So Long, Farewell!

Our last day in Vienna dawned bright and clear, as ordered, and we rushed straight over to the Hofburg castle complex again (where we had seen the Vienna Boys Choir previously), to see the horses at the very fancy Spanish Riding School during their training.

They were very clear that taking photos was “absolutely forbidden”, so I didn’t dare even sneak one of the big building they run it in.

I did manage to grab this one off the Internet though (thank goodness for Google Images), so at least you kind of know what I’m talking about.

If I had my time again, I probably wouldn’t bother with attending the rehearsal, and would have tried to be there for an actual performance. We did get to see them training the horses in a few tricks, but at 12 euro a person, it really wasn’t particularly spectacular. A performance would be much better.

Anyway, no big deal, we watched until we were bored, and then trotted off (that pun actually wasn't intended, I promise) sightseeing again.

They really love their gardens in Vienna.

We even found some more ducklings. Perhaps that’s an advantage in traveling in Spring. Lots of baby birds and flowers!

We then went on a little walk in search of the very old and famous Nashmarkets.

Admiring every beautiful building along the way, as usual.

Tom enjoyed the Arnie reference in Schwarzenbergplatz so much that he actually crossed the road specifically to have his photo taken with a street sign.

And now that's Austria House behind him, in case you’re interested.

The French embassy, slightly blurry. Je suis désolé.

We walked and walked and walked trying to find the elusive market, and eventually found ourselves at the Belvedere palace, which is now an art gallery housing the very famous artwork of Gustav Klimt, among other artists’ work, of course.

The grounds are, of course, well kept.

We decided to make our walk worthwhile, and paid for admission to see the artwork.

No photos inside, of course, but I took this one of the garden from one of the windows.

In the entry (for visitors at least), Tom was intrigued by these carved columns.

We finally found someone who spoke reasonable English and was patient enough to bear with us idiot tourists and give us good directions to the Nashmarkt, and what do you know, it was so very very close to a road that we’d walked almost twice each day that we’d been in Vienna so far. So we hopped on a tram and made our way back there.

And wonder of wonders, we found it!!!!

Tom thought this bullet-shaped energy drink was fantastic.

We both thought all of the fresh food was even more fantastic. Oh to have a kitchen!!!!

We found a lovely little shop that sold many varieties of balsamic vinegar, among other things. We got to taste each one.

And then decided to take the plunge and pay 19 euro for a bottle. Most expensive balsamic vinegar we’ve ever bought!

The markets now conquered at long last, we continued our travels across the city, admired more buildings…

And then caught a train out near the Danube. There’s an almost identical channel cut just next to the Danube that acts as a flood prevention mechanism for the city, and the little strip of land between the two is an island where the Viennese go to enjoy the sun.

We decided to park ourselves right here and enjoy some strawberries we’d bought at the Nashmarkt, before making our way back to Vienna.

This was Tom’s candid flash of one of the fancy buildings we passed on our way back towards our hotel.

I had to do a double take when I saw this shop. Guess what they sell. Lots of Louis! And his extended family!

And then once I stopped gazing at plastic furniture, we moved on to dinner. We decided to go un-European for the first time, and went to a Chinese hot pot restaurant.

This is Tom’s expression when the words ‘all you can eat’ are used.

We took full advantage of it, believe me.

Here's Tom demonstrating maximum chopstick loading (and then dipping) capacity.

Hot pots are pretty… hot, would you believe it? Tom thinks he’s hot too.

A cool, refreshing dessert.

And now Tom showing off his belly after all that dining.

No-one can accuse us of not eating well!

Once we rolled ourselves home and slept off all of that food, we got ourselves ready to leave for Budapest, Hungary, the next day.

Poor Tom really had to struggle to get his limping, handle-losing suitcase to the train station. There were quite a few steps in the journey from the hotel to the station.

We made it though, and said goodbye to Austria (or perhaps "so long, farewell, aufedersein, goodbye) to try out our next country.