Guten Tag aus Wien, Österreich! Finally I have a chance to dust off my high school German as we arrived in Vienna, Austria, early this morning. The good news is the heat wave has subsided and we were able to tour this great old city in the breezy 70s. The first thing we noticed was that we need to return. The “City of Music” (think Mozart, Haydn, von Beethoven, Schubert, Brahms, Mahler and Schoenberg, not to mention Strauss) is too rich in culture and history not to spend more time here than a river cruise allows.
I got my cathedral fix with the stunning St. Stephen’s Cathedral, Austria’s most eminent Gothic edifice. It continues today as a Catholic Church, and is undergoing a cleaning that is revealing its beautiful nuanced limestone. Vienna’s architectural styles range from classic to modern, as well as some of the best known examples of Art Nouveau in the world.
Moving on to the complaint department, the boat is rife with disgruntled passengers. We have been directed to pack up our things for a boat transfer in the morning when we dock at Melk, Austria. Originally we were booked on the longship Rinda, and at the last moment upon embarkation in Budapest Saturday, we were loaded onto the Tor. We are happy on the Tor, which is a twin of the Rinda (both launched this year), and one of the advantages of a cruise is the absence of the need to pack and unpack. Viking is doing a poor job of telling us exactly why the need for this disruption. I’m thinking complementary cocktail hours until we reach Amsterdam in 11 days time would quell the masses. Ich trinke zu!
Imperial Palace:
Let’s use the stairs . . . as a canvas for art!
I’m outta here!
Okay, this takes the cake. A swimming pool on the River Danube. Look closely and you’ll see lap swimmers:
More street scenes:
St. Stephen’s Cathedral:
Postcards 
Have to agree with your complaints. We were boarded onto a different ship ( but the same design like you ) but as our cruise was shorter we were not required to change ships. If we had been like you I would not have been pleased . I would go with a free cocktail hour but also write for compensation !! You don’t expect to change ships on a cruise !!
Like you we loved Vienna,we had a long weekend there a few years ago.
Enjoying following your fab trip.
It has been such a long time since I visited Vienna. Thanks for renewing the memories.
Hi Liz,
Was the boat transfer caused by all the flooding in Europe?? I’ve enjoyed this post card. I was on this identical river cruise probably about 12 years ago. I won the trip at work it it was wonderful!! Saw a very fancy wedding at St. Stephen’s. and yes, would love to return some day.
Best wishes,
Carol
You brought back memories of almost 50 years ago!!!