RIVER EMPRESS

Thought you might like a few pictures of the ship. It is very comfortable, the food is excellent and it is not fully booked. There are only 88 passengers on board. The captain is only 31 years old which seems very young for being in such a position but he assures us he has all the relevant licences!

My room

Lounge and Bar

Library/Reading room

DURNSTEIN

Wednesday 17th
Early this morning we arrived at this quaint little town. It is one of the smaller towns in Austria. After breakfast we went for a walking tour around the town. It did not have a Christmas market as such but some lovely little shops with Christmas decorations etc.
Durnstein's claim to fame is, this was were Richard the Lion Heart was imprisoned in a castle, whose ruins remain today, following a dispute with Leopold V, Duke of Austria on his way back from the Holy Lands

 It also has a beautiful church steeple called the Porcelain Steeple because of it's colour.

I walked half way up towards the castle ruins for a view over the valley.

The afternoon was spent cruising through the Wachau Valley a beautiful stretch of the Danube with vine covered hillsides and castle ruins.

Vienna

Saturday 13th
Today I had an organised bus tour of the city sights and then a tour of the

Schonbrunn Palace. This was the summer residence of the Austrian Royal family. Unfortunately you are not allowed to take photos of the interior which is very ornate and filled with magnificent paintings, chandeliers, tapestries and gilt furniture.

We were then taken to view the Belverdere Palace which is the second largest palace in Vienna

After the tour was finished I did some more sightseeing of the city.

Firstly I visited the Naschmarkt which would be the equivalent of the Queen Victoria market. Lots of lovely fresh food and vegetables as well as plenty of cafes to eat.

Then a walk along a shopping mall towards St Stephens Cathedral, which also has a Christmas market in front of it. 

St Stephens Cathedral

Street decorations

Another mode of transport

Christmas baubles

After all that walking I was ready for dinner and bed.

SUNDAY 14th

This morning set off early to find the 'giant' ferris wheel and discovered only tourists and church goers are up early on a Sunday morning in Vienna. Consquently I arrived before anything was opened. This ferris wheel is situated in a park just like Luna Park with lots of other rides as well.

After managing the Vienna underground (very friendly for tourists to use, can't understand why we don't have such an easy system) I found the ferris wheel . Even though the morning was slightly foggy and the the view wasn't going to be great I decided I would have a ride anyway.

Just to prove I went for the ride!

I had a voucher for coffee and cake at a cafe called Cafe Central so after my ferris wheel ride I set off to find this cafe. After an another  underground ride and a short walk and some map reading I found the cafe. Being Sunday and around lunchtime the cafe was very busy and there was a queue to get  in. I would have to say the wait was worthwhile. I had some lovely cake and the interior of the cafe was more like a church than a cafe.

After all this walking which I need to do to work of all this eating especially the danish pastries for breakfast I returned to my hotel for a rest before dinner and bed.

MONDAY 15TH

Checked out of the hotel and was transferred to the port where I was to pick up my ship. It took me a little time to find as it was hiding behind another one and couldn't be seen from the pier! Because there are plenty of cruise ships and very little docking area they park next to each other and then you have to walk through their lobby to get to the shore.

The rooms where not ready until mid afternoon so they feed as lunch kn the lunch and then provided a shuttle bus back into town for those who wanted to go to the markets.

I decided that I would like to go back to the Belvedere Palace to like at the art collection there. Austria's most famous artist Gustav Klimt has a lot his paintings there including one called the Kiss, which was very beautiful. There was also an exhibition of Monets paintings as well so that was a bonus.

Back of the Belvedere Palace

Looking over the garden from the Palace

After this it was back to the Christmas market for some Gluwein before returning to the ship. By this time of day the lights are all on in the market and it is very pretty.

TUESDAY 16TH

This morning was a walking tour around the city with tastings of some of the more traditional foods of Vienna. The afternoon was spent window shopping and a hot chocolate at Cafe Demel which is a famous pastry shop and chocolaterie in Vienna.

Tonight it is off to a  concert of Strauss and Mozart but before that it is time for Happy Hour.

FLYING OUT

Arrived at the airport with enough time to enjoy a coffee with the kids before disappearing through the doors into the unknown.

The flight to Dubai was long though I managed to get some sleep despite the obligatory crying baby!
Had four hours at Dubai airport before boarding another plane to Vienna. Dubai airport is very large and busy as you would imagine and I had to catch a train to get to the boarding gates for my next flight to Vienna which took another six hours. Vienna airport did not appear to be as big as Melbourne.
 I was supposed to have been meet by a driver to take me to hotel but he failed to arrive so I had to take a taxi which I wasn't happy about.

After a short rest at the hotel I went for a short walk into the city and discovered the first of what I imagine will be many Christmas markets that I will see whilst I am here. Being a Friday night it was very busy, very much like a food and wine festival. Lots of people walking around sipping mulled wine and looking at all the stalls. Not all the stalls had Christmas trinkets and the like but clothing, jewellery, pottery and anything else you could think of.

Didn't stay for to long as I was starting to feel very tired. Will have an early dinner and into bed up ready for a full days sightseeing

G