The drive from Krakow to Vienna was long, but beautiful. It took us about 6.5 hours to arrive, and because we departed Krakow so late, we got to Vienna at night. As I mentioned, I was the navigator and Lance was the driver. Unfortunately, I did not bring my glasses, and I am blind at night. Our GPS failed when we reached the center of the city so we had to rely on a map, but because I could not see the streets, it became rather stressful. We got into a very minor tiff because poor Lance was trying to navigate and drive at the same time.
We spent our first day in Vienna touring the second largest cemetery in Europe which was the final resting place for great composers Beethoven, Strauss, Schubert, and Brahms. The cemetery was incredible; it was the resting place of over three million people. Lance and I are very strange. There were ample opportunities to take a romantic carriage ride through the town squares of the cities of Prague and Krakow, but noooo....what do we elect to do? Take a carriage ride through the cemetery. I love visiting cemeteries and looking at the headstones. They are all unique and tell a story. Our tour guide explained that you can purchase a lot for ten years and if your family chooses not to pay for additional years, you could be exhumed if someone else is interested in your lot. I still find that strange, but how else could they fit three million people in this area.
We also went to visit the crypts of the Hasburgs which is the family that ruled Europe for over 600 years. Every Hasburgs' remains are in this crypt; some as old as the 1500s. We took a quick tour of Hofsburg Palace late that afternoon, but what was truly a special treat was we attended a very intimate orchestra play of Mozart's music accompanied with a ballet and opera. It was at the same theater that young Mozart played for the Empress years ago. Lance flirted with a non English speaking Dutch woman the entire time.
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| Lance's 81 year old Dutch Girlfriend |
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| the theater |
We spent our evenings dining in Stephanplaz Square which was lined with all the most appetizing restaurants and cafe. We loved to people watch, and Vienna was filled with so much life. Like Krakow, I loved the food in Vienna. We had the most delicious apple strudel with vanilla sauce and ice cream. It makes my mouth water thinking about it.
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| Stephanplaz |
The last day we spent in Vienna was spent touring Schonbrunn Palace. You cannot visit Vienna without seeing this magnificent palace. It truly was a highlight of our trip. The gardens, the palace rooms were spectacular, and Lance and I renewed our vows in the ballroom of Schonbrunn Palace. It was romantic and perhaps a little silly, but who cares?
Being with someone 24 hours a day/7 days a week and not wanting to kill each other once was something we didn't quite achieve. I love traveling with Lance. He shares a passion for history. We have very similar taste and interest. We are best friends and we get along so well. However, this trip was not exclusive of a lovers quarrel. While at Schonbrunn Palace, Lance and I got into a heated argument concerning politics. Actually, I did not get passionate, but he had more than enough passion for both of us. The argument was bad, and Lance threw his wedding ring into a pond in the palace gardens. He also threw the rental car keys into a bush, which he had to crawl through to retrieve. In crawling through that bush, he encountered a pair of lovers copulating. After he had his temper tantrum, he felt guilty and apologized to me repeatedly for acting like a 12 year old boy. All was good and now we laugh over the incident. Lance is passionate about his politics, and he should be, but I did not want a political discussion taking place on our honeymoon.
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| in this pond rest Lance's wedding ring |
I think what I loved about Vienna was that I felt like I was in a European city with the culture, but I also felt, because of how modern it was, it closely resembled the United States. There was rich history, culture, beauty, but also some of the modernization of America. Like Prague, the Danube flows through the city which I think is just beautiful. The food was extraordinary and the people friendly. We used the subway and light rail to navigate our way through the city, and the experience was amazing.
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| the very clean easy to navigate public transit system. I think if you visit a country/city, experiencing public transportation is a MUST. |
I was sad to leave Vienna. Because this was not a must see city for me when planning the itinerary, I did not allow ample time to see more of the city.
We left Vienna for Budapest and drove the short 2.5 hour drive. We pulled into a gas station to get a toll pass and saw a hobo girl holding a sign that read "Budapest". She caught my attention because she had a dog with her. I wanted to take her to Budapest, but I knew it could be dangerous, but I felt so bad for her dog. I asked Lance if we could at least give her some money so we did, but what I did not expect was for her to refuse the money. When she refused the money, the next thing I was doing was getting my things out of the back seat. Her refusal of the money prompted me to take her to Budapest and so we did. CRAZY!!!!! This is something I have never done in my life and this is something I will never do again. Not that it was a bad experience; on the contrary, it was wonderful. She was German and had been living this life for two years and her plan was to continue to do this for another two years. She was en route to Greece to attend a festival with others who chose this lifestyle which she described as full of love and peace. She had no shoes on. She was very educated and I knew she came from a good family. She told us she does not call her mom regularly because it only makes her mom upset. She spoke fluent English. In fact, she spoke the best English out of everyone we encountered on this trip. She made the 2.5 hour commute to Budapest seem like 30 minutes.
She was also extremely considerate because she laid out a blanket in the back seat of the car so her dog, Socks, would not get its hair in the car. She also tried to move Lance's seat back to its original position after he moved it forward to give her more room. Spontaneous things like this make the best memories, and I'm really grateful we did this. We even told her we only gave her a ride because of her dog.
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| Cute little "Socks" |
Vienna is my favorite city. Why? It had a little bit of everything. It had Prague's beauty, the friendliness of the Krakow people, great food, lively culture, modernization. I want to visit the city again.
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| up the stairwells, behind the balcony on the second floor are the windows of the ballroom where we renewed our vows. Maybe I'm ridiculously sentimental, but I love recommiting myself to Lance and our marriage. I want him to know he is everything to me. |
Next Stop: Budapest, Hungary
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