Vienna, Austria

Friday 20th March 2015: 

We departed for Vienna, Austria with a stop in the Czech village of Kutna Hora. We viewed Sedlec Ossuary, a church heavily decorated with human bones, boasting a chandelier that features every bone from the human body. We arrived in Vienna late in the afternoon and strolled around the area surrounding the hostel  to get our own dinner. Later on we headed out to Roo Bar, an "Australian" bar despite the only visible Aussie beverage being VB. 

Saturday, our Contiki tour manager took us into the UNESCO World Heritage listed centre of Vienna, which is encased by Ringstraße, the ring road. Vienna has been rated one of the cleanest cities in the world, they have multiple categories of recycling and discreet spikes on significant buildings to deter pigeons. Our walking tour ended at the four storey Swarovski store, native to Vienna. Further down the street, we discovered the iconic St. Stephen's Cathedral, dating back to the 12th century and well known for its colourful roof tiles. 

At lunch, we visited Figlmüller for an authentic, monster Vienna pork schnitzel before wandering to one of the city's many public bike stations to cycle around Ringstraße. After becoming lost and giving up on the bikes, we managed to make it to the coach in time to visit the Old Vienna Schnapps Museum, with a few tastings for good measure.

Highlights: 

- Roo Bar - an "Australian" bar where the only Aussie drink was VB

- Swarovski

- St. Stephen's Cathedral, the symbol of Vienna 

- Manner wafers, popular across Eastern Europe

- Ate a monster schnitzel for lunch (Figlmüller pork original) 

- Rode bikes around Ringstraße ring road, before getting lost 

- Ate apple strudel

- Old Vienna Schnapps Museum (Alt-Wiener Schnapsmuseum)

- Ate schnitzel again for dinner 

- Some people from the original group ended their tour, with several new people joining