One Day More

Today is my last day in Vienna and I had just a few more stops. I started at the Spanish Riding School where I saw a performance by the famous Lipizzaner horses. Why not the Austrian Riding School? Well…. it was named for the Spanish horses that originated the breed. The horses were brought to Vienna in 1565 and they have been performing here ever since.

We weren’t allowed to take photos or videos of the horses so here’s one I found on Wikipedia. They are beautiful animals.

I didn’t know what to expect from the performance. They started with the younger (4-6 year old) horses whose coats had not yet turned completely white. They took them through their paces of walking and trotting. You could tell they were a little less disciplined as they were sometimes hard to control.

The rest of the show was watching the more experienced horses demonstrate their skill. They actually prance more than walk. It was pretty cool to see. Here’s a video I found on YouTube.

My next stop was the Opera House where I planned to take a tour, but the next available English tour was Sunday afternoon. Since I’m leaving Sunday morning, I won’t be able to tour the inside. I took a picture of the building and kept walking.

Here’s a picture of the inside I found on pixabay.com.

Next up was my last Viennese church, Karlskirche (Charles Church) built in the Baroque style. In 1713, one year after the last great plague epidemic, Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor, pledged to build a church for his namesake patron saint, Charles Borromeo, who was revered as a healer for plague sufferers. Construction was completed in 1737.

The composer Antonio Vivaldi (famous for the Four Seasons, the most popular of which is Spring) died in Vienna and was buried in this church in 1741, but his tomb has been lost to time. An interesting (or not) side note, actress Hedy Lamarr got married in one of the side chapels when she was 19 years old.

Once outside, I checked out the Christmas Market. I don’t know how many of them there are in Vienna but I think this was the 7th one I visited.

From there I walked to the Stadpark, or City Park. It’s where I went to the concert on Thanksgiving.

From the park it was a 10-minute walk home. So that was my day, except for the food. Let’s talk about food.

My cousin, who has been to Vienna many times, recommended a great restaurant for Weiner Schnitzel but I couldn’t get anywhere near it without a reservation and they book weeks in advance. A clerk at the hotel gave me an alternative restaurant and that was a no-go as well. But I was determined to have my schnitzel so I found a small bistro near the Opera House. I can’t compare it to the other restaurants, but this was delicious.

Even more important than lunch was dessert. Across the street from the Spanish Riding School is a cafe called Demel. My cousin told me this was a great place to get the famous Sacher Torte but the line was pretty long.

A few blocks from the Opera House is the Cafe Sacher, originator of the torte.

I like sweets as much as the next person but I had no desire to stand in the cold for at least 30 minutes to get a piece of cake. But not being a quitter, I went the Cafe Sluka near the Cathedral to see what they had. This place had also been recommended by the hotel clerk.

I’m having a sandwich in my room for dinner and the cake will be dessert. But I had to try a tiny bite just so I could give you my report. I’ve never had a Sacher Torte to compare it to, but this is pretty darn good. It is totally worth the calories.

I’ve been in Vienna for 4 1/2 days and have loved every minute. Of course it almost killed me as I’ve walked about 54,000 steps since I got here on Wednesday. That’s about 23 miles!! My poor feet! But I may have walked off one or two of the sweets I had. One can only hope.

Tomorrow, I have an early morning, 4-hour train ride, to Prague. I was there in 1993 but am looking forward to seeing it again. Hope you can join me there.