We checked out of our hotel in Barcelona, Spain at 5:45 AM and caught a bus to the airport arriving at Terminal 1 around 6:40. We tried to read the Spainish signs but had no luck. After conferring with the information center (only one lady spoke English)we found that we needed to catch our Air Berlin flight at Terminal 2. So we went back out to the bus lane and caught another bus and found our way to Terminal 2 and checked in with plenty of time to spare. Our flight left at 9:30 AM. The stewards served juice and ham on a thick roll for breakfast as we watched "Two and a Half Men" in English.
Our plane landed in Berlin, Germany at 12:00 noon. Berlin Airport was a bit antiquated when compared to Barcelona, having to carry our luggage up several flights of stairs and then back down the stairs to reach the terminal of our flight. We still haven't figured out why we had to go up when we were already on the level where we needed to be. We finally arrived to where our flight to Vienna, Austria was suppose to take off from and only found signs for a place called Wein. We soon found out that they spell Vienna "WEIN". Leaving at 12:45 we had a smooth flight and landed at 2:00. We were on our way to figure out the subway system to our hotel for the night on the other side of Vienna. Larry had luckily sat by a young man on the plane flight who spoke English as well as German that gave us some directions that helped us to find the subway.
After a short ride on the subway and talking to several people for directions we found our way to the hotel around 4:00. We had a nice dinner and decided to go to bed early so that we could get an early start on touring Vienna the next morning.
After a continental breakfast, we took the subway to Schloss Schonbrunn, the oldest (built around the 12th century) and most respected palace in Austria. We walked amongst many locals, tourist, tour buses , school aged children, and hundreds of other people to see this exquisite palace that the Austrian government now manages. We think the palace was busy due to the Easter weekend that was approaching. Large beds of yellow tulips were in full bloom amongst the many lifesize ornate statues and elaborate fountains of water. The 60 hectors boasts a zoo, a maze, manicured gardens, marrionet theater, Glorianna building as well as the Palace itself which is furnished in 17th century decor. The Orangery, where Mozart himself once played in 1785, is opened every night to welcome lovers of classical music. This place was quite impressive. Larry said he would go if Allison Krauss was playing, but she wasn't so we didn't.
You can see that there were many, many visitors.
The palace is behind us.
Statues were everywhere...
even on top of the palace.
Spring was everywhere in Austria.
The Glorianna Building is behind us...it was build in celebration of winning a war.
Huge Easter Eggs were at the entrance of the palace....since Easter is the coming Sunday.
Afterward we caught the subway into the city center and walked amongst the Roman/Gothic influenced structures. We had a nice lunch on the square while watching the locals and tourist scurry down the sidewalk. After lunch we walked a ways down through the many shops , stores and sidewalk cafes. We caught a tram that rode around the outskirts of the city center and viewed more large public government buildings and cathedrals. It was enjoyable to stop in one of the many parks to sit on a bench in the sun and watch the people riding bikes and walking by with the Vienna senery in the background. After getting direction we boarded an above ground tram to view to sights of the city back to our hotel. We arrived in an area that wasn't quite where we needed to be and had to board a bus for about a 10 minute ride.
Down in the subway.
Does this remind you of some place in Pennsylvania?
The long names of streets and places is unbelievable
A beautiful fountain at the city center of Vienna.
After gathering our luggage and checking our email, we headed for the train depot. We arrived in time to catch our train to Budapest at 6:08 pm. We enjoyed a smooth 2 and 1/2 hour ride through the country viewing small communities and spring green fields of farm land, a big contrast from where we had been for the last several days. Along the way we spotted deer and huge rabbits munching on the meadows while the sun set over the horizon. What a great day!
Vienna has some grand architecture.
Everyone was enjoying the sunshine on this fine spring day at the park.
Catching the tram back to the hotel was an enjoyable time...we got to see many sites of Vienna.
Looking back on the day we were impressed with the transportation system that Vienna affords to its citizens. The underground subways, trams,buses and trains provide the country with very efficient methods of transportation. We saw many small cars in the streets but never the traffic that you would find in an American city probably due to the excellent inner city transportaion system. We were also able to always find someone who was able to speak English. Larry always found the younger citizens capable of communicating with us...sometimes with a little extra zill because they enjoyed practicing their English with us. Also, we found that the plumbing is better in America. Although Vienna is a city that is rich in history and culture, we also enjoyed the outskirts of the city with its flat green fields and quaint small communities.
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