Friday 25th

We were on trains all day, from Zaandam to Amsterdam, then from Amsterdam to Nürnberg, then from Nürnburg to Wien Hauptbahnhof. Cyclemeter didn’t catch it all, and there were no photos, just screenshots. When we arrived in Wien, we had enough energy to install ourselves in a hotel, then walk down Praterstrasse to eat at Coconut Curry.

Saturday 26th

Our first destination was breakfast at Cafe Aida at the other end of Praterstrasse. They now do vegan cakes and coffees, as well as normal stuff. Next was time for a swim in the Danube off Donauinsel, followed by watching other swimmers trying to climb the bridge pillars.

Then we took trams and buses to the top of the Kahlenberg, before coming back down and eating at a fully vegan restaurant also on Praterstrasse.

Cyclemeter should show you all of today’s wiggles.

Sunday 27th

Our first destination was the Kriminalmuseum: lots of stories of bad people 🙂 Cyclemeter 1 shows our walking route. Afterwards, the ticket assistant suggested we go to the Augarten and see the WW2-era flack towers.

By now it was time for laundry, and there is no Eco-Express Waschsalon in Vienna! But there is Green and Clean, which is even better. (One advantage is that the machines automatically add Waschpulver, so the place is less messy. You can also control the machines with a Handy-app.) For me, it’s interesting that the road is called Schlachthausgasse, not Schlachthofgasse 14. While laundry was whirring, I tried to go for a swim at Stadionbad. Getting there by bus was fine, but finding the entrance wasn’t, and finding where to change was impossible, so I stayed dry. Cyclemeter 2 shows all the wiggles from hotel to washing to not swimming to hotel.

Monday 28th

Today was a ‘sit on trams and go to somewhat random places’ day. I have a photocopy of my mother’s Viennese birth certificate, but I think a certified copy of the original would help when I apply for Austrian citizenship. So our first destination was to the city archive in TownTown, but we couldn’t get in without an appointment. However, we learnt that before 1938 birth certificates were issued by religous organisations, in my mother’s case the Israelitische Kultusgemeinde Wien. (This website puzzles me slightly – I think my mother’s parents were not orthodox, otherwise Alfred (a ‘full jew’) would not have married Gertrude (a christian).

So we went to the IKG head office in the city centre. This was guarded by soldiers, and again we couldn’t get in without an appointment. However, there was a website with an email address, so I sat and emailed. (I’ve not yet received a reply.) So we abandoned this, and took trams around the Ringstrasse, along with a diversion to Friedrich-Engels-Platz. I remain fascinated by Red Vienna, and its fall to the Austrofascists – and then to the ‘bohemian’ corporal. After this, Elly returned to our hotel, while I went to see the Wienfluss Elly to hotel, Bruce as fa as I could go by U-Bahn up the Wienfluß. (I’d still like to go to the source, and see the river in sping-spate.)

Cyclemeter recorded most of our meanders.

Tuesday 29th

I got a swim today, but it was in the outdoor Krapfenwaldbad, so very cold and hence not very long. We had lunch at a very posh restaurant at Cobenzl, and then went back to the city centre to visit the Haus der Geschichte Österreich. I like a museum that makes you think, and asks questions of itself.

Elly and I then accompanied each other to Stephansplatz, after which she went back to the hotel while I went on a personal ‘pilgrimage’ to where my mother had lived. (Read all about it.) It was quite late by the time I turned around. I managed to just miss buses back to the metro twice. I am so glad the route was downhill.

As ever, cyclemeter recorded my meanderings.

Wednesday 30th

Our first destination today was Schlachthausgasse, to visit the tram museum. Keeping up this theme, we went as far northeast as we could by tram, before returning to our hotel to collect our bags, then going to the central station to catch our train to Amsterdam. NB don’t do this: the seats/bunks are hard, the bedding is not very good, and the train rocks a lot, so sleep is hard to come by.

Cyclemeter 1 shows our meanderings on our last day in Vienna, while Cyclemeter 2 almost captured the train journey.