The flight was smooth, but despite being more comfortable than usual (thanks to lay-flat seats because we got upgraded to Business First), I didn't get much sleep.
Goodnight, World!
But United has new care packages in Business, so that was fun!
The new bag and the loot inside
Steve and I hadn't bumped ourselves up to business class since our trip to Melbourne in February, so this was a pleasant surprise!
After we ate, Steve and I both watched some TV, I read a little bit, Steve slept, and I tried to sleep. And then we landed in Geneva!
After a brief stop in the lounge for snacks and secure Wi-Fi, we headed to our gate and boarded our last leg from Geneva to Vienna on Austrian Airlines. We were only a little disorientated, but luckily there is a non-stop train from the airport to the city center that only takes 16 minutes! The walk from the train station to our hotel took about 15-20 minutes, which helped us wake up and adjust to the new time zone. (Vienna is six hours ahead of DC.)
Our hotel, the Hotel Sacher, is absolutely beautiful! There is one in Vienna and one other in Salzburg, and it was started by the same family that created Austria's famed Sacher Torte (pronounced like Americans would say "soccer"). It's this amazing chocolate cake with a layer of chocolate icing through the middle and a unique chocolate ganache frosting, topped with a dot of apricot jam and a chocolate piece with the Sacher seal on it. Sorry, I can't believe I didn't get a picture! But I did take a picture of our chandelier!
Gorgeous!
Our room was just across the street from their famous opera house. We didn't see an opera there, but we did have a fantastic view!
Mr. Peabody Pembroke enjoys the view of the opera house
Once we settled our stuff into the room and felt we had the energy to attack the day, we did! First stop, lunch! We had some goulash soup at a nearby restaurant, then it was off to St. Stephen's Church, or the Stephansdom. It's one of the oldest churches in town, and it has amazing tile work on the roof! We took the elevator to the top of the North Tower to get the view:
The roof of the church
It was impressive! And really high up!
From there, we set out to wander some more. We found ourselves at the Sisi Museum in one of the many palaces around town. It's dedicated mostly to Empress Elisabeth ("Sisi"), and to her many sets of dishes!
I may have taken this picture illegally
I have no idea how many sets of dishes and platters and silverware (and goldware) they had displayed in there, but it was a lot! Sisi seems to be like their Abe Lincoln--beloved and then tragically assassinated. She was a Bavarian duchess who married into the Hapsburg family at age 15. She had a good go of it until 1898 when she was assassinated in Geneva at age 60. She had a heck of a palace in Vienna!
That museum took up a couple of hours of our time, and by then we were pretty pooped! We found a place to have authentic Wiener schnitzel, per Steve's request, and we both left quite full! After that we decided maybe we need to start splitting dishes instead of each ordering an entree that's too much for us!
Back to the hotel! But not before purchasing two Starbucks mugs for our collection--Vienna and Austria! When we arrived back in our room, we were delighted to see chocolates, fruit, and a Sacher Torte on each side of our bed!
Yum! But it didn't take long of us to fall asleep, even after a few chocolates. Join us in the next post to see what we got into on Saturday!
For more pictures, clock HERE!
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