Vienna Austria 

Only 3 days here. What a mistake. We should have scheduled a week. More expensive, but a beautiful city. One food tour, one city tour of old town (1st district),a trolley tour, a Rick Steves walking audio guide tour, and a visit to both the summer and winter palace of the Hapsburgs. The public transport was great and the food was special- Wiener schnitzel, beef goulash, sausage, Sacher torte, great beer by the liter. Now on to England for a month.more chillin from small balconyview from balcony-2 pics

Food tour- 1 New Yorker , 3 guides (2 in training ) and uscake and coffee at 1st stopsausage from street vendor with rye bread- my favorite Viennese original fast food- pre made in a case with meat and/or chopped veggies on rye bread with an 1/8 the liter of beer- small confections Wiener schnitzel beef goulash Sacher Torteat Hofburg palace- The depiction of emperor Joseph II as a Roman conqueror, dressed in a toga and a laurel wreath, reflects the Habsburg belief that they were descendants of the ancient Roman emperors- what bullshit- they needed to get over themselves. They chose the wrong side in WW1 and it was there downfall from ruling a large part of Europe since the 13th centuryLipizzaner rider trainer with teacher in backthe imperial crypt -The bones of 145 Habsburg royalty, plus urns containing the hearts or cremated remains of four others, are here, including 12 emperors and 18 empresses. Overlooking the Danube cafe Sacher that started and still serves the original Sacher Tortemonument against war and fascism depicting those lost the both world wars as well as a Jew scrubbing the floor and wrapped in barbed wireSt. Stephen’s CathedralThe Pestsäule was constructed by Emperor Leopold I following the Great Plague of Vienna. 2nd photo shows a witch figure on bottom representing the plague and the king above her kneeling down and asking God for helpCatholic church of St Stephens- oldest church in Vienna- 3 pics The Hofburg is the former imperial palace in the center of Vienna. the 13th century palace had been the seat of power of the Habsburg dynasty rulers. It was the principal imperial winter residence, as Schönbrunn Palace was the summer residence.-4 picsstaircase in palace 

Can’t take pics in palace but I snuck this one in the main dining room.Schönbrunn Palace was the summer residence of the Hapsburg’s a few miles out of town- no pics allowed inside.