Vienna - Day 2

Mom and Dad did their own thing today, so this blog is only about what Steve and I did.  All we did today was take advantage of the Big Bus Hop On/Hop Off tour.  The tour in Chicago was way better, because it was a local person narrating the tour.  The tour in Vienna is a recording and while we were on the red route, the recording was off timing for a lot of the tour, so we'd learn about something after we had already passed it!  I tried researching things to do in Vienna months before we left and couldn't find much to do other than the palace.  So I was a bit let down to learn on the tour today that Beethoven has a house there, Johann Strauss (composed the Blue Danube Waltz) has a house there, the armory has the vehicle that Franz Ferdinand was in when he was assassinated, a Science Center, and many other things piqued my interest along the way.  The problem was we just didn't have the time today to stop off and do any of them.  We do stop here again while we are on the cruise in a few days but I don't think we'll have time to venture into town where all this is.  Again, I'll let the pictures and captions do all the talking today.  I already don't remember what everything was that we saw on the tour, sorry!

Prater (supposedly the tallest ferris wheel in Europe)

St. Francis of Assisi church (also known as the Mexican church by the locals)

The Danube

Danube again

The spire is St. Stephens Cathedral

St. Stephens Cathedral - it's too big to fit in the picture! 

Inside St. Stephens - the stones hanging down over the aisle are known as the Sky of Stones because St. Stephen was stoned.

I don't remember what the story was with this, but it's cool. 

I can't remember the name of this church.

Schonbrunn Palace

Pretty buildings 

The French Embassy - this was hated when it was first built, but the Austrians have learned to love it.

Anyone surprised we found a brewery?

We are currently in the hotel lobby waiting for our taxi to take us to the train station and then we head over to Budapest.  Tomorrow, my sisters are joining us in Budapest and we will board our Viking cruise!  I have no idea what wifi will be like while we are on the boat, so I'm hoping to be able to blog.