Vienna, Austria ... Oct. 4 - 5, 2008

We decided to yet again spend the weekend in Vienna. We've posted how much we love this city and the reality is that it is our favorite European city. Part of it is nostalgia, most of it is because of the majesty of the architecture, the history, and the feeling you get just strolling through the center or around the ring.
We left late Saturday morning from Budapest and parked around Stephansdom (St. Stephen's Cathedral). We ate schnitzel at Wienerwald (decided not so good of a place) and gelato at Zanoni's (decided LONG ago a REALLY good place!). We went into Peterskirche (St. Peter's church) which some say is the oldest church in Vienna (some say the original version was commissioned by Charlemagne in the 9th century), although the current structure was more likely built around the 17th century (since whatever church was on the site prior burned down in 1661).
We went back to the hotel for the evening when we realized that our plan to attend the morning exercise of the Spanish Riding School and the Lippizan horses would have to wait for another weekend because they only do this on Saturday and Tuesday mornings.
The next morning we woke up early to make our way to the Hofburgkapelle (the Hofburg Chapel) to attend the Catholic Mass where the Vienna Boys Choir performs each Sunday. We were early enough to get a good standing room place. We thought about buying a seat but I figured we wouldn't want to stay for the entire procedure, so thought it better to just remain in the standing area. My mistake, though, was parking the stroller with us, as once the crowd of people arrived, completely filling the center aisle of the chapel, there was NO WAY I was getting that stroller out before the program was over. We let the girls sit on the floor with their ipods (after allowing them to spend a few minutes observing the program and listening to the choir) to entertain them. About halfway through the program we decided to leave the stroller where it was and make our way out of the chapel (we would just come back afterward to retrieve the stoller). Heather, Katie, and Ryan went to Starbucks for hot chocolate while I sat with Ashley.
We tried to get into the actual performance of the Spanish Riding School but they only had standing room tickets and Ryan wasn't allowed in and I know the girls would not have managed a 90 minute performance standing up (especially after the Vienna Boys Choir), so we decided against it.
Since we have been in the mood to do touristy things, we decided to commission a carriage ride for a short trip around the ring and Hofburg. It was a beautiful day, so we figured it was as good a day as any to experience this. I did enjoy riding through the gates of the Hofburg allowing me to better imagine the era of Franz Jozef and Elizabeth and the grandeur of that era.
We had lunch at a cafe close to Stephansdom, witnessed some more street performers (one of my favorite parts of European city centers), played a little hide and go seek in front of the Albertina Museum and then headed back to Budapest.