Riding the Danube - Day 7 - Vienna - Thursday

Up at usual time for breakfast but no lunch buffet for us today. Instead we headed back into town complete with our Hop on bus vouchers from Nina - 30 euros for 3 routes.

We all took the tram to the bus start point and immediately set off on the yellow route to Schonbrunn Palace. In hindsight we might have thought better of it as there were no tickets for the Grand Tour left, but we did get ones for the State Apartments, which was at least enough to see the grandeur of the Family. The ticket office was incredibly busy

Schönbrunn Palace was the main summer residence of the Habsburg rulers, located in Hietzing, Vienna. The name Schönbrunn (meaning "beautiful spring") has its roots in an artesian well from which water was consumed by the court.

The 1,441-room Baroque palace is one of the most important architectural, cultural, and historic monuments in the country. The history of the palace and its vast gardens spans over 300 years, reflecting the changing tastes, interests, and aspirations of successive Habsburg monarchs. It has been a major tourist attraction since the mid-1950s.

Claire didn’t come as she had already been so after our tour with audio guide we walked up through the gardens and joined her at the Gloriette in the gardens for a coffee, before walking back down to the bus. The gardens and the views back to the palace were lovely.

The Gloriette where we had coffee

Neptune's Fountain

We walked back to the bus which took us all the way back into town, and we were kept entertained by the history of Vienna. Once off the bus we enjoyed walking through the impressive old centre and visiting the most impressive St Stephens Cathedral. 

After that we headed only a little bit away from the Main Street and Burger Kings to a very nice and quiet traditional restaurant for lunch. Then after a further stroll we went to Demel where Claire was keen to take us for Sachertorte Torte, and coffee. Both lunch and  cakes were very very lovely.

It was very hot in Vienna so Claire decided to head back to the boat, while we thought we might do more of the red line. However time and heat were against us so after a couple of stops we too headed back. It’s quite a lengthy journey - 30 mins on the tram then a 15 minute walk back to the boat.

Claire had a lovely bottle of champagne she’d brought from London so we enjoyed that on the top deck in the shade. 

We were keen to get the briefing for tomorrow as it involved the Wachau wine region and a wine tasting. After that we had the Pirate dinner! The staff had set a messy table and had all got dressed up. What fun it all was!

A buffet dinner and then we retired to the bar for Newfie dice while preparations for the dancing got underway. We were all encouraged to get dressed up so we did….