Vienna : Myra Marshall experience
March 7, 2009 - Posted in Vienna
Myra Marshall and her husband, John, from Hertfordshire, celebrated their wedding anniversary in Vienna. `Vienna is traditionally Strauss, the waltz and the Danube. We experienced all three, and more, on our weekend in the Austrian capital. It’s so easy to get around Vienna without having to join any guided tours or coach trips.
We were on a romantic weekend so we just had to take a Fiaker ride, in a horse-drawn carriage driven by a bowler-hatted and be- whiskered coachman. We felt very grand, but we’d also been forewarned that you have to agree the terms and price before setting off, otherwise it can prove quite expensive. The “Vienna Card” is a great way to experience the city’s S-Bahn railway, trams and buses. The ticket costs 16.90 Euros and is valid for 72 hours from the first time you punch it in the machine at the station.
We used it to visit the huge number of museums, galleries, churches and palaces. If there was a slight disappointment, it was the colour of the Danube! The song might say it’s blue but in reality it’s a murky grey colour, but that didn’t detract from the rest of a really beautiful city. Whenever we travel abroad, trying the local food and drink is a must, and Vienna was wonderful in this respect. It has a varied range that reflects its imperial past, when culinary ideas from all over Europe arrived in the city. We particularly enjoyed bauernschmaus — a plate of various meats — frankfurters served with sauerkraut, and gemischter salat, a simple but colourful mixed salad. But my favourite was the Ttaditional Wiener schnitzel — breaded veal escalope. We also loved the Landmann Coffee House, once frequented by Sigmund Freud. It’s said if you haven’t been on the Giant Ferris Wheel you haven’t been to Vienna. It took John nearly the whole afternoon to persuade me to go and, even though I really don’t like heights, I have to admit that the views over Vienna were breathtaking.’