VIENNA - AUSTRIA

Vienna's imperial grandeur is the legacy of the powerful Habsburg monarchy. Their home for more than six centuries, the Hofburg palace complex, incorporates the Burgkapelle (Imperial Chapel), where the Vienna Boys' Choir sings Sunday Mass, and the famed Spanish Riding School, where Lipizzaner stallions perform elegant equine ballet, along with a trove of museums, including in the chandeliered Kaiserappartements (Imperial Apartments). Other immense palaces include the baroque Schloss Belvedere and the Habsburgs' 1441-room summer residence, Schloss Schönbrunn, while 19th-century splendours such as the neo-Gothic Rathaus (City Hall) line the magnificent Ringstrasse encircling the Innere Stadt (inner city). More about Vienna

Vienna was our last city to visit before we returned to Munich where our tour ended.
Of course in half a day you only get a glimpse of Vienna and you have to decide if you want to come back or not.




Entrance to the Ringstrasse encircling the Innere Stadt (inner city).



The city hall





we crossed a market







and saw the Sissi Museum only from outside. But I had seen already a lot of her rooms and furniture and also the movies of course So I didn't regret that I had no time to visit it










Schloss Schönbrunn, an enormous castle with two wings, one for the emperor Franz Joseph and one for his wife "Sissi" Elisabeth.

We have seen quite a lot of Vienna, unfortunately I had difficulties with my camera and had to stop taking pictures.




Our group gathering towards the bus which would take us to our hotel.

Early evening our guide took us what she called the best Restaurant for "Wiener Schnitzel" that they would be very good and tasty. I fortunately don't remember the name, it was in a basement. Indeed the decoration was beautiful, very old and romantic, but the Schnitzel was the worst I have ever eaten and my travel friends agreed with me. Even our guide didn't mention the Schnitzel again the next morning ! At least I have something special to remember : The worst "Wiener Schnitzel" I have eaten in my life was in Vienna where it comes from  !



Now when I think back I liked Vienna very much ! Despite the fact that it is such a huge city, it gave me the feeling of well being and not too much hustle and bustle

The long shopping street with all famous brands represented, the cafés, bars and restaurants everything looked warm and cosy.

I certainly would go back there and really visit the city !

AQUARIUM NAUSICAA - BOULOGNE SUR MER

The year's end excursion for the seniors of our city took us to Boulogne sur Mer where we visited the Aquarium Nausicaa (all details here) The French Tourist Office describes it as the biggest of Europe. As everything is always the most beautiful, or the biggest or greatest in France, I wasn't surprised when I saw it. It was not so big at all and all signs for the different species of the water world was placed like in a mace, and as everybody walked of their own, I did it with my two friends and of course got lost turned around had to ask several times and finally gave up. But apparently we didn't miss a lot, but what we saw was really very interesting. I had never seen so many different fishes of all sizes and colors in my whole life !

From the city itself we only saw a few houses from far.  We had come for the Nausicaa aquarium and lunch which for some seniors is more important then the subject of the excursion !



We got out of the bus and walked along the sea to the Aquarium.



At the entrance we were checked for arms and weapons and had to go through a scanner, but this is normal nowadays everywhere. There was a nice bar with a beautiful view on the sea but unfortunately it was closed.  I don't know why because it was around 11 am.



We had this nice green bus and after having seen all the water creatures, we went into a very nice restaurant, where we had 5 courses and drinks as much as you wanted included in the price. We stayed there for at least 3 hours and then walked back to the bus again to return home.



Even here we met our friend Napoleon from the battle of Waterloo.



From out of the Bus window a glimpse on Boulogne sur Mer



Rays



Little fishes, I don't remember their name



and this monster was busy to swallow a shrimp, which was sitting on its head and had walked slowly down directly into his mouth.



Another huge fish



















Jelly fishes in all forms and sizes








Isn't that a friendly smile ?





Children trying to catch a fish through the glass






Herings





Fake grotto with different aquariums inside





A feeding place, but I don't know for whom may be sea lions, which I haven't seen. There are feeding times.









A few very impressive fishes



A cute chameleon

It is an ideal place for people who love the sea and its creatures

NORTHERN COUNTRIES TOUR - SALZBURG

When we arrived in the morning in Salzburg which translated means Salt Fortress, it was very hot already around 30°. Therefore I only discovered the "Altstadt", the old town of Salzburg with the house where Mozart was born, and the Mirabell palace with its wonderful park.

If you are interested in the history of Salzburg you can find it here

Our guide took us first to the house where Mozart was born. It was a quite big house which also was a museum. For those interested in music it was certainly worthwhile to see it from the inside.



I didn't because in this limited time I wanted to see other things. I noticed that the town was full of Mozart souvenirs on cups, plates etc the full marketing program and of course the famous "Mozartkugel"

A Mozartkugel, is a small, round sugar confection made of pistachio marzipan and nougat that is covered with dark chocolate. It was originally known as Mozart-Bonbon, created in 1890 by Salzburg confectioner Paul Fürst and named after Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.


I wandered along the main street in the old city and admired the beautiful old houses all in pink colors, which looked so cheerful.

There was one boutique or shop of all kinds in this very long street, or maybe it seemed so long because of the increasng heat.





The name of the street was Getreidegasse,  no idea why it was named like this it means Croplane.

From time to time  I went into a souvenr shop to cool down, and rest at least inside the shops they had airconditoning.





I didn't buy anything there was nothing to my taste and the prices quite expensve.



From time to time there were these "tunnels" between the houses which led on parks or "Biergarten" which means Beergarden.



It was nice and cooler there and I wanted to have a drink but apparently I wasn't the only one the Biergarten was full. Besides was a market, which I overlooked, there were mostly vegetables.



and then I had enough,  I wanted to sit down, watch the people and have a cool drink. I found this nice restaurant just opposite the Mozart house which had an owl as sign. After my beer and a snack  had this wonderful Ice Coffee. Others from my group saw me sitting there and as there were some free seats, they almost fell on the chairs. We were exhausted from the heat, too much is too much. We came to the conclusion that from what we had seen of the city it was a real cozy little town, now it's not so little because there are many districts and we had only seen the old town.





In front of the Salzburg cathedral



After we had all met at the Mozart house again we returned to our bus, through the beautiful park of the Mirabel castle.









Even if  I missed some tourist attractions like the Salt Mines of Salzburg,  and many other things because of the awful heat, I would love to return there and spent some more time.