Vienna!

I arrived Thursday evening in Vienna and headed to immigration. The funny thing is that there were only two lanes open, but they both said 'EU nationals only'. Entering a Schengen country after a short hop hour long flight and you can understand that just about everyone was holding an EU passport. I had been in business but as I was first onto the bus I was also last off of it and joined the end of the line. About 30 seconds I was already at the front of the line - immigration barely glanced at the EU passports that everyone was holding - and so I stepped up and started to say 'non EU but...'. No need. The immigration officer laughed and said I was the only non EU national on the plane so they didn't open another line. She stamped my passport and sent me on my way.

After collecting my luggage and grabbing some Euros at the ATM I went out and got in a cab to head into the city. I had debated on what hotel to stay at. (This is where non travel dorks may get bored, so feel free to jump ahead). My options: Le Meridien, Hotel Bristol, Hotel Imperial, or the Marriott. All of them are on the Ringstrasse so location didn't seem to be much of a deciding factor. Flyertalk wasn't much help - it kinda seemed like it came down to personal preference. I narrowed it to the Bristol or the Imperial, rationalizing that I can stay in a Le Meridien or Marriott anywhere. I haven't in general been overly impressed with the SPG luxury collection hotels, but they are always nice enough and a little different. I went with the Imperial. I have to say, very glad I did. It was originally a prince's home that man definitely had plenty of room to roam. The place was huge and a bit confusing in its layout, but absolutely palatial. I was afraid it would be too old and stuffy for my taste, but they actually managed to decorate it with the perfect blend of old and new. Not to mention Bvlgari bath products (that alone would have made Rachel's stay!), a complimentary box of Imperial Torte Petit Fours, a fruit plate, and chocolates on the pillows (all this chocolate - so wasted on me!). The next question that some of you have is 'yes, but what about the service?'. Impeccable. From the moment I arrived everything was perfect and - wait for it - anticipated. An example you say? I had called down (on Friday night) to schedule a car to take me to the airport on Saturday morning. When I opened the door of my room to leave - about 5 minutes before I was supposed to be downstairs - a bellman was waiting outside in the hallway to take my luggage. He said a polite 'good morning, madam - your car should be here any minute. Please allow me to take your luggage'. No, I hadn't called for assistance with my luggage. I thought it was a nice touch. Of course when I got downstairs they had my bill ready (with chocolates to go - lol). My luggage was loaded into the car (a nice black Lincoln) and I was off to the airport.

What is that you say? What about Vienna? Oh right ;) Vienna was fabulous. A really nice little city. Some of you got an excited email saying 'Our next weekend trip - Vienna!' and I really do mean it. We're always looking for new places to go and we need to keep this on our list. It is a really easy city to walk around with a good subway system - very reminiscent of the Tube. I will say, I spent the morning walking and shopping and paying no attention to where I was. I didn't have a book on Vienna and really had done no research, but I did have a nice little city guide the hotel had given me. Around noon I decided I should head to St Stephens and at least see it and wander around the Stephenplatz area. Unfortunately I could not locate my current location on the map for anything. Now this is rather unusual for me, as I have an excellent sense of direction and can generally navigate myself around any city. But in my defense I hadn't been trying to go anywhere nor had I been paying attention - I was just enjoying the city. Luckily I can also navigate a European subway system with ease, so I decided that was the best way to get unlost. I saw a station down the street and headed underground. A push of the one person button, an assumption that a 2 Euro coin should do it since I can't read German (it did, with .50 Euro change), a quick glance at the subway map and then 4 stops later - Voila! - Stephenplatz.

When I got back to the hotel that night I attempted to figure out where I had been based on the subway stop I got on at....I couldn't find myself on the map that morning because I had walked so far west I had walked beyond the area that the map showed. Whew - made me feel much better :)