May | 2016 | Georgia Rambler

Needless to say, we didn’t jump out of the comfortable beds in our room at the Ritz at 6 AM. Our scheduled tour of the city and the Winter Palace wouldn’t leave the hotel until 10:15, so there was no need to rush. Breakfast was included in our stay so we headed to the Melounge, the first floor dining area, around 8:30. On our way, we took some time to admire the comfortable but elegant design of the Ritz.

The hotel, like many other buildings in Vienna in the area, had been put together from four 19th century palais many years ago.Elements of 19th century decor had been incorporated into the modern building very successfully.

We noticed a number of our fellow passengers were already in the dining area intermingled with the other guests when we arrived. The Ritz is a large hotel, with more than two hundred rooms so it was able to accommodate the 100 plus passengers of the Maria Theresa fairly easily, especially since most were couples who would stay in the same room. We enjoyed an excellent breakfast in the Melounge which offered a variety of choices, however by this time, we were eating less and less for breakfast and lunch. Our bodies were telling us it was time to return to the simple breakfasts and lunches we ate at home.

Uniworld offered a lecture on European Art and Architecture before the city tour, but I find that I really don’t have much enthusiasm for lectures at this stage of my life. Too many years spent giving rather than listening to lectures, I guess, especially on history and art. I did make an exception and went to the program on the construction of the locks on the Rhine Main canal, and it did not disappoint. The senior Rambler was only too happy to skip this lecture as he is not a lecture fan. He had found his friend from New Zealand, a fellow smoker at the Ritz. They again got together in one of the smoking-allowed spots and enjoyed both cigarettes and conversation instead.

One good thing about the upcoming Vienna City Tour was that we wouldn’t spend much time on the bus. The Ritz was centrally located along the Ringstrasse, so on the first part of the tour,

Just one of many impressive buildings that lined our route, complete with gilding. Not bad, considering it was taken f rom a bus win dow.

we enjoyed a driving tour of central Vienna and its major landmarks. After an hour or so, we disembarked near the Stephensdom to meet our guides for the tour of the Winter Palace.

The Ramblers haven’t minded the time we spent on busses on our cruise excursions. The bus time usually wasn’t very long and it did give us a chance to see some of the non-touristy towns and the often beautiful countryside. It was pleasant to be driven around the Ringstrasse on a sunny day and we enjoyed the scenery, Vienna has lots greenery mixed in with beautiful buildings, many attractive landscapes, and even a large woodland. In an odd way it reminded me of Atlanta, and is very unlike my birthplace Chicago. In Chicago, once you leave Lake Michigan’s shores, the landscapes become mostly brick and mortar. An infestation of Dutch Elm disease which killed the columnar elm trees that shaded Chicago streets and boulevards didn’t help.

Since the Danube is a fair distance from the Ringstrasse and the historic center of Vienna, we were now much closer to the sights, shops and cafes at the Ritz then we would have been if we were still on the MT.

Many people were walking or riding along the streets not like last December.

The last time we visited Vienna, on the Uniworld Christmas Markets tour described in some of my earlier posts, we were bussed into the City Center and toured the wonderful National Library. After the tour was over, we had free time to visit the Christmas Market at the City Hall. Because the weather was cold and rainy that day, we didn’t stay long . For those who wanted to spend time in Vienna and browse the Christmas Markets, Uniworld ran shuttle busses every hour at an agreed upon stop. We and some of our friends waited anxiously for the first shuttle back to the boat, while others didn’t return until much later. Those who missed the last shuttle took taxis or public transportation back to the Beatrice.

This time, we would have a different kind of tour. We now had two cruise directors on board( figuratively speaking) to sort out the logistics of our new destinations. Today, Jan, from the Netherlands, who had just joined us, would ride on our bus. He was a very interesting guy who had a more European point of view than Chad ( who was Canadian). The Uniworld tour directors had to not only make new arrangements for the last 3 days of our tour but do the same for the next group of river cruisers who would be arriving in Budapest on September X. The Maria Theresa was still trapped in Regensburg as the Danube was still too low.

Our starting point for the city tour was the Winter Palace of Prince Eugene of Savoy. Then we would tour the surrounding area, taking a look into the Spanish Riding School which was not in session, and eventually wind our way back to the bus

Better look at a fiaker, these folks seem to be waving at us.

I don’t have much of a sense of direction and had only spent a little time in Vienna, so I was glad we would have a guided tour and then would get a ride back to the Ritz. The streets were filled with both locals and tour groups enjoying the pleasant day. We saw several fiakers (carriages) filled with happy tourists carefully winding their way through the crowded streets.

We were with the Gentle Walkers again, our old friends from the MT. Our guide was a Viennese lady who was very proud of her city. Touring the the inside of the Stephensdom, the magnificent cathedral which dominates the skyline of Vienna, was not on our schedule. although the cathedral was visible from our bus stop.

