The Rick Steves Best of Eastern Europe tour (June 10-23) is officially over. After the farewell dinner last night, tour members bid each other farewell. A few were at breakfast this morning but most were either sleeping in or had already left for their next destination. We had pre-arranged private transportation to Vienna through a company called Daytrip. It provides door-to-door service. Our driver showed up promptly at 8:55a.m. A few of us had gathered in the lobby and we were chatting with Katka. We said our final farewells begrudgingly and followed him out to the parking lot (car park in European speak),
Our driver was quite a character – a Hungarian biker dude who had prior careers as a newspaper journalist and a bus driver. He looked like a quintessential motorcycle fanatic with his Mohawk-ish hair cut, Greek beer (Mythos) t-shirt, unshaven face and gruff voice. 
He pretty much talked nonstop for four hours, imparting his opinions on politics, Victor Orban ( the authoritarian prime minister recently re-elected for a third term in Hungary), ice hockey in Europe, the World Cup, his recent vacations to Greece, and a blow-by-blow summary of his life. The monologue was interrupted by a prescheduled visit to Stübing, an open air museum depicting Austrian life in the 18th and 19th centuries. It is the Austrian version of Colonial Williamsburg, but without the re-enactors, restaurants, and huge crowds. It was mildly entertaining but the labels and explanations were exclusively in German.
Tony even got to try on some Tyrollean hats! We arrived in Vienna at 3:30 pm, checked in to the Marriott (I used up some Marriott points) and took a quick orientation stroll. We found the main church, St. Stephen’s, 
and more importantly we searched out the famous ice cream parlor, Zanoni & Zanoni. Gelato – pistachio anc chestnut for me and chestnut and raisin (Malaga) for Tony- was a welcome treat and our lunch substitute. 
We strolled down the main pedestrian shopping street, stopped by the Opera House gift shop ( I bought a CD of “Placido Domingo sings John Denver”….really!!!), and went to an Italian restaurant for dinner at Cantinnetta La Norma, located a few blocks from our hotel and recommended it the Rick Steves guidebook. 
The past few days, we have eaten more Italian food than Eastern/Central European cuisine but tomorrow we have a dinner reservation at a place recommended by the hotel for typical Viennese food – schnitzel, I guess! After dinner, another stroll through the old town center brought us back to the Opera House where tonight’s opera was live streamed on a huge TV screen attached to the building’s exterior. 
Scores of people were seated on folding chairs enjoying the performance for free! Back at the hotel, our night cap was a couple of fancy coffee drinks (always served on a silver tray with water and a sweet treat) and a slice of apple strudel. 
We are doing an informal strudel tasting contest – let’s see which café wins!
Camino Musings 