We took the overnight train from Germany to Vienna, Austria last night and arrived at 6:40AM this morning. It was our first experience in an overnight train, and I need to say that we seriously lucked out. The train was fairly empty and we were able to move to an empty room - so instead of sharing a room with strangers we were able to have our own compartment.
It was snowing once we arrived in Vienna, but given that it was before sunrise we weren't exactly savoring the moment. We went to the Hilton and by some Grace of God they let us check in at 8am instead of the customary 2pm! On top of that - they gave us the executive suite... someone really was smiling down on us!
After we refreshed for a bit, we started our tour of Vienna. First we went to St. Stephen's Cathedral which was incredible. It is an 800 year old Romanesque /Gothic cathedral with glazed tile roofs that just towers above everything else in the city. We read that nearly every enemy that Austria has ever had has attempted to bomb the church (since it is just an obvious and tall target) - but all have failed (including the Turks, Russia, US and Napolean's forces included.) It is the most ornate and intricately detailed building either of us have ever seen.
Above: Statue of Hades and Cerberus (3 Headed Dog) at the Imperial Palace
Following that we walked around Hofburg - aka the Imperal Palace that includes the National Library, Treasury, Courtyards and Imperial apartments. On the edge of Hofburg are two very large identical museums built in 1889 - one serves as an art musuem and the other as a museum of natural histoy. We visited the natural history museum and saw a lot of stuffed/mounted animals; it was a very different layout than the Smithsonian. The museum itself was very over the top; everything was marble with gold inlay and paintings in each room.
It's been very hard for us to communicate with people here - in Italy, Belgium, Holland - most people spoke english or enough for us to get by. In Germany and now Austria - not so much. There are no signs in English and since German is not even close to English we have been struggling. We are anxious to get to France where we should know enough to make it through!
Hope all is well in the States!
Above: Ruins of a German Castle in Southern Germany
Sounds like you are having a wonderful time. Hope you are well. Jonathan, you did take four years of German in High School...hummm...what were you doing all that time? It's cool here, too. 32 this morning. I guess you know the Cowboys lost - big time! It was not pretty. Stay safe! I love you both!
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