Vienna

Every evening there is entertainment on board, either the resident pianist or acts which come on board between locks, and last night we had the 'Pressburger Duo'; one man played the piano, the other played several different instruments and were extremely clever and entertaining. We have never seen a man play the violin the way he did, and he also played panpipes and several other insruments. He said he plays 20 different ones. 

 

This morning we arrived in Vienna, the 'City of Music,' which inspired the creative genius of Mozart, Beethoven, and Strauss. Once the centre of the mighty Habsburg Empire, this city was not heavily bombed and retained most of its older buildings, many of which we drove past on our tour of the city. Later we visited the summer palace with its gilded rooms and beautiful gardens. his is where Marie Antoinette was born and spent her child hood before going to France aged 14.

We both did an optional horse and carriage ride around the extensive grounds before meeting our group back at the bus for transfer to the boat.

 

Some trivia:

Most houses here have geraniums in window boxes; we learned it is because geraniums have a certain insect repellent like citronella and by having them at their windows they can have the windows open and no mozzies come in. So aside from looking so pretty they are functional as well.

 

Vehicles in Austria have a 'green' rating and those which fall below the 'green' are not allowed in the city of Vienna.

 

When the Euro came in, all countries now use the same notes but the coins are representative of each country so they can keep some individuality in the currency. ie Germany has pictures relevant to Germany; Austria relevant to Austria etc.

 

The tiny little Smart Car was designed by Schwartz and is manufacture by Mercedes. There are quite alot over here because petrol is pricey. AUD1.90 - AUD2.00 a litre.

 

Ok, that's it for now with useless information!

 

Our cruise director is a very pleasant and very easy to listen to man, and when we are all on the sun deck ready to see something special he has told us about he says over his microphone in a well cultured voice with a lovely accent  "now, please prepare your eyes for what is coming." then a few seconds later he'll say "It is just around the corner, please prepare our eyes". Love the way he says 'please prepare our eyes'. :-)

 

A few days ago I (Lex) bought a container of spices from a market, then wondering if it would be ok coming in to Australia with the ingredients list written in German I asked him if he would translate it for me so I could show Customs if necessary. He did so and asked me if I liked cooking. I said Yes I do. Now every time we get off the boat in a new town he tells me where there is a spice shop and what they have there, and this morning he had even keyed our guide up to show me one. He really goes out of his way to help the passengers. This morning I bought Pumpkin Seed oil which h recommended. Felt I had to buy something after all his troubles and it was cheap enough.

 

Bratislava tomorrow.