ships. The Captains control room is height controlled by hydraulics. Because of the low bridges in Europe the Captain can lower the ships bridge to go under them. It was interesting to see this actually happen and to see the Captain with his head sticking out of the cupola on the top of the ship's bridge.


Before long we were docked, and with lunch out of the road, we were on the bus ready for the afternoon tour. We were warned the Austrian police would be coming to check our passports, but weren't ready for them to be blocking the only road out with their car.  A quick call and crisis averted, until the German tourist busses came in and blocked the exit. With some clever and skillful driving by our driver we bypassed them and were on our way to the Vienna city centre.

Vienna is a beautiful city of around 1.9 million people. It has a mixture of old and new style architecture, and they really take pride in the older styles. This really is a city you have to see to believe. We were here on a Sunday and unlike Sundays in Adelaide, this place was alive. The streets and malls were crowded, but the only shops open were coffee and souvenir shops. It seems a favourite past time on a Sunday is going to the City for a coffee.



Having a passion for black smithing and metal art, Europe is a mecca for me. There is wrought iron scroll work everywhere you look, some purely for decoration and some for function. Part of our guided tour took us through the Hapsburg's palace, which is also home to the world famous Spanish Riding School and the Lippizan horses. More about them tomorrow when we devote the day to them.




Our guided tour was coming to an end and when in Vienna we did as they do so we went to a coffee house for coffee and a snack. We were recommended to go to Sluka for the best coffee and cakes. We weren't disappointed, and even in this extremely busy coffee house we found beautiful architecture and ornate leadlight glass ceilings.



The day was coming to an end and we had to meet back at St Stephens Church. This building alone is worth the visit to Vienna. Once we were all accounted for, we made our way back to the bus for the ride back to the boat and the evenings festivities.



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