Sadly, we only had one day in Vienna — I wish we’d had a few more! Still, one day is better than nothing. We had our usual city tour, one of the highlights of which was the beautiful Opera House. There were dozens of horse-drawn carriages there for tourists to hire.
During the walking tour, too, we saw a memorial to the Black Plague. This was erected in gratitude when the disease had subsided. It is covered in netting to prevent damage from birds that would like to roost.
Here, as in so many of the places we visited, there was a church dedicated to St. Stephen; this one was a cathedral and just as gorgeous as one might expect. It was located in the middle of a large pedestrian square with what seemed to be wall-to-wall tourists. The day was hot, so we decided to take advantage of a little free time to visit an outdoor (but shaded!) café and order coffee and a slice of sachertorte, which was delicious!
In the afternoon, we took a drive out to Schönbrunn Palace, which was very impressive, both inside and out. Unfortunately, and understandably, photos inside weren’t permitted. But the gardens were lovely!
