We woke up in Vienna. After being in the countryside, it was a change to look out the window and see skyscrapers.
Because of daily adjustments in the schedules, we were able to participate in the morning exercise class by the pool. It is a tiny indoor pool that has a wooden cover that matches the deck so it doesn't quite match the image you may have of a pool on an ocean cruiser.
The "wellness coach", Victoria, led us through a series of stretches that pretty much replicated yoga poses, although she didn't call them that. We were really glad we went.
All four of us went and we got the impression that there typically were only one or two other guests that attend. So we kind of took over the class.
Because of the schedule adjustments, we still had time for breakfast and be ready for the morning walking tour of Vienna.
There are a lot of boat tours that stop in Vienna and the port hosts many ships, so there was some walking involved in getting from ship to the VBT van and in this case, to the subway station to get downtown.
That's our tour guide Natalia on the left and Damian in the center carrying ebike batteries.
We walked about three blocks to the nearest subway station and took it downtown.
The tour guides bought us tickets and all we had to do was stick them in a machine to get validated.
Amazingly, there were no gates or transit police making sure no one jumped the turnstiles. In fact, there were no turnstiles at all.
Allegedly, transit police could ask you for your validated ticket and that's enough of a deterrent that people follow the rules. But both going downtown and back to the port, the subway and the stations were so crowded that checking tickets wasn't likely.
We did a walking tour of Vienna. I regret not recording it on Strava because it was long!
Here's our tour guide.
Here's a picture of the cathedral where we met her. This is the only picture of buildings in this post.
She was very knowledgeable, but very boring. Maybe it wasn't her. It could have been because by this point in the tour, we were just over whelmed with information. There were more churches, statues, monuments, and government buildings. I stopped taking pictures after a while because I knew I wouldn't be able to caption them later. You really had to be a dedicated historian to find the changes of who was in charge and why to be interesting.
I found this more interesting. I thought it might be a "free Palestine" demonstration because of the colors, but it was a couple of kids trying to launch a new clothing line.
Near some government buildings and foreign embassies, this actually was a political statement, not exactly a demonstration. They were supporting immigrants.
There was a section of a city park dedicated to Mozart. He wasn't from Vienna, but he called it home.
Here he is checking his Instagram posts.
We took the subway back to the ship and went for a morning ride. It was a city tour of downtown Vienna and the Danube Island, an artificial island..
Here we are in the park.
Getting down and up to the bridge crossing the Danube required navigating these circular ramps.
The skyline from the bridge.
Another bridge. I don't know what those raised barriers are for.
Here are the stats: https://www.strava.com/activities/15134793272, 11 flat miles
The afternoon was an "independent ride", meaning there would be no support. But Damian decided to go for ride with us anyway. My knees were shot from the morning tour, and since many people in our group decided to call it a day, I borrowed one of their ebikes. Walter bailed. I would not have gone if an ebike was not available.
This is what they look like although the battery was removed on this one.
The ebikes are the same ebikes we've seen on previous VBT tours, heavy clunkers only a little better than city bike-share bikes. They are Class I ebikes, providing assist up to 25 kph (18 mph), a European regulation. In comparison, my Specialized ebike at home is a Class III, so it gives me power assist up to 28 mph. Given our riding level, that makes a difference. With no wind and on flat terrain, we can comfortably ride around 18 mph and if we are efficiently pace-lining, faster than that. These ebikes are faster up hills, but Mike, Marty, and Damian were faster on flats, so even though I was on an ebike, I could not keep up. The whole point of riding the ebike was to give my knees a break, so I wasn't going to push a heavy ebike past the point at which the power assist cut out. I was still glad to ride, even as the red lantern. (In the cycling world, the last rider is called the red lantern. I can't say for sure the origins of the reference.)
We rode to a monestery and rode back on the same route.
Here are the stats: https://www.strava.com/activities/15134793362, 18 flat miles.
The ship organized an evening trip to hear Viennese music. Like Mozart selling tickets in the previous picture, and the concert I went to in Prague, music is a big piece of the tourist industry.
It was a private concert in the Vienna opera house.
The program was Viennese greatest hits. Despite the fact that they probably did this every night, possibly two performances a night, they played with enthusiasm. I thought they were technically very precise
although I think they needed an external ear to get the balance right. It is difficult for strings to compete with a trumpet and clarinet.
There were two solos and a duet by these two. It is harder for me to judge exactly how good they were, but she hit some impossibly high notes. I wish I could remember what a good soprano's range is, plus I would need perfect pitch to tell you what notes she hit.
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