Day 2 - 29 March 2019 Vienna

Beautiful spring day in Vienna, the sun is shining, the birds are singing and the locals and the tourists (including me) are out and about.  Probably only about 14c through the day and cooler in the morning and evening but very pleasant weather for being out and about.  And out and about I was, my watch has told me that I did more than 16,000 steps today.  I reckon 6,000 were finding my way back to the hotel after finding myself a bit geographically embarrassed.

Purchased my 72 hour public transport pass this morning for E17.00 and caught my first train out to the Heeresgeschichtliches Museum, known to you and me as the Austrian Military Museum.  (The Austrian language is a slight variation on German and like the Germans they just keeping adding words on until they get to the word they want).  This isn't a bad museum however a bit old fashioned with lots of things in glass cases, however they have spent some money and updated their The Great War (TGW) exhibitions. However given the Austrians were on the losing side they probably don't think of the 1914 - 18 war as TGW.  I got in for E5 instead of E7 by flashing my Victorian seniors card.

The pride of their collection, in my eyes anyway, is the car that the Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife were in when they were assassinated in Sarajevo, Bosnia on 28 June 1914.  Standing looking at this car, including the bullet hole, it was amazing to contemplate the repercussions and consequences of this action, in the Balkan back blocks, on the rest of the world. Including my then 15 year old grandfather in far away Tasmania and also his slightly older brother, my great uncle.  Bismark, the great unifier of the German nation once stated that the Balkans weren't worth the bones of one Pommeranian grenadier.  Unfortunately it cost them lot more than that.

Entrance to Military Museum

Archduke's car with bullet holes

After morning tea at the museum, coffee and cake in the Viennese tradition, I started back into the city.  Part of this walk was through the Belvedere Gardens and past the Belvedere Palaces.  My word the Austrian ruling family, the Hapsburgs, knew how to build a castle and gardens, would give the French a run for their money.

Schloss Belverdere  

The rest of the day was taken up with lunch (sausage wrapped in bacon, chips, salad and beer) watching the world go by in outdoor restaurant.  And then a long walk taking in some of the sights and working off my jet lag.

Some observations; people can still smoke in restaurants, gentlemen still smoke pipes and dogs are allowed in restaurants.