Vienna

The grandparents came into town for a visit. We spent a week in Budapest - visiting the castle, riding the funicular, touring the operahouse, going to the opera (we saw Das Rheingold), shopping at the grand market hall - then a long weekend in Vienna. 

 

The train ride to Vienna from Budapest is fairly short - only 3 hours and easy. The weekend was nice, we stayed at a familiar hotel so we didn't get lost too often either! We toured the Vienna opera and had just toured the Hungarian Operahouse a couple of days earlier. The Budapest house is much more beautiful inside the auditorium. The Vienna house is very plain - I agree with the legend that Franz Josef left in the middle of the first act in Budapest because he realized how much more beautiful it was than the one in Vienna. 

We toured the imperial apartments where Franz Josef and Sisi lived, then the silver collection and the Sisi museum. It was a rainy day so good that we did this and the opera. The next day was nicer and we spent more time outside. We visited St. Stephens, hopped on a hop-on/hop-off bus (first time) and rode the giant ferris wheel - that was very neat. We happened to go during the beginning of the Christmas season, and the extra markets were nice. We hope to go back before we leave Budapest.