Hungary and Austria: Vienna (6.6.25)

Dave stood in front of the Sacher Hotel, in Vienna, as we waited for our tour to gather on June 6, 2025.  "That's where they created the sachertorte!" I exclaimed.  History and art were all around us in Vienna.  It is one of world's richest cities, culturally.  

We walked into a cafe nearby and bought a slice of sachertorte.  It is a gourmet chocolate cake, with apricot jam spread between two layers of cake.  Then, a smooth layer of chocolate frosting is poured over the whole cake.  Austrians and Hungarians take their cakes seriously.  Sachertorte and apple strudel are the preferred pastries in Austria, while Dobos torte, a many-layered white cake with chocolate frosting between each layer, is the national cake of Hungary.

Dave and I spent our first morning in Vienna visiting the Schoenbrunn Palace, summer home of the Hapsburgs.  The Hapsburgs ruled huge slices of Europe for 500 years, from the 1400s to the end of World War I.

Queen Maria-Theresa was the Hapsburg ruler who turned the newly-built palace into the 18th century Baroque showplace it is today.  She was a powerful ruler, from 1740 to 1780, who bore 12 children when she wasn't busy with statecraft.  One of her daughters was Marie-Antoinette, ill-fated wife of Louis XVI of France.

The dozens of rooms in the palace were luxuriously decorated, with painted ceilings, chandeliers, gold-encrusted sconces, and portraits of long-dead aristocrats.

After returning from the Schoenbrunn Palace, we wandered through Vienna's parks to the meeting point for our walking tour of Vienna's historical district.  We passed statues of the great men who lived in Vienna, including the German poet, Goethe, and the Austrian composer, Mozart.

Our walking tour began at the Maria-Theresien-Platz, with its
huge statue of Maria-Theresa surrounded by her advisors.

One of my favorite stops on the walking tour was the chapel where the Vienna Boys Choir sings.  Most of the time the choir is touring the world, presenting concerts.

Vienna, like much of Europe, is built over old Roman ruins.

Even the tombs in Vienna are elegant.