If you dodge famous cake places that actually should really only make money by taking your coat then Vienna is a wonderful place as far as cities go. It's got the most amazing buildings and churches of any city I've been to so far (Zanzibar is the only one on my touring list for comparison). Below is a picture of... the library.
Our friend Patrick, who's home city is Vienna, showed us around for a day. I was amazed at how someone could be so patient and wait for me to finish taking pictures in every church we visited and yet have his route so well planned out and fit so many sights in during the day. He even found some time to take us to his second favorite cake resturant, cafe Landtmann, where we personally throught the cakes tasted better. I guess he must like oranges.
While in Vienna we booked to see two orchestras playing. One was held where Beethoven used to perform to audiences. Playing, was a subset of the Viennese Imperial Orchestra. It was fun and down to earth, the music was great (a selection from all the good composers, but mostly stuff from Mozart and Strauss). The guy at coat collection didn't even fight back too much when we refused to pay a euro each for them to keep our coat. We really enjoyed it. The other was supposed to be more classy and was held in a more prestigious venue but the music wasn't as good, the vocalist made me cringe, our seats were further back and we had to get to manager level not to have to pay a euro each for our coats. Bronwyn said she enjoyed it but I certainly didn't.I think Vienna gets better the more money you have as their main street in town is lined with designer shops. For those with mediocre amounts of cash there are always the Christmas markets where you can grab 7 roasted chestnuts for the equivalent of a pound.
Photos get cheaper the more you take... thats why I take lots. By now I can capture numerous whole stands at the Christmas markets for as little as a few pennies. Bronwyn might just have to cut them out in the right shape to hang them on our Christmas tree next year.
They even make Christmas hats for their horses... how sweet. Bronwyn fits right in. I think I like Chloe's hat better. Apparently it's taboo to call Vienna Wien while speaking in English. I must have sounded like a wannabe German for quite some time before some kind person informed me. All in all, Vienna is a great city and I would recommend visiting it to anyone.
