Arrived in Vienna at 1:00 p.m. and headed straight for the hotel. The König von Ungarn is situated in the old part of the city near St.Stephans cathedral. I had been hopelessly lost trying to drive around in the old part of Vienna on two previous visits. This time I parked the car and while Rita and Rachel waited, walked to the hotel which was only a block away. At the desk I asked for directions on how to get the car right to the hotel from a block away. That might sound strange to anybody else but a Viennese, but after starting to draw a route on the map and then correcting it, obviously not sure of the route, he called the porter to go with me and drive the car back.

Walked with the porter back to the car and he got into the drivers seat. He drove, and he drove, for what must have been eight or nine blocks going down one one-way street and coming back the other, every once in a while exchanging pleasantries with other drivers who were obviously lost. Finally we arrived back at the hotel where he really got pissed off at a motorist who was not unloading his car but was simply trying to park in front of the hotel. We unloaded the car and checked in.

The hotel was an old stable that over the years had been converted into a hotel. Mozart had lived in the building for several years and had composed The Marriage of Figaro here. Now his apartments have been converted into a museum next to the hotel. You could almost feel Mozart’s presence as his music drifted upstairs from the piano bar on the main floor.

After we freshened up we were off to see Vienna. Walked to the cathedral which was just around the corner.

Went inside and looked around.

Then we strolled down Graben, and stopped for a bite and a pint at a roadside restaurant on Kolmkt.

Then off to the Hofburg.

There was a Strauss concert on that night, and people in period costumes were handing out pamphlets everywhere.

The Hofburg was just closing and since the weather was beautiful we decided to walk around the Hofburg. By the time we had finished our walk we were starving. What do you eat when your in Vienna? We figured that we would do what the Viennese would do. Eat wiener schnitzel while listening to Strauss. We walked, and we walked, past McDonald’s, past Burger King, past Pizza Hut, not a sign of a wiener schnitzel. After walking about twenty blocks we discovered that if the Viennese want to eat wiener schnitzel while listening to Strauss they have to come to Vancouver.

We found a restaurant that was quite interesting. It was in the basement of a building. Very steep stairs. The place was packed, so it must have been popular with the locals. We asked the waitress for a menu to which she replied that the restaurant didn’t have a menu you had to serve yourself, she only served drinks and cleaned the tables. Rachel and I went to the front of the restaurant and found people standing in line for food.

A large lady was plopping the food on plates. Sausages, fried chicken, pork hocks, various types of salad but no wiener schnitzel. So we finished our drinks and left the restaurant. Just as we were ready to settle for a burger, we found a restaurant that had wiener schnitzel. Asked the waiter if they had any Strauss music. The waiter explained that the employees of the restaurant don’t care to listen to Strauss all day, it gets on their nerves. Had wiener schnitzel with no music and a bottle of wine. The only thing that broke the silence in the restaurant was our complaints about our aching feet.

Later a group of North Americans came and livened up the place somewhat. We walked back to the hotel and fell asleep out of exhaustion.

Friday 10 July 1998

Woke up had breakfast and were off to the Hofburg to see the apartments of the Hapsburg monarchs and the treasure museum at the palace.

On our way back to the hotel we stopped to buy Mozart chocolates for gifts and then stopped at Mozart’s apartments. This was his view from the apartment.