Oh my goodness, what a day!!! Today we did a Vienna city tour and it was AMAZING!!!
We started the day with a scrumptious breakfast at the hotel and boarded our bus for a tour with Annalize, our tour guide for the day. She was absolutely fabulous!

One of our first stops was to see the practice for the Lippizaner Stallions at the Spanish Riding School. Those horses are so well trained, it's absolutely amazing! We spent a couple hours watching the horses as well as exploring the area outside the arena. Lots of horse and buggies to give rides to travelers as well as many historic buildings to be seen.

From there, we headed off to St. Stephen's Cathedral. All I can say is I'm glad I'm not a bus driver in Vienna....these guys are crazy!!! There are literally inches between the buses and whatever vehicle happens to be next to them. I'm pretty sure if it was me driving, I'd be tearing off a mirror or something!

St. Stephen's also had a tower that you could climb. For the mere bargain price of 3,50 EU, I was able to walk up 334 steps to the top of the tower. Now, I joined a gym specifically so I'd be in shape for such a climb.....let me tell you, it didn't work!!!! I still thought I was going to have a heart attack part of the way up! However, in honor of my friends Teresa and Laura, I made the trek and got some of the most amazing pictures of Vienna. Coming down was much better, but ,my legs were shaking for at least a good hour! Nothing an apple strudel and hot chocolate w/rum couldn't cure!!!

From St. Stephen's, we were off to Schloss Schonbrunn. What an amazing castle! We learned the history of the Habsburg Family and all about the castle Shonbrunn. There were some amazing things we learned, like that there was a woman who ruled Austria at one point and she was the most important person in all the land.....can you imagine???? After the guided tour, we were able to spend some time in the beautiful gardens, but the most exciting part of the afternoon was witnessing a young Austrian proposing to his girlfriend in the gardens at the Schloss Shonbrunn......how romantic!!! She said yes and the rest is history!

This was the end of our day with Annalize, as we headed back to the hotel for a little rest before our evening meal. Robert, our tour guide from Pilgrim Tours, arranged for us to have dinner at Grinzing, a little village in the Austrian Alps, outside of Vienna. We enjoyed a meal of sausage, ham, chicken, pork, weiner schnitzel, roast potatoes and sauerkraut, as well as some WONDERFUL Austrian wine (not being a wine drinker myself, even I enjoyed this wonderful beverage!!!!). There were about 25 of us that went to dinner tonight and we had so much fun learning more about our fellow travelers! There was also "live" music with a strolling violinist and accordion player. Because Bob Ross was celebrating his birthday, they even sang happy birthday to him!

It's now the end of the day and time to head off to bed for our start tomorrow to Salzburg. Good night all......more to follow tomorrow!!!