Thursday--Vienna, Austria

Thursday, August 30th
Vienna, Austria

           Vienna is the Capital of Austria and home to nearly 2 million people.  This is ¼ of the population of the country.  It has a high standard of living as the minimum wage is very high.  The Cathedral of St Stephen, built between 1263 and 1511, is the symbol of the city with its 450 foot tower.  The Danube Tower is 826 feet high and is one of the tallest buildings in Europe.  With nearly 100 art museums and other cultural & historical sites, Vienna is one of the most popular tourist destinations.
          We had arrived at our docking spot in Vienna the night before.  At 9am today we met our friends, Susie & Fred, right at ramp onto our boat.  They were in the suite next to us on our 72 day South America cruise beginning of this year so got to know them very well then.  They now live in Vienna and Fred grew up here.  We took them on a short tour of our boat before starting our “private” tour.  Fred is 90 years young and they took us on a walking tour of Vienna that lasted all day.  He wore me out!!  He’s definitely my hero and Susie is a real sweetheart.  At one point we were in a church that you could take an elevator about have way to very top of its dome but then you have MANY steps to climb to get to very top.  I was huffing and puffing, looked back and Fred was right behind me.  Fred gave us lots of history about the sights he had planned for us to see, and there were a lot of them.  I took lots of photos but now a day later I have no idea what they are.  Sorry about that.  Without doubt, we had the BEST tour of Vienna then any of our boat mates.  Thank you again Susie & Fred.
           We were to be at Albertina Museum at 5pm to meet our bus to catch up with the boat.  The boat left Vienna at 2pm and moved to Bratislavia, capital of country of Slavia.  We were there early so had time to enjoy a beer at Mozart Café across from the museum.  After saying goodbye to our friends, the bus pulled out exactly at 5pm.  We arrived at dock in Bratislavia at 6:15 so had to rush to get ready for our 7pm dinner time.  It was the Captain’s Farewell reception and dinner.  We missed the reception part.  At dinner we sat with a couple from Houston and one from Melbourne, Australia.  Filet and lobster were the two non-vegetarian choices.  I had a problem with our waiter.  It is second time this particular waiter has tried to rush us.  He had taken everyone’s request and then never came back to take mine.  I got more than a little pissed off.  Pardon my choice of words but they fit my disposition.  I had asked the waited to send the Maitre d over but he did not tell him.  So finally at 7:25 I went up to table where the Hotel Director and Captain were hosting some other passengers and ask if he could solve my problem.  After relating my story, he apologized and said he would certainly take care of it.  He charged into the kitchen (we were sitting just outside of it) and apparently chewed some tails.  The waiter did not serve our table the rest of the evening.  The Maitre d served us!  I hesitated to bother Gerald, the Hotel Director, but this was my second run-in with this waiter.  Mass dining at 7pm is one of the problems I have with river cruising.  The other waiters and crew are fantastic.