Wendy working hard. Or hardly working? 

She said she had a deadline for something!

The bathroom door is really scary - if you were looking for privacy that is...

So far, I am LESS impressed with the technology in Austria compared to Hungary (who would have thought that?) Firstly, Taxis do not accept credit cards (what are we in, the dark ages?) and the internet connection at our hotel (which we have to pay dearly for, EU15 about $18/day ) reminds me of the speed and access of internet in the early 1990s.

364kps and goes down every 10 minutes for a few minutes. We complained but....they don't care.  Wendy was about to throw the laptop out the window!  I calmed her down with another glass of wine.  Whew!  Close call!

A great selection of eats for morning breakfast - far better than our hotel in Budapest and then a very solid 30 minute hike to the Hop-On/Hop-Off bus stop.

We started off in the downtown area which is a fantastic mixture of old and new and buildings dating to the middle ages alongside modern storefronts. Very cool!

$60 for 20 minutes, I don't think so!

What the hell?? 

Or, as Nam at Grille 54 would say, "What the hawwww?"

50% of Vienna is greenspace, they have over 2800 parks all maintained by the city. That's a lot of out door space for only 1.4 million people. 

One of the largest parks was originally the Royal Family's private hunting park just for them and guests, but in the 1700s the prince decided to open it to all the people of Vienna as a recreational facility.

Over the years attractions and amusement rides were added and now we have what you see below!!

The giant ferris wheel was built in the 1890s and each one of those mobile home looking structures can take up to 20 people. You can book a private party with catering in one of them if you want... for a hefty price.

Yes, those are people flying around 300 feet above the earth.   ARGH!!

We stopped for lunch at a quaint Austrian pub in the amusement park. Wendy's crepes, my Austrian sausage with potatoes on the side and 2 tall beers came to $25. So, still no sticker shock in Vienna! Pleasantly surprised!!

We noticed lots of lederhosen and traditional dress...Are these country bumpkin Austrians coming down off their yodeling mountains into the big city for the weekend??

Hmmm... we noticed some type of festival going on - October is Octoberfest time and everyone was having a great time drinking beer and singing.  AND wearing lederhosen!!  Makes Sense! I want some!

So, Wendy being Wendy, asked if she could pose with the Toaster Strudel People!!!  She even matches their dresses!! 

Finally we went for a ride into the country and up a mountain to get a view of the city. Sadly lighting was not great and it was rather foggy.

While the weather has been warm (mid/upper 60s) it has been extremely overcast - so not great for taking pictures.

Vienna is pretty well preserved from World War II unlike other countries because Hitler basically bullied and threatened the hell out of Austrians with his massive army.

The Austrians gave in to preserve the lives of their people and reluctantly signed the country over to Germany -

until the tide turned in WWII and they then sided with the Allies. Which is why Austria remained part of Western Europe and never got taken by the Soviets.

On the way back to the hotel we found a grocery store and picked up a couple tall beers ($0.90 ea) a GOOD bottle wine ($12) and a 750ml bottle of rum ($12)... still no sticker shock... WOW!

Guess they had too much caffeine...