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| Waiting for the tram to the train station at Jakominiplatz |
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| Waiting for our train in Graz |
Saturday, July 16 - We said goodbye to Graz and caught the morning train to Vienna for our last day in Austria. It was another beautiful train ride and this time I was able to get a few pictures.
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| My little rascal (lausbub) |
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| Train fun! |
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| Amazing views |
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| Whee!!! |
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| Zipping along |
We arrived in Vienna to a cool and cloudy day but still headed to Stephansplatz to enjoy a few hours in the city center. Our favorite pizza place in Graz sadly closed years ago, but by a happy chance we stumbled on their remaining restaurant in Vienna. Yay! Regina Margaretta still has the best pizza outside Italy.
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| George approves of our motel |
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| It was a bit chilly outside so George finally wore long pants and a jacket! |
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| George was fascinated by the fountain |
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| The best pizza! |
We wandered around just a little and were happy to find a beautiful 19th century indoor shopping arcade, the Palais Ferstel Passage. The palace café was once a popular haunt for some famous leaders, philosophers and poets including Leo Trotsky and Sigmund Freud. Sadly the café had a line just to get in, so we opted for the smaller Delias Café. After warming up with a couple of hot Viennese coffees and a little dessert we wandered our way back to an underground stop and headed back to the hotel.
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| At the cafe |
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| Hanging out with Daddy is the best |
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| Ferstel Passage |
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| So many beautiful details |
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| Even an indoor fountain! |
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| Such a fun find! |
While on the underground we had our only run in with recent current events. At one stop a group of people got on the train further down. They were loud but sounded happy, like football supporters after a match. But shortly the cheers turned to angry shouts and the train made a prolonged stop at the next station. It was amazing that George could sense the change of atmosphere in the carriage and started to cry a bit. A mother and her son immediately started playing peek-a-boo with George to distract him and soon we were on our way again, sans the noisy group. We think the group had just come from a rally for Turkey, as they all had Turkish flags with them. I think someone must have antagonized them on the train which resulted in yelling and the group chasing a man down the platform. I'll admit it was a bit frightening, though I can't say I feel any safer in the United States than I did in Europe. While traveling it was uplifting to see George bring out the best in people. The world would truly be a better place if we all treated each other like 8 month olds.
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| One last story time in Austria |
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| Good night! |
