Kev n Jo's Blog: May 2013

The land of Mozart and wieners - welcome to Wien/Vienna.

We did not have a chance to sample the former. The only live music performance we saw was a street string quartet which played Pirates of the Caribbean instead of Mozart. We did sample the latter though, and it was most delicious.

From the hotdog stall outside the Albertina.

Vienna was an easy 1.5 hours flight out of Schipol on KLM.

The very modern Vienna Schwechat International Airport. The glass walls of the arrival hall doubled up as a huge LCD screen showing the flight arrivals - clever.

Vienna has huge stately buildings.

And lots of dramatic wrestling statues.

And what must be the cleanest streets in Europe - look at this pavement.

Day 1 was spent getting an orientation of the city. First thing we do in a European city is always to head to the cathedral. There's bound to be one. Doesn't matter if you don't know anything else about the city (like us). Just go to the cathedral, it's usually where the action is.

'Walking' along Karntner Strasse, Vienna's main shopping street, on the way to Stephansplatz.

I say 'walking' because Lucas wanted to walk/run off in every direction except the one in which we wanted to go. But he couldn't because we were holding tightly to his hand. So he ended up running circles around us, much like the moon circling the sun, just a lot faster. Occasionally he would lie down on the pavement in protest. Every few steps were accompanied by whines from him and threats from us. And so in this manner, we inched our way to Stephansplatz to visit Stephansdom, Vienna's cathedral.

Stephansdom with its unique multicoloured tiled roof.

It had a rainbow-coloured interior, thanks to these stained glass windows.

We didn't know what else to do, so we decided to take a horse and carriage ride around the city. We had seen plenty of these before but never tried it as the price is quite steep. But we were glad we finally did it as it was very pleasant and relaxing. You get great views due to the height of the carriage, plus lots of gentle clip-clopping and breeze.

Lucas probably thought he was in a strange giant stroller.

Tail-gater.

He was very mesmerized by our driver's moustache.

And the kindly old man obliged.

From moustaches to giant bubbles - what a day.

Want to make your own giant bubbles? Here's how:

http://youtu.be/zUJ5HBtGCYQ

Day 2 was spent at the Kaiserappartements, the most touristy part of the sprawling Hofburg Palace complex right in the city centre.

More wrestling statues at the entrance.

Josefsplatz

It got quite crowded on the rooftop.

All. That. Space.

Doing a spot of gardening at the Hofburg.

The silhouette of Empress Elisabeth of Austria, better known by her nickname, Sisi, awaits you at the entrance to her museum. Spouse of Emperor Franz Josef I (who was a bit of a workaholic), she is now Vienna's no. 1 tourist attraction. No photos were allowed in her museum and apartments but I can tell you that her life was more tragic than fascinating.

The Silver Collection part of the museum showcases the silverware, china and glassware used by the imperial family, an amazing and grand array of beautifully crafted items.

If you dine with royalty, you get your own little cute bottle of water, in crystal no less.

Oh, and choose whichever artwork on a plate that tickles your fancy.

Don't like Greek mythology, how about one of these beautifully drawn life-like flowers?

Don't like white? It's okay, there are black ones too, all equally beautiful.

While we are at it, let's have an amazing centrepiece on the dining table, yes?

They even have something for days when you are tired of all the gold and splendour and yearn for a wooden plate. Of course, your majesty, you can't dine on a wooden plate so let's have a beautiful pretend one. The artist will just do a simple sketch in black and white, okay?