From Slovenia to Austria

Day 16, Today, we traveled from Ljubljana, Slovenia, to Vienna, Austria. The drive took us over the Alps via the Semmering Pass. The scenery was beautiful.

From Slovenia to Austria

Scenery along the way.

From Slovenia to Austria

The road through the pass was an easy one not with hairpin turns or switchbacks.

A Church

A church along with way.

To Budapest

Go to the right if you want to go to Budapest.

Another Church

Another church along with way. We saw a number of churches on our route.

Scenery

Scenery along the way.

Autogrill

We took a short break at this fancy Autogrill.

International Cuisine

This Autogrill had international cuisine––chili con carne! Not a dish you thought you would see near the Slovenia/Austria border.

International Cuisine

There were also Mexicano chips to go with the chili con carne.

International Cuisine

The Autogrill also had schnitzel, what you would expect in this area.

Arriving in Vienna

We arrived in Vienna after noon.

St. Stephen’s Cathedral

We had time for a quick lunch and then visited the St. Stephen’s Cathedral, also known as Stephansdom. It is the mother church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Vienna and was consecrated in 1137. There have been many additions to it.

St. Stephen’s Cathedral

Inside the cathedral.

Plague Column

We walked around Vienna and passed the Plague Column, put up by Emperor Leopold I in 1693 in thanks that the plague epidemic was over in Vienna. The statues on the column represent the Holy Trinity and the monument is dedicated to the Virgin Mary.

Hofburg Palace

We viewed the Hofburg Palace, the former imperial palace, built in the 13th century with future add–ons. The whole Hofburg Palace Complex is quite big.

Michaelertrakt

The Michaelerttakt is a wing of the Hofburg Palace.

Kursalon

Later in the day, we had a dinner and an excellent Viennese concert at the Kursalon. This is the same venue I went to a concert at when I was in Vienna in 2011. I really expected that the same orchestra, the same singers, and the same dancers would be in the show as they were in 2011. I was hoping they were as they were excellent. Alison, our tour director, told me that an ensemble plays at many different venues in Vienna and that there are about 100 such ensembles (whether all three, the orchestra, the singers, and the dancers stay together I do not know). No videos were allowed at this concert. However, they were allowed in 2011 and you can find the movies I took of the concert under Movies, Europe: Central/Eastern Europe Movies–1, pages 2 & 4. They are not on Ytube.

Bratislava, Slovakia

Day 17. We were offered an optional trip to Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia, today, which I went on. It was raining when we left Vienna and still raining when we arrived at Bratislava.

Bratislava

We walked around Bratislava’s Old Town and passed the Old Town Hall and Tower.

Primate’s Palace

We walked past this statue of St. George Slaying a Three–headed Dragon in front of the Primate’s Palace.

Primate’s Palace

Inside Primate’s Palace. The Hall of Mirrors. The Peace Treaty of Pressburg between Austria and France was signed in the room in 1805. Today, it is used for council meetings and concerts.

Human Statues

Bratislava has many human statues. I think this was the best one. It had stopped raining, making the rest of our time in Bratislava much more pleasant.

Slovak National Theater

Facing the Slovak National Theater, 1920, was a park and many souvenir booths.

I have put my photos of Bratislava on a slideshow. Go to http://www.peggysphotos.com/slovakia–bratislava/

(Slide Shows, Eastern Europe–3, “Slovakia: Bratislava”).

Bratislava Musical Fountain

Nearby the Slovak National Theater was a musical fountain. I was in the right place at the right time to hear the music. It was at 12 p.m., so the fountain may play music on the hour.

Ytube: https://youtu.be/EIeuTMBcE98

Back to Vienna

From Bratislava, we went back to Vienna and had some free time to explore the area near St. Stephen’s Cathedral.

Vienna

A beautiful building I saw on my exploration of Vienna.

Schreuberhaus

For our last tour night, we had a dinner at the Schreuberhaus.

I have put my photos of Vienna on two slideshows: http://www.peggysphotos.com/vienna–2017–a/ and
http://www.peggysphotos.com/vienna–2017–b/

(Slide Shows, Central/Eastern Europe–1, “Vienna 2017–A and –B”). There are more photos of Vienna of my trip there in 2011 under Central/Eastern Europe–1 and an album under Albums, Central/Eastern Europe–1, “Day 11, Vienna.”

I flew home on Day 18: It was raining when I left Vienna to fly to Zurich and raining when I arrived in Zurich to fly to Los Angeles, both flights on Swiss Air. A number of my really wonderful tour mates stayed more days in Europe. A very good trip except for the heat and humidity.