Vienna - April 2, 2022

We have a recurrent theme on the cruise: sail, dock, tour; then wash, rinse, repeat. And do it under gray skies with cold temperatures and frigid winds. Not that I’m complaining. We can’t blame Viking for the weather.

Who hasn’t heard of Vienna, the great cultural city where you can while away hours in a historical coffee shop in the company of artists, musicians and maybe a Bohemian or two? We loaded the bus for our morning bus/walk panoramic tour. I took an umbrella because rain was in the forecast. Viking supplied golf-type bright red umbrellas that came in handy.

Viking’s preference for walking tours is to visit the “Old Town” areas. I’m in complete accord with that because the sights are better. Historical palaces and squares, statues, narrow cobblestone streets—all good. But when the weather is raw the natural human tendency is to move along at a brisk pace so that you can get out of the elements and get warm again.

The guides have been really good. During the tours they hold up a sign with a red circle and your group number so you don’t go astray. All while keeping up a monologue over the Quietvox audio receiver that gets matched up with a tag worn by the guide. You then put an earpiece in your left ear and voila! You hear the narration easily over street noise while keeping an ear open for vehicles coming along the cobblestone streets.

Here’s my Google Photo album of Vienna. The large church is St. Stephen’s. Its tall steeple is a good landmark while wandering around the shopping district looking for souvenirs on our free time once the tour is over. The guide was good in telling us where to meet her and at what time so we could navigate the twisty streets back to the ship.

See if you can identify the photo of the cathedral’s interior where I’ve managed to make a beautifully designed and crafted domed arch look like an ornate football. Fun!