A River Sort of Runs Through It

July 8 continued: After lunch, Cindy led on, I knew not where. We boarded a bus.

To 'splain': It was a very hot day, and Cindy's idea was that we would go out of the city to where we could find shady, cool wooded areas. Lovely idea--but we did have some time limitations, as we were having dinner with Edie and then going to an organ concert at St. Michael's. So Cindy's first idea, of going to the Vienna Woods, just felt like we wouldn't have enough time. So we took a bus to the suburb of Grinzing, which was charming and quiet. After a short stroll, we headed back to the city--and the next place.

Here's really what we were seeking: Most of the large cities we visited had great rivers running through them, or lots of canals--major waterways of some sort. We had become accustomed to having these waterways available for strolling, watching sunbathers and ducks, and seeing how cities are shaped by the rivers that were in most cases their reason for being in the first place.

But Vienna had a major problem with the Danube, because it was prone to flooding, and wisely, the city leaders were loathe to build in an area like that. So they didn't, and consequently the Danube does not run through the city. To be within walking distance of the river is to be within the distance flood zone.

It wasn't till the early 1970s that flood-control engineers did their magic to make that area more reliably habitable. Now it has become a great recreation area, with beaches and restaurants all along the water. Turns out you just have to board the subway and in a few minutes get off at Donauinsel (Danube Island).

We did this, and walked down to one of the restaurants, of which there were many, none serving anything but drinks at that late afternoon time. So we found a riverside cafe and were persuaded to imbibe some delicious frozen strawberry daiquiris. They did hit the spot.

I was most impressed with the bridge where we disembarked from the subway to get to the island. That bridge included a major highway, the subway stop, and a wide pedestrian/bicycle trail. (It can be done, with good planning and engineering.)

Oh, and there is supposedly a nude beach on the island, although we weren't blessed with that sight.

The other notable note on this area is that Cindy lived on the other side of the river, in what is now known as Donau City. Her bus stop was the Anton-Störck-Gasse, if you feel a need to know more details about that area. She had a two-room apartment with a kitchen that had hookups but nothing attached to them (including no sink)--and a shared bathroom down the hall. Living large on the edge of Vienna...

That's about as exciting as our afternoon could be. We went back to the hotel to determine where we would go to dinner, and ended up again at the Greek restaurant in the Naschmarkt.

Then...off to St. Michael's for an organ concert. The evening, once again, was beautiful. A couple of images from our walk to St. Michael's:

Mozart is everywhere:

More women holding up a building, somewhere in Josefsplatz:

Two lovebirds in front of the Hofburg:

And turning around and looking in the other direction, St. Michael's in the evening light:

There was an impressively sized audience for the organ concert. Afterward, we were invited to climb to the organ loft to learn about the Sieber-organ, which was built in 1714. It felt pretty special to hear from the organist, Andreas Schweitzer, about the joys and challenges of playing that historic instrument.

Photos of and from the organ loft:

It's important to note that St. Michael's is where Mozart's unfinished Requiem was first performed at his funeral service, on December 10, 1791, just five days after his death.

After hearing much more about the organ and all its workings than I had thought possible (and in German, too), we went back out into the evening. The sun was still in the process of setting, but even so, the lights were already on at the Hofburg and other buildings. Some final shots to round out the day:

The netting you see in this picture was everywhere, on every important historic monument and building, I presume to keep the plentiful pigeons from pooping all over everything.

The other side of the Hofburg:

And one final shot of that perfect evening:

It had been a long day, with a diversity of experiences. Vienna continues to deliver pleasures.

Tomorrow: the Summer Palace--and heat!