Post Cruise - Vienna

Another reason for this cruise was that the post cruise extension was in Vienna, a place that I have always wanted to go to, largely because of the Spanish Riding School and the Lipizzaner Stallions. 

Following the tour of Budapest, it was a bus ride to our hotel in Vienna.  What a spectacular hotel! We stayed at the Palais Hansen Kempinski. Amawaterways always uses 4- or 5-star hotels. Some are very American but some are truly unique. It was late in the afternoon when we arrived so after settling in at the hotel, we asked our cruise director for some tips on where to eat nearby. 

Light switches - high tech hotel

Lobby

Our room

The bathroom

Our cruise manger recommended a beer garden at a restaurant close by. We actually walked by it because it looked so small, but we turned around after not finding anything else. We found out that you went through the restaurant into an inner courtyard. We had a delightful meal.

Courtyard garden

The next day in the morning there was a bus and walking tour of Vienna. Again, like many of the tours on this trip things seemed a bit rushed. It was still an interesting tour.  We visited a garden dedicated to Empress Elizabeth of Austria and St Stephan's cathedral.

Horse and carriage behind Peterskirche in Vienna

Stephanplatz and St Stephan's Cathedral

Empress Elisabeth of Austria (Princess Sisi)

Many in our group were going to a Mozart concert that evening. This was an optional excursion arranged by Amawaterways. We had decided not to go to the concert so we had the afternoon and evening on our own to explore. We took the transit out to Schönbrunn Palace. Once we arrived, we found a place to have lunch at the edge of the Palace grounds. We ate outside on the patio. The interior of this restaurant was amazing but except for one group there was no one inside. 

The Golden Throne

After lunch we headed over to walk the Palace Gardens. The grounds are free but you have to pay to go into the palace. The main gardens were very nice and we walked all the way to the top of the hill to get the view of the palace. We certainly got our steps in here. 

We walked all the way to the top.

Schönbrunn Palace

Fountain

View from the top.

Once back in Vienna we looked for a cafe but had a hard time finding anything that looked nice. Most places were just a couple tables right on the street. We finally found a place where most of us decided to have a Viennese coffee, at least that's what the waitress called it. It was so good. We probably should have gone back to this restaurant for dinner. Instead, after going back to the hotel for a while we walked back to see Stephanplatz at night. After having so many great meals, the restaurant Cafe Europe where we ate dinner that evening was quite a letdown. 

St Stephan's Cathedral at night

This was our last night in Vienna and the end of our Amawaterways journey but not the end of our vacation. We had booked train tickets to Prague on a train that left Vienna at 3:10 in the afternoon. This was so I could cross off my bucket list a visit to the Spanish Riding School to see the Lipizzaner Stallions. Ever since I saw the Disney movie Miracle of the White Stallions, I've always wanted to see them. Performances are only on Saturday and Sundays but there are training sessions on weekdays that you can go and watch. I had purchased tickets online before we even left for the trip. I'm certainly glad I did as mostly it is standing room; we had tickets for seats along the side of the menage. You're not allowed to take pictures or video once the riders and horses enter so all I have is the memory. I hope someday to go back to Vienna and see a performance and to have a piece of sachertorte.

After the training session, it was a short walk back to the hotel to finish up packing, put out our bags and take a taxi to the train station. Next post will be about our visit to Prague.

Sunday at the Races

Today I went with my sister and brother in law or rather they came with me to the Wesley Clover Equestrian Centre. We went to see the Canine Equine Relay.  It's an event that I've always wanted to do but now Beckett is too old and Keltic is absolutely frantic about horses (not as bad as he is about squirrels but almost) so he's probably not a good candidate.

We got there in enough time for me to talk to many of the dog handlers that I knew. We were lucky enough to get a table ringside in the bar so we had a good view and could have a couple drinks while we were there. The drinks weren't cheap but then admission to the horse show was only a donation for the parking so it wasn't a bad afternoon.

The Canine Equine Relay has been held for the last five years at one of the International competitions at Wesley Clover. The teams are made up of a horse and rider and a dog and handler. The fastest team wins and it is time plus faults.  The winning horse and rider get a $5,000 prize.  The dog and handler  win a big ribbon and a gift bag but then they get to have fun and don't have to pay to play.

David and Gracie

Gracie in the weaves

Heading out for the photo shoot

 These next three pictures are my sister's. She had a much better camera than me; I only had my phone.

If you want to see  some good photos of the dogs and horses go to Wesley Clover's FaceBook page and Wendy Beard's Flicker album.

Wesley Clover Park FaceBook Page

Wendy Beard's photos

It was a nice way to spend Sunday afternoon with dogs and horses.  I would definitely do it again and now that I know that it is very dog friendly, I might even bring the dogs, maybe Keltic would get tired of barking at horses.

Sunset Ceremony

One thing about living in the capitol, is that there is always something going on in the city. Most of the outdoor activities are usually dog-friendly although there are always some areas that are off limits.

Last night, a friend and I went to the annual Royal Canadian Mounted Police Sunset Ceremony. It's an outdoor show that is free and is very dog-friendly so Beckett and Keltic came along for the show. The show is held at an outdoor arena near the RCMP stables, when we were walking in to the grounds an RCMP officer came over to see Keltic.

Last night's performance included the Sky Hawks, the parachute team from the Canadian Forces, some highland dancers, an assembled Pipes and Drums band, a local rock band and , of course, the highlight of the show, was the Musical Ride.

Sky Hawks - can you see them?

On Target

Spinning downwards

Another landing

Beckett was quite content to sit between our chairs and just chill out. Keltic on the other hand wanted some attention. Luckily I had brought some hot dogs and the lady next to us entertained him as well.

Beckett - older and wiser

Horsing around

Keltic - the little rascal

The Musical Ride is always fun to see. It's too bad some people can't just sit still and watch the show and I'm not just talking about kids here, some adults and teenagers must have walked by our spot two or three times during this hour and half show. But we still had a good view from where we were.

Taking center stage

Riding formations

The Charge

On Parade

The ceremony ends with the singing of God Save the Queen, O Canada and the lowering of the flag.

Sunset

We hung around after the show to let some of the crowd clear out. Keltic was a real hit as one person after another came over to see him and pet him. He took it all in stride, he is real people person, I mean people dog. It was a nice evening. I really should get out to more of the activities there are to do around town.