However our guide felt we should get a closer view of the church as it was such an important part of Vienna’s history… even tho it was’t part of the tour.

The cathedral is surrounded by buildings and it is difficult to get a clear shot. It really isn't leaning. — The cathedral is surrounded by buildings and it is difficult to get a clear shot. It really isn’t leaning.

While the other groups moved off, we learned about the cathedral’s history. Archaeologists have found that a church has stood on this spot since the 4th or 5th century, The building we saw before us was constructed between 1300 and 1450, enlarging on an existing structure. The massive 450 ft. south tower was added at this time and the smaller north tower, 233 ft. was supposed to match it. However its construction was abandoned around 1500 as the money was need to repel the Turks, It is possible to climb to the top of both towers, but only the north tower has an elevator.

There aren’t any tall buildings in this part of Vienna and the Stephensdom’s tile roof and two towers dominate the skyline. The cathedral was heavily damaged during WWII but it wasn’t until last-ditch fighting between the Nazi’s and the Soviet’s in 1945, resulted in setting the original Gothic wooden roof ablaze. The great bell Pummern, made from melted Turkish cannons, plummeted to the ground.

As you can see in the background the roof of the Stephensdom is gone except for a few ribs. — As you can see in the background the roof of the Stephensdom is gone except for a few ribs and the street is lined in rubble.

There was much internal damage as the fire burned for two days. However, the civic pride of the Viennese had in their cathedral resulted in an outpouring of funds making it possible to completely restore the building by 1952. This at a time when much of the city was in ruins and money was scarce. The multi-colored tiles that now make up its roof were financed by the citizens of Vienna. Alte Steffi , as the Viennese call the cathedral, unlike most churches of its importance, is surrounded by buildings which makes it difficult to photograph.

I think many of us would also have enjoyed seeing the equally impressive interior, but we had to stick to the schedule.

A close up of the roof tiles, the roof itself is very steep and snow slides off easily in the winter.

Even so, we had been left behind by the other groups. This meant the Gentle Walkers had to move more briskly through the rest of the tour than they would have chosen. We didn’t mind the extra information, you couldn’t help appreciating the enthusiasm of our guide.

Fortunately our destination, the Winter Palace of Prince Eugene of Savoy was not far from the Stephensdom. Although born in France in 1663, Prince Eugene served the Habsburg emperors for 60 years. He was a very able commander who made possible the Habsburg dominance of Central Europe and the Netherlands. Prince Eugene was awarded many honors and grew wealthy because of his military prowess.

Prince Eugene direction his troops in battle, with spyglass in hand. — Prince Eugene directing his troops in battle, with spyglass in hand.

He spend much of his fortune building the Belvedere Palace complex ( which includes the Winter Palace) and collecting fine art. We got to tour the state apartments which were opened to the public for the first time in centuries in 2013. Throughout his life he was noted not just for his skill as a general but for his honesty, loyalty, bravery and sense of personal honor. Unfortunately he was not blessed with good looks or an impressive physique and he never married. After his death, at 72,

The Winter palace has the most elaborate gilded ceiling I have ever seen.

Maria Theresa bought his palace at auction for the use of the imperial court, and it housed many government departments until the empire was dissolved in 1918.

The beautiful white interior of the Winter Palace

The palace that we toured was renovated between 2007 and 2013, and is today a magnificent example of Baroque architecture, “one of the most magnificent in Vienna,” according to the experts.

After leaving the palace, we walked along Kärntner Strasse, a pedestrian boulevard that links the Stephensdom with the Vienna State Opera. Incidentally, the operas and the concerts are always the hottest tickets in Vienna, a city that loves opera, ballet and music of all kinds.

We walked along a street that was lined with a melange of historic buildings inviting shops and cafes, including the ubiquitous Starbucks. I had to go into Steiff Vienna. I have always loved their stuffed bears and have gotten several for our children over the years. As we were late, there was no time to shop but I did get my photo taken with the gigantic bear they have on display.

One of the biggest Steiff animals I have ever seen.

We straggled onto our busses for the short ride to the town of Melk situated below the abbey on the Danube. If we had still been on the Maria Theresa, our ship would have been docked there. Then we would have gone on to dock at the ancient town of Krems. Our original tour choices for the day had been a visit to Melk Abbey, which we had just finished, a farm day tour to the pretty little town of Weissenkirchen, or a bike ride along the Danube.

The ticket office for Danube excursions and other things at Melk

Unfortunately we were not able to chose options two or three this day. The Ramblers enjoyed Melk Abbey but probably would not have taken this option if we had a choice. I was attracted to getting up close to the producers of the wonderful fruits and apricot products of the region in Weissenkirchen. However I did manage to get a variety of fairly priced and attractively packaged apricot gifts in the Melk Abbey gift shop; all was not lost, but still…

Instead of cruising the scenic Wachau valley in wonderful style on the MT, Uniworld had arranged a substitute cruise with a local company, Brandner and we trooped onto the Austria Princess.

