Ended our one night stay in Cesky Krumlov with a visit to the amazingly opulent Baroque castle where we learned a little bit more about Bohemian history from our guide. We then headed off for Vienna - zoomed along the motorway and arrived at our accommodation – another apartment, small but spacious – in a beautiful tree-lined street in the suburb of Wahring- an easy 20 minute tram ride into Vienna. Amazingly we were able to park right outside the apartment for free! – No costly car parks that were a km away. The rain caught up with us in Austria. It poured down non-stop the first day, so we spent it in the Natural Histories museum. The second day we visited the Kunsthistoriches (art museum). You really need a whole week to take in the many famous and fabulous art works the museum possesses. In the evening, Ray went to the State Opera to see Capriccio by Richard Strauss with our friend Elna’s mother (Ama), who lives in Vienna. Ray was really excited because Renae Fleming was one of the singers. We spent our last day in Vienna at the Schonnbrunn Palace (where we got drenched in a thunderstorm), and then went over to Ama’s apartment for dinner. In the evening she took us to a street festival where her son, Eric, a well known Viennese blues musician, was playing with his band – The Mojo Blues Band. It was a great night and we got home around midnight after negotiating the Vienna underground – a breeze compared to London.
Currently on our way to Switzerland. Stopped in Salzburg last night – so much history here but no time to see it all and reflect on it. Salzburg – the birthplace of Mozart and, of course, the original hometown of the Von Trapp family from the Sound of Music. In the end we saw a performance of “The Magic Flute” at the Marionette Theatre – wonderfully enchanting - and then the next morning got up early to go on a “Sound of Music” bus tour for 4 hours. The tour took us out into the lakes district close to Salzburg. While wandering the streets looking for somewhere to eat, we met an interesting retired American professor of history who had been living in Salzburg for the last 27 years. We ended up having dinner with him in an Italian restaurant. Spending the night in Innsbruck and then driving off to Airolo in Switzerland for 2 nights. As we drive along now, the landscape has changed from the flats of the Czech Republic to misty mountains and huge lakes as we get closer to Switzerland.