Vienna City Walk

June 13th--Our first day in Vienna was fun-filled. It started off with us walking from the apartment across the Danube canal to the post office. We had to make a quick stop at the post office to mail back the key from the Salzburg apartment. About halfway through our train ride to Vienna, Mike reached into his pocket only to realize that we didn't leave our key at the apartment. Oh well, much worse could happen and the key is in the mail. From here, we walked to Stephansplatz where St. Stephan's Cathedral is located. (Make note that we've added # of churches we have visited in the Fun to Know section of the blog) It was closed at the time for noon mass so we decided to eat lunch at an outdoor cafe. It was a beautiful day and so very enjoyable to eat outside. By the time we finished up lunch, the church was opened back up. So, we toured the church. Around the church are some buildings that feature centuries of architectural styles. We stopped to look at some. Then, started Rick Steves' self-guided walk of the city by heading down Graben. We made many stops along the way. St. Peter's Church was the first stop. We went inside and were told that a wedding was about to start so Abby was so excited to see a "wedding". Well, it wasn't exactly what we had pictured. It was a small wedding for an older couple who were dressed in church attire. Abby couldn't understand why there wasn't the big white dress and all. We then made our way down Kohlmarkt. This street is known for its unaffordable shops, but at the end is Hofburg Palace. This is the complex where the Habsburg's lived and ruled for over 600 years. It was here that we toured the Imperial Apartments, Sisi Museum and a porcelain and silver collection. From here, we wandered to the Opera House, but did not get inside. Mike and Abby would like to make it back for a production one night. From the Opera House, we wandered off the beaten path to the Haus der Musik. It was here that we finished up the day. It had a lot to offer with interactive touch screen computers and headphones to explore the physics of sound. We enjoyed hearing the modernized music of Beethoven and Mozart. We all made an attempt to conduct the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra with a virtual baton. Over 2 hours later, we a exited the Haus der Musik totally energized and unaware that it was past dinner time. It was a blast! We headed back to the apartment for a quick dinner and to bed.