Monday, august 15

We stayed one night longer than originally planned in Vienna because we loved it so much.  This gave us an extra morning to wander around the city and revisit Café Central!

What we didn't assume when we planned to stay an extra night was that this day was a holiday, Feast of the Assumption, or something like that.  Consequently, it was like Sunday all over again and most of the stores were closed.  We took this opportunity to spend more time in the magnificent rose garden, fully conscious this time.

And we took another loop around the city on our bike.  Notice how I said bike.  When we were in Paris two years ago, we discovered that we could share one of those clunky rentable city bikes (called the "Velib" in Paris) to save money and energy - well, Sarah saves energy while Hirsh expends for both of us.  Many large cities have similar rentable bikes, so we've made a habit of finding a "Velib" wherever we can.  Sarah sits precariously on the seat and holds onto Hirsh's shirt while Hirsh stands on the pedals and does all the work.  It requires lots of balance, trust, and recklessness, but we see so much more than we would otherwise.  We get plenty of envious and confused looks, but most people seem amused.  Finally today, for the first time ever, we were scolded by a police officer.  That won't stop us from trying again in the next city though!

We made one last brief food tour before leaving town.  Käsekrainer is a cheese-infused sausage served either sliced or in a bun, and it's THE favorite street food of the Viennese.  Eat all the things!

We topped that off with iced coffee at Café Hawelka, another of Vienna's famous cafes.  Managed by a very charismatic, very in-charge head waiter, when we asked for a menu, he said "I am the menu."  When we asked for sugar for our iced coffee, he said "no" and walked away.  He basically told us it was perfect as-is and we would drink it and like it.  And we did.

We left the heart of the city, picked up our car, and drove to one of Vienna's most popular tourist sites, Schönbrunn Palace.  Built as the summer residence for the ruling Habsburg family, the palace and gardens are enormous and beautiful.  It's tremendously busy in the summer, so it's important to book tickets in advance, but definitely worth a visit.  Once again, photos are not allowed inside the palace, but we got a couple overlooking the pristine gardens.

Our last stop in Vienna was the Zentralfriedhof ("Central Cemetery").  Sarah's a bit of a cemetery aficionado, so this was definitely her choice.  This is one of the largest cemeteries in the world with over 3 million interments!  We got there with one hour to spare before they locked the gates for the night, subsequently got lost in the massive maze of graves, and made it out just as they were closing the gates.  But we did manage to find the graves of Beethoven and Strauss, and a memorial to Mozart, though he is buried elsewhere in a pauper's grave.

Some random graveyard beauty...

After the cemetery, it was on to Hungary and one of the relative newbies on the hot travel circuit, Budapest!