October 9, 2005

Vienna

We arrived in Vienna on Friday evening and went straight to our hotel. We were thrilled to find that our hotel was right next to a U-bahn (subway) stop. As soon as we got our luggage into the room, we headed to downtown Vienna. Tiffany spent a semester in Vienna with BYU Study Abroad, so she was really looking forward to visiting Vienna again. Tyler was thrilled just to ride the subway.

We wandered around downtown and then found Tiffany's favorite bratwurst stand. We got cheese bratwursts which were wonderful. The kids even ate some. Tyler loves Smart cars, so we took his picture next to the Sacher hotel Smart car. The Sacher hotel is a famous Viennese hotel known for its specialty chocolate cake, Sacher Torte. Tyler was also excited to see a Smart police car.

Sacher Smart

Next we went to Zanoni and Zanoni's, Tiffany's most favorite ice cream shop in the entire world. Her professor introduced the Study Abroad group to it on their first night in Vienna and they had ice cream there almost every day. Brooke loved the ice cream so much that she ate through a paper napkin trying to get more. We then headed back to the hotel and collapsed. Our hotel room was really nice. It had a fridge, a microwave and best of all, a partition to separate the adults from the kids.

Zanoni and Zanoni

On Saturday, we had croissants and hot chocolate for breakfast compliments of the hotel and then took the U-bahn north to the end of the line. We did it mainly to please Tyler, but it was fun to explore. We stopped at the Donau island park and walked along the Danube river.

Beautiful Blue Danube

Our next stop was Prater, a year-round amusement park. On the way there, coming out of the subway station, we were given Yoplait yogurt samples which was great because that became our lunch. At Prater, the first thing we did was ride the real steam train. We sat up front and watched the engineer load coal into the firebox. Needless to say, Tyler loved every minute. Brooke was very cute waving to all the people we passed.

Liliput Steam Train

Our next activity was riding the Reisenrad ferris wheel, a famous landmark in Vienna. It has been in several movies, including a James Bond movie. It was fun to ride high above the city and see the panoramic view.

Reisenrad Ferris Wheel

Tyler asked to ride on the bumper cars, so Scott and Tyler rode together in a purple car. Tyler steered and Scott controlled the speed. At first, it was just Scott and Tyler driving around alone, but then an employee got in a car so that they could bump him and get bumped. Tyler loved it and was convinced that he won.

Bumper cars

No trip to an amusement park would be complete without cotton candy, one of Tiffany's favorite treats.

Cotton candy at the Prater

We shopped at a nearby Billa, Tiffany's favorite grocery store, for things we can't get in Israel and food to eat in our hotel room. We then had lunch at the hotel and went downtown to look for a Leonidas shop, Scott's favorite Belgian chocolates. We rode the tram in a circle through downtown and then explored the museum quarter.

Art History Museum

For dinner we ate at Tiffany's favorite pizza restaurant. For dessert we had more Zanoni and Zanoni's ice cream. We ate the ice cream as we wandered through the pedestrian zone and watched street performers. We returned to the hotel by subway.

Viennese subway

On Sunday, we went to church and lucked out by arriving for the meeting time of the International ward. It was nice to have the meetings in English; we were planning on sitting through meetings in German. We were welcomed warmly and several people were disappointed that we were not moving to Vienna. We even met a family that had lived in Israel a couple of years ago.

We were a little worried how the kids would do during church. Our branch in Israel is very small and our children are used to wandering from person to person during the meetings. The ward in Vienna was large and had real pews that were full of people. Fortunately, it turned out well. We sat near another four year old boy that Tyler was happy to meet. Tyler was thrilled to go to Primary with the five other four year old boys in the ward. That day the entire Primary was practicing for a Primary program. Tyler wanted to participate so much that they made up a part for him in the program rehearsal. Tiffany was excited to meet members of the BYU Study Abroad group also there at church. We hung out for a while after church talking to the members.

We returned to the hotel and ate microwave dinners. Then we went to the Leopold museum which had a special Impressionist exhibit from the Musee d'Oursay in Paris. Next we went to Schonbrunn Palace and walked around in the gardens.

Schonbrunn gardens

Even though it was getting late, Tyler insisted on climbing up to the Glorietta. We got there just as the sun was setting, so it turned out to be a wonderful sunset view of the city.

The Glorietta

The next day we left Vienna, but we couldn't leave without one more serving of Zanoni and Zanoni's ice cream. We bought souvenirs downtown, then checked out of the hotel and headed to Salzburg.

More Z and Z ice cream

Tyler-isms:

"I'm not happy because I'm not on the subway." - A constant problem.
"Are we going to go to church or just to look?" - Confused about visiting ancient cathedrals versus going to church meetings.
"I need a hug. Anyone give me a hug, please." - Stalling at bedtime.

Brooke-isms:

"Ba-pa" - Brooke's favorite mode of transport, riding in the backpack carrier.

Posted by sjbowden at October 9, 2005 8:51 PM