Photo of the Austria Princess from the Brandner website. She is much smaller than the MT.

It was quite nice and is reviewed well on Trip Adviser, but it was not the MT. The crew and waitstaff would do their best to accommodate the somewhat spoiled passengers from the MT but they were not accustomed to dealing with such a large group at short notice. Uniworld had contracted with them to serve us a buffet lunch, as we were by this time fairly hungry. Unfortunately as I learned later, they don’t usually serve lunch and as it turned out, they probably shouldn’t. To make matters worse, there was barely enough seating for all of us as they usually don’t carry so many passengers.

As the Princess moved away from the dock, we got a better lock at a charming in and campground along the Danube. Looking through the colored windscreen actually makes the Danube look blue.

The Ramblers had not scurried to get into line and found themselves scrambling to find a place in line for the buffet. After we finally did reach the food, it took a while to locate a table where we could sit and eat what we had selected. They did serve wine and had an open bar in the dining room, so all was not lost except for the Senior Ramblers and others who don’t drink alcohol. I don’t want to be too hard on the crew of the Austria Princess. They did their best but the food was certainly not spectacular.

To make matters more difficult, the weather changed and a gusty wind blew in cloudy weather, blowing over glasses and table settings on the upper deck.

As we stepped onto the top deck, we could see Melk in the distance. The wind has started to blow away the napkins.

This was the best place to view the scenery. We Ramblers had sailed through the Wachau Valley on a Christmas Markets cruise. That day it was chilly and overcast, so no one went up to the top deck. To our surprise, we saw the Beatrice, the ship on which we had taken our first Uniworld cruise, pass us in the other direction. Of course we waved enthusiastically. However no one on the Beatrice knew that the people waving away were actually exiled passengers from the Maria Theresa and didn’t pay much attention to us.

The Uniworld Beatrice heading towards Melk.

Also since the Beatrice was moving at a good clip going the other way, they were soon out of sight. The Beatrice sails from Passau to Budapest and then from Budapest to Passau. They don’t go as far as the low spot in the Danube which kept us from completing our cruise.

As the Danube flows through the Wachau Valley, it is bordered by a variety of pretty little towns, resort hotels with attached campgrounds and castles. One of the towns we passed is Durnstein. It’s claim to fame is that Richard the Lionhearted was imprisoned in its castle. Durnstein is hard to miss because its church is painted blue and white rather than the more common pink or gold and white. It also has some what of a Disneyesque appeal. However, the Ramblers did miss it. The Princess must have sailed past it as we were standing in the buffet line.

We did see the well kept-up Schloss Schoenbuhel which I learned had been restored in the early 1800’s when it was nearly a pile of rubble.

Pretty hard to get to it from the river side, over those cliffs.

It is a real castle though, and a fortress has stood on the spot since the 11th century. Not far from Melk, although not visible from the Danube is the museum that houses the famous Venus of Willendorf, the prehistoric fertility figure that was discovered near there.

It had been a busy day and we were not sorry to disembark from the Princess and climb aboard our bus. The first leg of our bus trip had been about 200 miles, but the second would be slightly shorter. According to our schedule, we would arrive in Vienna between 5 and 5:30 PM, depending upon traffic. They do have rush hours in Europe but not like those in Atlanta or Chicago. To be honest, I don’t remember just when we did get to Vienna, just that we were glad to get there. The checking in process didn’t take very long and we were soon headed to our room on the 4th floor. Although I didn’t take a picture, too tired, the Ritz Carlton building started life much earlier and when it was transformed into a 5 star hotel, the builders left some of its earlier features.

The amazing bathroom, all chrome, marble and mirrors.

Our room was next to a sitting area paneled in dark wood with comfortable chairs and a coffee table. It seemed quite large compared to our cabin on the MT, although it was good sized. The bathroom was spectacular, all marble chrome and mirrors.

In the hallway there was a counter set up with a coffee service. It was my first experience with a Nespresso machine.

Although we were only there for two nights, I used up all the coffee capsules although we were in a city famous for its coffee. I would receive one just like it for Christmas from the Senior Rambler.

All though we didn’t feel much like going anywhere, it was a nice evening and we needed to get a bite to eat. Fortunately we weren’t that far from one of Vienna’s old style coffee shops, the Cafe Schwarzenberg which had opened in the 19th century. We carefully dodged cars, trams, scooters and bicycles to reach our destination and were not disappointed.

The senior Rambler relaxing at the Schwarzenberg Cafe. The windows look out onto the busy street and are great for people watching.

We both had traditional Austrian dishes which were excellent. Afterwards we headed back to the hotel. This was one night where we appreciated the comfort of our room, in spite of the fact that the Ritz has a wonderful roof-top bar which provides a view of many of Vienna’s favorite buildings.

Georgia Rambler

Monthly Archives: May 2016

A wonderful day in the warm and welcoming city of Vienna

The Wachau Valley and then on to Vienna (Wien)

Ramble the world with us