Linz, Austria Starting well before the Romans, Linz was a thriving market town with a very defensible position, strategically located on a bend in the river Danube. It has some charm and a manageable scale from the tourist perspective today, and quite a bit of history attached to it.
Continue reading “Where it all began”A change of pace
Linz, Austria Much as we love Vienna, we thought we’d poke around a few other cities we haven’t seen yet.
We took a train here to Linz this afternoon, and are getting settled in a 500-year-old hotel de charme, a radical departure from our suite in Vienna.
We go for Modern
Vienna, Austria While the architecture here usually screams classical, the contents of some of the many art museums can take another turn. We decided to search out some of the more modern installations today.
Continue reading “We go for Modern”Noble words
Vienna, Austria Today being Monday, aka laundry day, we had a limited amount of time available for sightseeing. We decided our one outing had to be to some place of great significance. So, we headed to the Austrian Parliament.
Continue reading “Noble words”The hills were alive…
Vienna, Austria Vienna in the late 18th and 19th centuries was blessed with an astonishing group of musical geniuses. Since it was Sunday — and an absolutely gorgeous spring Sunday — we went to call at the homes of three of them. We’ve visited the Beethoven and Mozart residences on other trips, but there are still more to see.
Continue reading “The hills were alive…”A boy’s dream day
Vienna, Austria Today, we indulged the masculine side of our partnership with tours that tend to entertain testosterone-fueled visitors. Wars and trains — can you imagine a more exciting combination?
Continue reading “A boy’s dream day”Sweet and savory
Vienna, Austria We began our day back at the palace, hoping to tour a part of what used to be our favorite pastry and confectionery shop, Demel. When we first came to Vienna, their second floor was a restaurant that served fabulous wiener schnitzel, if memory serves. Flash forward to our next visit, post-Covid, to find out they had eliminated their upstairs restaurant. They did serve main dishes on the first floor, but wiener schnitzel was not among them.
Continue reading “Sweet and savory”Trotting off for culture
Vienna, Austria It is a glorious day today, just like the first day of spring. We celebrated by going to watch the exercise session of the Lipizzaner horses at the palace.
Continue reading “Trotting off for culture”A Vienna Postcard
Vienna, Austria We are very glad to be back in this most refined of cities, and enjoyed a great night’s sleep and a wonderful breakfast. One staffer proudly told us that the Intercontinental has the best and the largest buffet in Vienna, which claim we do not dispute.
Continue reading “A Vienna Postcard”We have returned
Vienna, Austria Though we did it by getting up at 5:30 am, it was a pleasure to fly to Vienna this morning. We had a stroke of good luck when we checked into our hotel. Because of our excessive charm, we were given a super upgrade to a one-bedroom suite, and we graciously accepted it. None of our rooms have been all that spacious, so this is a huge treat.
