What a wonderful display of diversity and love. I can’t take credit for the photos; the credit goes to Karen Melnick, a much better photographer than I will ever be. And, oh the colors. Scroll through and smile, and remember, Love is Love.
Well, I was a little cranky last night. Sorry.
Today, however, was a much different day. I loved our agenda. Plus, I realized that I don’t have to do everything the group does. So, from now on, when I’ve had enough, I’ll head back to the hotel or a local sidewalk café where I can sip wine and people-watch.
Kunsthistorisches Museum – Vienna
Website
We started the day with a tour of a the Kunsthistorisches Museum. This was a fabulous tour. I love museums but this is the first time I’ve listened to a knowledgeable tour guide while exploring. What a difference. I loved it!
It was an incredibly beautiful building. Ornate and garish, yes, but impressive and awe-inspiring. Scroll through the gallery for a peak inside this incredible building.
The best parts of the museum, however, are its collections. One of the most fascinating was the Hapsburg’s collection of exotic pieces.
“From the late Middle Ages to the Baroque, Habsburg emperors and archdukes collected exotic and uncommon materials, to which they often ascribed magical powers, such as precious stones, ostrich eggs, coral and shark’s teeth, which were considered to be dragon’s tongues. From these natural products, artists created virtuoso works of art.”
And then there was the collection of ornate objects, some with uses, others just for show. Well, actually, there were all just for show.
Today we left Budapest and headed to Vienna.
It was a relaxing trip, the countryside was lovely, and we had a full-size bus for 18 women spread out comfortably. We chatted, napped, read, or whatever each of most enjoyed. We had one short stop where we all headed into a quick-stop type convenience store and loaded up on snacks. Ice cream bars seemed to be the favorite of the day.
We arrived in Vienna around one and the plan was for us to check in, have a quick
lunch, and then get together again at 3:00 to meet our local guide and start our walking tour of Vienna. Unfortunately, our rooms weren’t ready when we arrived and well . . . the rest of the day didn’t go as well as the first part of the day. If you want to know more read on.
Warning: Grouse Alert
I considered excluding my grousing from the blog, but then decided against it. After all, trips are seldom perfect . . . except when your friends or family are sharing their latest adventure. Right? So, I think it’s important to share the great as well as the not-so-great, keeping in mind that sometimes (maybe most of the time) the not-so-great is simply a matter of personal preference. Certainly, my irritation with the afternoon we first arrived in Vienna was not shared with the majority or our group. But here goes . . .
As I said, when we arrived at the hotel most of our rooms were not ready. At first that wasn’t a big deal, we all headed up to the dining room for lunch, and while we ate, rooms started opening up. However, Marilee and my room was the last to be ready and we didn’t get into it until after 3 – when we were supposed to be meeting our local guide. Our tour leader was great; she knew we needed a few minutes to change shoes and get ready for the afternoon. So, we started our walking tour at 3:30, a half-hour late.
Okay, here was where I was miserable. We walked for three and a half hours, just about five miles, in brutal heat, at the end of an already full day. About two hours in, I stopped caring about whatever the local guide was talking about and concentrated on placing one foot in front of the other. I tried not to look irritated, but I’m not sure I succeeded. It was just too much. I understand that the tour company wanted to make sure we got our money’s worth, but a leisurely afternoon after the trip from Budapest would have worked better for me. It actually gave me a negative impression of Vienna.
We ended our walking tour – finally — around seven where we had a reservation in a private dining room of a local restaurant. It was nice, except the AC was broken, not in the entire restaurant, but just our room – and as I said, it was brutally hot. Again, I have to give Marta, our tour leader, a lot of credit. I think she knew I was unhappy about the long walk so she offered to call me a cab so I wouldn’t have to walk back to the hotel. As it turned out, I wasn’t the only one who’d had enough since several of us shared that cab ride.
Tomorrow will be a better day. I’m sure.
What a delightful day!
We started with an exceptional breakfast buffet at our hotel – the InterContinental. I am a breakfast person; it’s my favorite meal of the day and without a good one, I get grumpy. So this bode well for the day. But then, I expect you don’t really care about my eating habits. You want to know where we went, what we did, and what we saw. So, moving on . . .
We started in the Castle District where we toured Buda Castle, which was the palace complex of the Hungarian Kings in Budapest. It was first completed in 1265, but the massive Baroque complex that exists today wasn’t built until the 1700s.
 |
 |
 |
For me, one of the best parts of the tour was Matthias Church, located atop Buda Castle Hill. It was beautiful and fascinating. I don’t usually take tours or follow tour guides, but I must admit, I liked it. A lot. It was really nice to have someone knowledgeable about history and the area explain what we were seeing. Our guide was Kathy, and she was excellent.
Matthias Church — did I mention it was beautiful?
 |
 |
 |
Part of our group, catching some shade before heading across town for lunch and a visit to the Budapest Baths. (Maxine, Arlene, Joan, and Karen.
After leaving Buda Castle Hill, we headed to lunch — delightful — and then on to the Budapest Baths — not my thing.
So, overall it was a great day. My only two complaints — and you can’t really call them complaints, more like, ‘if I had my druthers, these would be different” — were the heat and the baths. The week before the weather in Budapest had been lovely, mid 70s. Today it was in the high 80s, which was way too hot for all the walking we did. And the Baths. Not my thing.
Monday continues . . . .
After our walk along the Danube, we found a small lane with a string of small cafes to eat lunch and get in out of the sun. We got lucky and found a quiet place with semi-air conditioning and really good food.
I don’t eat meat, so sometimes that can be a challenge. But this was called an eggplant tower and it was delicious. Eggplant, cheese, tomatoes, and other stuff I didn’t recognize. Yummy!
After lunch we headed back to our hotel to meet up with our tour group at four and our adventures got underway with a river cruise along the Danube followed by dinner where we sat at lovely outside table. It really is nice to have someone else doing all the planning an coordinating. We don’t have to worry about what to do or where to eat. Strangely enough, for a couple of control nerds, it’s kind of nice.
As a bonus here’s a photo of Marta, our tour director. She’s delightful and efficient. What a combination.
Tomorrow? On to tour Buda Castle.