After waking up on Tuesday, we headed towards central Vienna.  We stopped at the Albertina Museum, which had various collections of art from Impressionists, to Neoimpressionists, to cubists and surealists.  A couple of Monets and Cezannes like usual.  Next we headed to the riding school.  On the way, we say the memorial to Mozart.  Turns out the Lipizzaner Museum at the Spanish Riding school is closed, so Dad and I bought tickets to see the morning workout on Wednesday. 

Wer had lunch at a place called Vapilino's, which is a chain restruant (I'd seen one in Berlin).  They give you a card, and you go to different stations to get what you want and they keep track on your card. I ordered a pizza with serano ham, figs, homey, mozzarela and tomatoes.  It was good.  I also had 2 glasses of Reisling, which was very good.  The only bad thing was that I put red pepper on the pizza.  It wasn't just red pepper, it was Cayenne, so Dad and I had to put up with burning our mouths for a bit.  Good thing i didnt put it on the whole pizza.

Next we found the Naschmarkt, which was really cool.  Stall after stall of spices, exotic fruit, dried fruit, and anitpasta everwhere.  I took some pictures.  Dad and I got food for a picnic dinner later.

Back at the hotel, I used the internet and Dad napped.  When I went back upstairs Dad got on the computer and encouraged me to go for a walk.  So I read in my guide book that Karlskirche (a church) was open till 7. I got there at 5 30, and they told me it closed at 6.  So I went in search of a bookstore instead.  Seeing as how we have 10 hours on a train Thursday, I was going to need some reading material.  I had told Dad to meet me in front of the Karlskirche at 6 30, and I had no luck finding a bookstore.   However, when Dad met me, he said he'd gotten us some wine to go with dinner, and had found a wine bar and a bookstore.  So, Dad and I had dinner in the Karlsplatz (Kalr's Plaza).  We had:

Cheese stuffed peppers
mini-eightball squash stuffed with cheese and almonds
capers (which are ENORMOUS here)
pickled garlic
stuffed grape leaves
artichokes stuffed with cheese and olives
cheese logs wrapped in eggplant
babaganoush

We didn't finish it all.  Dad also treated to some exotic fruit.  I'll have to post a picture cause I have no idea what half of them were.  There were definitely lichis, dragon fruit, and figs.  The figs were great - huge and ripe.

We packed up the rest and walked to the bookstore.  It was closed, but we noted the times.  As we walk home, we run into the wine bar Dad had seen earlier, called Wiener Blut.  It's small, like 10 people there at a time.  But everyone spoke varying degrees of english, and soon we were pretty popular.  The bartender was Walter, who was the front singer of a band that shared a name with the bar.  The people in the bar gave us plenty of recommendations for things to do in Vienna.

Now, it's wednesday.  We started by going to the Spanish Riding School.  There are 2 hours of training, with 4 different sections.  So 6 horses were in the arena at a time.  They rode for a half hour, and then new horses and riders came in.  It was nice to watch, but not what I'd been expecting.  I was hoping to see more difficult manuvers, but most of it was stuff I know how to do.  Next we went to the Silver Collection, the Sisi Museum and the Imperial Apartments.  The Silver Collection was an exhibit on all the tableware used throughout the Hapsburg dynasty.  Some of it was really elaborate and beuaitful.  The Sisi Museum was about the Emepress Elisabeth, who was a little odd for a ruler.  She was nuerotic about her weight, and had a very strick regiment of diet and excersise.  She also rode horses and fenced, while completely ignoring her royal duties.  She was very dark - always wishing for death and hating her royal life.  The Imperial Apartments were the home of both Emperess Elizabeth and her husband, Emporer Franz Joseph.

Lunchtime on Naglergasse, at a resturant called something like hfierz.  It was pretty good. Then some shopping.  The whole area behind the Hofburg complex is pedestrian streets, which were very nice.   

Finally we went to Karlskirche, the church built by Emperor Karl VI after the plague left Vienna for the second time.  It is enormous and beautiful.  The best part was that they are retouching the frescoes in the cupola, so they have scaffolding up, but they allow you to go up to the base of the dome (via elevator!) and then climb stairs to the very top of the cuploa.  You can almost touch the walls of the dome as you climb, and then you get a panoramic view of Vienna.  The High Alter is also really fascinating.  It may be one of the best churches I've been in.

Now, Dad is napping, and I am going to take the time to shower.  We're going to eat leftovers from the picnic yesterday - we have alot of capers and garlic left, plus some grape leaves and babaganoush.  With wine of course...