Oh Vienna - you are lovely.
Accomm Tulip Inn, Wein.
We found a great coffee shop nearby for breakfast. Raina made some comment about it being 'Hipster', but she couldn't see any pushbikes. That's because it was right behind her. Sarah has a well proven theory that the amount of wood and the presence of old bikes has a strong relationship to the quality of the coffee they make.
Under the guidance of Sarah we mastered the public transport system and made it on time to the Spanish Riding School.
Sensational. THE Spanish Riding School. Being summer, the performing stallions are out at the Piber stud either breeding or spelling. To keep the tourists happy they run a show called 'Piber meets Vienna'. And it was great.
The show started with some mares doing harness work. Then a group of yearling fillies. They were free run in the arena and already were awesome creatures.
Next two 6 yo mares who had passed their performance tests did dressage. This means they they are certified good enough to breed from.
Then a group of mares and their current foals. Much fun.
And some more harness work.
It was great. Must come back in winter now to see the stallion show.
We then walked around the area. The school is in the Hofbug Palace. Emperor Charles IV had the arena built in the palace in 1729 so that he could watch his horses in all weather. There is a portrait of him on the wall. Surprisingly the riders are not saluting us, they are saluting Charles IV. The arena is lovely and (for it's time) is very plan. This was so as not to detract from the horses.
The area of the palace is amazing every time you turn your head there is something absolutely amazing.
Sarah declared today that her German accent was 'flawless'. On reflection we decided that maybe it was '"Floor-less". As in rickety, no firm foundation, in fact not very good at all.
In the afternoon we were back to the School for our stable tour. Again that was great and we got to meet many of the young stallions. Up to about 8 yo and now in training. (No photos allowed in the stable block).
Look. We are standing on that hallowed turf - well sand!
We went to a pub for dinner to have a schnitzel - of course. We opted for one serve to share. Lucky. It was the biggest plate with two huge schnitzels, a massive pile of chips and really weird potato salad. The plan was to then have strudel for desert - but the schnitzel destroyed that plan.
Then we went to a concert at the Burhof Palace. It was held in the very grand Ballroom. It was played by the Vienna Residence Orchestra with a number of guest Opera singers. The concert included many Viennese classics with of course many items by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Johann Strauss. There were about 1000 people there and it was wonderful.
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