Headed off in the rain towards Vienna
We passed fields full of windmills, never seen so many.
This entertainment house was designed by Prince Eugene of Savoy to entertain important guests. It only took two years to build and was only used twice.
We wandered around the beautiful buildings of Vienna with a guide, there are so many, every time you turn a corner there's more buildings.
80 percent of Austrians live in Public housing because it is cheap and they prefer not to be saddled with mortgages and debt.
Our guide explained to us that all education is free 'like all civilised countries' he said. Why would a country charge their youth to learn so that they can improve their country and create more wealth and tax. It would be insanity to leave them with a debt for their education' he said......
After Austria was defeated in two recent wars, (as we keep hearing) they have decided to become a neutral territory. As a result they have nothing to hide from the rest of the world so their parliament is open to anyone who wants to look. The President lives in a normal house on a normal street and you can knock on his door and say hello. We didn't give it a try, just took their word for it.
Up to 8000 spies from other countries are known to visit Vienna each year. It has the highest number of foreign consulates in the world. The Austrian Government aren't concerned about this because they are all spying on each other and don't care about Austria. Austria is happy for them to be there watching each other and spending money.
We went to a traditional food house for lunch in the old wine cellars under the street. The cellars are over 500 years old. Tammy had a traditional meal of Pork Schnitzel, Steven had beef Goulash and Frittatensuppe which is sliced pancakes in a beef broth.
We went to St Stephens Cathedral where the funeral service for Nicki Lauda was taking place, It's the first time a state funeral has been conducted for a Sportsman in Austria. Every Grand Prix driver and team owner was there, past and present.
We had a bit of a look and caught a glimpse of the great Jackie Stewart.
The Cathedral is fabulous.
Inside the Cathedral after Nicki's funeral service, we picked up a couple of remembrance cards, one in German and one in English.
After a few hours of wandering and window shopping, as this was the only type of shopping we could afford, the majority of the merchandise doesn't have a price tag, as the rule is "If one has to ask the price then one cannot afford it" Tammy liked the look of a new handbag, the price being a mere 2,600 euros ( $4,100 AUS) so we decided to have a think about this. We headed back to the hotel to freshen up and get smartly dressed ready to go to one of Vienna's famous music halls to listen to a combined opera & orchestra play some Mozart. Mozart lived and worked in Vienna, and of course the finale being the Blue Danube. This was originally a Strauss composition.
We had some pretty amazing seats, actually on the stage next to the orchestra.
The conductor was brilliant and we were close enough to see all his facial expressions as he worked the orchestra. It is unusual to see the front of the conductor, he generally has his back to the audience.
After the concert we jumped on to Vienna's very clean and efficient tube train and headed back to the hotel.
We finished off our night of culture with a Big Mac meal from MacDonalds.
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