We awoke and had a fast breakfast before making the long trip to the rail station. We usually build in some extra time, but I took us three stops in the wrong direction on the metro before discovering my error, and we ended up cutting it pretty close. But we made it, which is what matters.

The train ride out of Czech Republic was quite a bit faster and smoother than the ride in had been, presumably because the line to Vienna is used more often than the one to Munich.  Kaitlin and Phyllis watched movies on the trip, and Judy slept most of the way. Amber and I played on the iPad for a while. We played a game where you have to identify countries, and I was quite impressed with the way amber soaked them up. We would start each continent with me knowing much more than Amber, but after just a couple of runs through, she would have them all down. She already can identify all of the states, all of the countries in Europe, and all of the countries in Latin America and South America.

We arrived in Vienna in mid-afternoon, and had little trouble finding our way to our hotel. We had a large suite of rooms which were clean and comfortable. After dropping our stuff, we went in search of dinner.  A couple of blocks over from our hotel is a large pedestrian shopping district, and we walked most of the length of it. Because it was Sunday, though, almost everything was closed and there were only a handful of people walking. After much searching, we finally found a Chinese noodle place that was open. It turned out to be pretty good, though.

After, we returned to the hotel and then I went out on my own to see Vienna, since no one else wanted to come with me. I took the subway to what looked like the center of the old town. Riding up the escalator to street level, I found myself in the center if a pedestrian square dominated by a huge gothic cathedral. I went straight over to it and went inside. There was a service going on, but I was able to see the church from the back. They had installed projectors with colored lights in the interior, which gave it an interesting effect. The space was nice, but I noticed that the roof of the nave was only slightly higher than the roof of the aisles, such that there was no space above for claristory windows, which made it quite dark inside.

I then walked down to the Danube, but was not impressed. No view to speak of, and mostly modern buildings. From there, I walked sort of at random through the old town, but using my iPhone guide to spot interesting things in the area. Most impressive was probably another church, St. Peters I think it was, that had an organ concert going that I was able to hear a bit from the back. The church was not gothic but romanesque, I think. Rounded arches, thick walls, and a square, symmetrical design, and richly, even gaudily decorated, with gold everywhere.

I then returned to the main square and had a beer at a cafe and watched the scene. From there, back to the room, played cards with Amber, and then to bed.