This is the main part of the trip, and even though we had visited here five years ago, there was still things to see for the first time. There is no really big "must-see" attractions except for Schonnbrunn and the Cathedral, but many other museums and worthwhile places kept us busy. Near the end of the trip, we found out through CNN on the hotel television that our old neighborhood in Colorado Springs was involved in a firestorm, with hundreds of our nearest neighbors' home burning down. Coincidentally, when we were in Vienna five years ago, our current neighborhood in San Diego was burning, with hundreds of homes lost. In 2017, we will avoid Vienna!

The tours of Schonnbrunn Palace took all day. We walked through the gardens, then toured the palace rooms, then back to the games area in the gardens. The tour of the palace included nearly every room on the first floor. I asked about the second floor, and found out that they are private apartments, available to anyone on a standard lease, and not that expensive. If Carol and I ever retire in Vienna, this would make a very prestigious address!

The games area of the palace gardens were very impressive, and something Carol and I missed the first time. There was a maze with 6' high hedges covering about 1/2 acre. I got lost and gave up, until Michael showed me the way to the center. I kept going in circles! Adjacent to that maze was another one, with a large kaleidoscope in the center.

Another maze had some challenges, including a math puzzle (that no one could solve until a few days later) and a set of climbing poles. Michael and Evan both tried to reach the height needed to ring the bell, but it was too slippery for them. Click on the photo below for a video of Evan's best attempt. [its a 16MB file download].

One of the most interesting museums was the Hofburg Treasury in Vienna. It contains a collection of many old relics, including teeth from John the Baptist and Saint Peter, fragments of the loincloth worn by Christ on the cross and from the Last Supper's tablecloth, the lance that pierced Christ's side, and, of course, a piece of the cross and one of the nails. Not pictured is a piece of the original manger from Bethlehem. I'm not sure how recently these items were still revered, but holy relics form an important part of medieval history.

Another museum was part of a large armory, with weapons used throughout the last few centuries. Since I have worked on related weapons systems for much of my career, many of the technical details inside were especially interesting to me.

One of the event we were all looking forward to, was the large music festival held annually on an island in the Danube. It is one of the biggest in Europe. We waited too late, and showed up on the last night, when thunderstorms forced the festival to end early, before we made it to the performance area. There were a few U-bahns serving the area, and there were plenty of police to help control the crowds at the stations.

On one of the last days, we all split up to visit things we wanted to see individually. I chose to visit a number of cathedrals, as well as an impressive old globe museum. The place was practically empty, with perhaps five visitors spread among the several rooms and displays. When the ticket booth asked where I was from, I saw her mark a tally under "Other" with about 4 other Americans that week. I guess Europeans are more interested in this type of collection.

After dinner, we toured the amusement area, where Evan was bold enough to go on this swinging tower. No one else was game! After a short game or two of air hockey between Carol and Michael, we said good-bye to the kids back at the hotel. They continued to Verbier in Switzerland for a few days of mountain biking before meeting their mom and girlfriend in Italy and traveled with them to Germany.