In the land of Mozart and The Sound of Music

Greetings from the land of Mozart and The Sound of Music!

We arrived in Vienna around 1230 p.m. and spent the day walking around the city. Similar to Prague it has a very old feel to it but also is modern. In fact Vienna seems more modern than Prague. We walked through the city center today and saw several high-price stores spread amongst the older buildings.

Vienna

We stopped by a supermarket and bought a few snacks for lunch in one of the plazas before walking to the Stephansdom, a cathedral built on the site of a 12th century church. The interior was stunning, especially the altar that we saw from a distance. For the second day in a row, we decided to climb up a narrow spiral staircase to get an overview of the city. We ascended 343 steps -- about 100 more than yesterday in Prague -- to get a panoramic view of Vienna. Once again, it was worth the work out once we arrived to the top. I was surprised to see an employee working at the top. There was a makeshift souvenir stand where you could buy everything from gold coins to crosses. The employees have to walk up those steps each day, as there is no elevator. They must be in pretty good shape. Once again we saw a myriad of colors as we looked over this city of 1.7 million.

Spiral staircase we ascended ... 343 steps!

Vienna from 450 feet up!

On our way back to the hostel, we saw this guy "levitating" on the pedestrian walkway. Who can figure out this illusion? First to respond wins a Chupa Chup!

What's the secret?

We ventured back out for ice cream at one of the places we saw earlier in the day, Zanoni and Zanoni Gelateria. I think I had the best sundae of my life at this place...fresh strawberries, ice cream, whipped cream ... so good! We are already planning to go back tomorrow night to try something different.

¡Qué sabroso! 

As we left, Chris and I saw this on the street ... but then I remembered that whole accident in Nicaragua and decided no.

Not a good idea ...

We did a quick night tour of some of the buildings before returning to the hostel. The highlight was seeing the opera house illuminated. We climbed to the top of the Albertina Museum to get this view:

Vienna Opera House

Tomorrow, we are off to Salzburg for the day ... the plan: to do a four-hour guided "Sound of Music" tour with Bob's Special Tours along with six to eight other people. Chris and I are both looking forward to it ... check back for some good stories tomorrow!

¡Chau!