Onion River Exploration Project: Vienna, Austria

Landau carriage

Day 4 (7/23/26) Vienna, Austria

Vienna was more than a little overwhelming. Everything is large, the city, the buildings, even the characters. One day is just not enough to even scratch the surface. There is the history, the music not to mention the art and architecture. The morning tour was informative and introduced us to much of the historic district including the Palaces. The history surrounding the Habsburg Empire, which spanned 700 years, is both awe inspiring and distressing. It seems that every generation of ruler added on their own wing to the palace. Getting to see the area where the Lipizzaner Stallions are housed was definitely a highlight for me. Unfortunately, this time of year, the stallions are out to pasture in the country but we did get to see some mares. It made my day. Unlike most of the other places we visited, the historic district in not within walking distance of the boat so after returning from our morning tour we decided to try something completely different. We had passed an amusement park, on our way to the historic district, which had the world’s oldest working ferries wheel. It was on the order of the London Eye but had wooden cabins that held thirty people. It has been featured in many movies. Unfortunately it was one of those days that was sunny one minute and pouring the next. About fifteen minutes after we took off from the boat we heard the rumble of thunder and took shelter under a foot bridge. We ended up spending about a half hour dry as it poured and hailed around us. Then the sun came out again. By now however we decided the park might be kind of wet and headed back toward the boat. Prepared with rain gear this time we set out once again, this time for the beautiful Romanesque style, St. Francis of Assisi Church. It is located in Mexikoplatz, named to honor Mexico’s official protest against the 1938 Nazi annexation of Austria. Once again the weather changed. We were fortunate enough to be on another covered footbridge but decided walking was out of the question. On our walk we had noticed a stop for the “Hop on Hop off” bus and decided to spend the rest of the day exploring in comfort. These buses are one of our favorite modes of travel in cities and we wished we had noticed it earlier. My advice is that if you visit Vienna plan on at least three days. That being said, there are treasures around every corner.