First outing to Vienna.

This past Friday and Saturday, we made our first venture out to Vienna! A friend dropped us off in another town to make it easier for us to travel there; just one train, versus the 2-3 transfers we would have to make from Trumau...more on that later. We had decided to keep it a simple trip and walk around to get a feel for the city, as Michael still has a cough and Andrew has not yet received his student card, which will allow for discounts at various exhibits. After purchasing a family train pass, which enables us to travel at half-price all year, we rode the train for about 20 minutes into Vienna. We exited at a U-Bahn (subway) connection and took the subway from there. Thanks to my memories of navigating the Tube in London some 10 years ago, it was a breeze. We exited at Karlsplatz and directly ahead was a huge church, Karlskirche (St. Charles Borremeo's church). This church charged for entrance, so we took a few exterior pictures and will re-visit later.

 Making sure Michael stays hydrated and his nose wiped...poor guy.

Churches seemed to be the theme of the day. We of course planned to see the famous St. Stephen's Cathedral, but kept running into other churches everywhere, and so would pop in to absorb the varieties of beautiful religious art and whisper a few prayers. Michael really enjoys churches and seeing statues, and liked throwing his head back and looking all around - so much to take in.

 The above church, Kapunzinerkirche, enshrines the remains of a Blessed...I will have to research some of these saints unfamiliar to me. Right next to the church apparently, is the Imperial Crypt - making a note to come back; it looks fascinating.

 Michael fell asleep as we reached St. Stephan's. We went in and got some pictures. It's quite dark in the church, as you can see, but presents many beautiful side altars. Smaller paintings of saints more recent than the era of the church have been propped up on some of these altars, like Mother Theresa, Padre Pio, Miguel Pro, the Divine Mercy Image - lovely to see.

 

A fee is not charged for general viewing, but to access to the sanctuary and bell tower. Maybe another time. Andrew and I found a spot to sit at a café while we let Michael sleep. I had a Viennese coffee (espresso with vanilla ice cream) and Andrew had a few scoops of gelato. After about 1/2 hour, Michael woke up and sleepily people-watched.

 

Across the plaza from St. Stephan's is St. Peter's church; one of our favorites of the day, and definitely Michael's. It was nice to listen to an organist who was practicing for a concert that evening, as we toured the church. The bones of 2 martyrs brought from Rome by a cardinal at some point, were enshrined in glass cases under the side altars...interestingly dressed in Baroque garb.

 

We stumbled next upon Mariam Gestade church. This one arched high above similar to St. Stephan's and presented a numerous amount of saint statues carved from the same stone as that of the church walls.

We then walked to the Hofburg Place and sat to rest in the Burggarten in the back. Michael enjoyed stretching his legs, saying hi to people, and pointing out bicycles and dogs.

 

The palace is now home to the Vienna National Library and the Imperial Jewels/Princess Elizabeth exhibits. From there we walked down through the museum's quarter to catch the subway to our hotel.

Our hotel was close to the subway; very simple, but comfortable with a good breakfast spread, including scrambled eggs and great coffee, essentials for me. Michael and Mama enjoyed a hot bubble bath that night; a luxury, since our student apartments are only equipped with shower stalls. Michael did so well that day for not feeling well but had a restless night with coughing spurts.

On day 2, we decided to head home as Michael's coughing had increased. After giving him his morning nap, we headed off to the subway and stopped off at Schonbrunn Palace for a quick look, as it was on our way. Being a Saturday it was quite busy, in addition to being a warm day. We walked a bit and sat a bit. Michael was fighting much needed sleep, so we kept it brief.

30 weeks pregnant! What am I doing in Vienna? :)

I spent so much time keeping an eye on Michael's condition, and Andrew had the camera the whole trip; hence, no pictures of Papa except this one. Oops.

The inside of the palace will make for a great touring excursion, and the Vienna Zoo lies on the palace border, so we will be back for sure!

We successfully figured out how to get back to a town near Trumau via a different train, thinking we could catch the local train from there to Trumau. After first conversing with a local taxi driver (who only spoke German), then locating the local Bahnhof (train station) which was across a few blocks over from the train stop we had arrived at, and sitting and waiting for 30 minutes, we checked the fine print under the schedule which said "arbbeitstag ausser samstag" = "workdays except Saturday." Also unfortunately, the Austria SIM card that we had purchased in Vienna was not working with either of our phones, so we had no internet and no way to reach the school to call for a ride home. So we walked home - an hour walk. After all the walking we had done in Vienna, this pregnant girl was dead tired, but set her chin and determinedly trudged along behind her husband. It was Michael's nap time again, and he fortunately slept the whole way in his stroller. It wouldn't have been such a bad walk if there was an actual path; we had to walk next to the road upon which the locals whiz by, precariously passing each other. Thanks to our guardian angels we made it, and were happy to be home to rest our tired feet! Apparently, there are buses that make the connection too, but we didn't see any that day. I think Europeans really take the weekends easy. ;) Live and learn. We will definitely go back to Vienna soon to see more sights!