The Vienna bus terminal was huge, and I used my Google Maps to navigate my way to the metro, which involved climbing some stairs and crossing over the highway below to the metro entrance.
A service representative helped me pick out the right ticket and route I should take to get to The Do Step Inn Central Hostel which was adjacent to the Vien Hauptbahnhof Metro stop.
I had booked here for two nights before meeting up with Intrepid Tours for the 15 day “Best of Central Europe“ tour.
I made a BIG mistake when booking because this self-service hostel did not have any A/C in the sleeping areas and it was 90° outside and inside. Fortunately, we could open the window and we had a fan in the four unit mixed dorm. In other times of the year, it would be an ideal place. It was immaculate. The common area was ample with a big kitchen, and a meeting area. It was the only area where they had A/C so I hung out there a lot.
Somehow, I twisted my back so I was taking it pretty easy before meeting up with the Intrepid tour group. I enjoyed a couple dinners at the nearby Sarajevo Restaurant with two varieties of weiner schnitzel.
On August 8th, I checked into the Magdas Hotel, which would be our meeting point for the beginning of the Intrepid Tours. I left my bags there and headed out to see the Hofburg Palace and St. Stephen’s Church.
I was impressed by all of the various transportation modes, including the metro subway, the street cars, ands buses. The streets were broad with many walking streets, and there were not many cars, neither parked along the way, nor driving along the streets, most likely because public transportation was so accessible and frequent.
I enjoyed the broad walking streets that were all around the St. Stephen’s Church area with all of the high-end stores calling out for customers. At some stores, like Cartier‘s, there were lines to get into the store to shop.
The St. Stephen’s Church was a high Gothic church and it was amazing to see the insides along with its organ that played some beautiful music as I wandered through.
I stopped at the world famous Sacher Café to have the Sacher torte along with some iced coffee. I enjoyed watching wave after wave of tourists walking by.
That evening, I joined up with my tour group which included our leader, Krzysztof, from Poland, a couple from Ontario, Canada, Mark and Rebecca, He is a finish carpenter, and she is a teacher. Simon and Rebecca, a couple from the UK are both teachers. My roommate for the trip, Michael, is an accountant from the UK. And finally, Doug, is a retired Kent, WA school district manager who now lives in Chicago. Doug is a veteran Intrepid Tour traveler with over five trips.
The group from left to right: Simon, Mark, Rebecca, Michael, Doug, Krzysztof, Rebecca, and me.
After our orientation, we went out to dinner at a nearby restaurant and had the ever popular Wiener schnitzel for dinner along with some sparkling cider or beer.
The following morning, Krzysztof took us to the metro, showed us how to use it, and we traveled to the St. Stephen’s Metro stop.
We then proceeded to tour about the area, including the walking street around St. Stephen’s Church and walked about the Hopburg Palace.
Michael, Doug, and I went to the Opera House for their tour. That place was huge, and our guide pointed out that the major portion of the Opera House was destroyed during the World War II bombing, and it was reconstructed, but not to the same degree of opulence as before.
Our guide, Anna, also showed us a video of them transforming the main floor into a place where they held an annual ball for all the debutants that were coming out. It looks like quite a fancy affair, and was quite expensive to attend.
Doug left the tour early, and Michael went to the art museum, and I proceeded to the natural history museum.
I had never seen so many stuffed animals, insects, snakes, and other reptiles. There were also display cases after display cases of rocks and minerals. There were big crowds there, and there wasn’t any air-conditioning, which surprised me because of all of the valuable items inside.
I then walked through the grounds of the Hopsburg Palace and found where the Spanish Riding School was located. Reservations to see the horses perform was booked out for over a week, but they did have a nice video that featured horses performing as well as running around in the open.
By now it was late afternoon, and the crowds had built up considerably as I made my way back to the St. Stephen’s Metro stop for the ride back to our hotel.
I had a dinner of the scallopini with mushrooms at the nearby Elianto Pizzeria Restaurant.
For the tour, our breakfast was included at the hotel, and it was quite a nice layout, but I just stuck to eggs, coffee, and orange juice with a little ham.
At 8:40 AM we left for our next place, first by streetcar to the Vien Hauptbahnhof, and then by Flixbus for four hours to Cesky Krumlov, Czech Republic.
We made our four hour journey through rolling hills and farmlands and crossed into the Czech Republic. There was no border stop because both are members of the European Union.
Shortly afterward, we arrived at Cesky Krumlov. It is a beautiful ancient city that is situated in the oxbow of the Vitava River, with a towering castle that dominates the area.
