Wien Surprise!

6fartsinacart
Jul 28, 2017
5 min read

22 July 2017, Saturday: After having a good sleep at this quiet and peaceful parking near the Auschwitz II camp, we leave at 10.20am. We do a short journey to a park4night stop near Istebna. This is in the mountains close to ski slopes. After having lunch we start working on the blog. Emile uses the time to cycle and explore for a better sleeping spot. By the time Genève has prepared our cordon bleu burgers for supper, the blog is fine-tuned and posted. We follow Emile’s directions to a place which he thinks is suitable. At this possible spot it is a 50/50 toss-up as the soil is drenched, but some of the farts are up for the challenge and we pull off onto the muddy surface. So… we spend the next 15 minutes manoeuvering Merzy bit by bit back out of the bog…. with the help of some stones, branches, a ramp, and muscle power. Needless to say, some of us happy (excitement and entertainment for the day has been provided) and the others less impressed. We return to our original spot where we have a shower outside just as the heavens open... our solar-shower giving less water than the skies. A thunder and lightning display finishes the day off on a bright note.

23 July 2017, Sunday: After leaving the parking area below the ski slope we stop in Istebna to spend our last Polish Zloty. Soon after we cross the border and enter Czech Republic at 10.15am. We stop in Frenštat for Dad to get hold of some Czech Koruna. We have been looking to fill up with water for some time. Dad and Emile notice a tap at the fountain square and we are able to fill some of our containers. With our tummies filled up we continue to Kromĕřiž after lunch. We go in search of a laundromat as the laundry bag looks like a volcano busy errupting. Being Sunday and having a language handicap, we return 'mission not accomplished'. We move on to a parking further down along the river near Kvasice. Dad fires up the BBQ and braais us some sausage and chicken wings. Emile and Genève have a go at fishing in the river but return empty handed.

24 July 2017, Monday: With a smartphone and a smart mother, a laundromat has been discovered in Brno and we shoot off at 9.15am. We park up an hour later. A fully functioning state-of-the-art laundromat aids us in a speedy wash and dry of our huge bag of dirty laundry. We have lunch and head off. We have been struggling in Czech to find water and with the help of the park4night app, we fill up at a winery at a small fee. We continue west until Dad notices a road sign saying ‘Wien 84km’. Out of the blue we turn south and start moseying towards Wien. We park at the Donau-park situated next to the Danube River, which has a sign saying ‘No Campers’. We choose not to see this sign and park next to 5 other campers and have a peaceful night.

25 July 2017, Tuesday: 8.45am our tour of Wien starts. We leave our overnight stop and park Merzy closer to the city centre. On our way to our stop we kids see a bloke at an intersection and are convinced that it is Josh, the Schuster family’s oldest son (recognized from photos) who lives in Wien. We wave and he returns our greeting. We cross the Danube canal within 5 minutes from our parking. Our first stop is at Votikirche. From there we proceed to the City Hall/Rathaus and the Austrian Parliament. At this stage I make contact with Lavinia Schuster. We are delighted to find out that they are also in Wien for their son’s wedding. We arrange to meet at the wedding venue later in the afternoon. We continue to the Maria-Theresien-Platz which is flanked by the Naturhistorisches Museum and the Kunsthistorisches Museum. From there we cross the road to the Hofberg Palace and explore this sprawling complex consisting of numerous buildings and courtyards with statues and sculptures. Before reaching St. Stephen’s Cathedral we pass the Plague Pillar, erected to commemorate the end of the devastating plague of 1679. We enter St. Stephen’s Cathedral for a visit. After that we walk to the Wien State Opera House and Karlskirche. At Belvedere Palace we stroll through the exquisite gardens with its many fountains. As it is getting late we start making our way back to Merzy. En route we pass the Schwarzenbergplatz with its Soviet War Memorial, more formally known as the Heroes’ Monument of the Red Army. We reach Merzy at 3.30pm and leave for 'The Barn' (wedding venue) in Streitdorf approximately 30km north of Wien. Fortunately the Schusters are delayed and we have time to eat, shower and recuperate our strength. Upon their arrival and after happy greetings, we discover that it WAS their son we saw earlier this morning. The Lord works in amazing ways! If it wasn’t for us recognizing their son, we wouldn’t have met up again. We happily join them in the preparation of the wedding venue. We finally greet them at 11pm when they leave to return back to Wien and we park off in front of the barn’s entrance to sleep.

26 July 2017, Wednesday: A slight drizzle keeps us in bed till 8.30am before leaving, making our way back to Czech. We cross the border just after 12pm. The scenery today is quite lush and we stop at Políce for lunch where there is an amazing Manor house. Unfortunately they have no English or German (or Afrikaans) literature and the guide speaks neither. Therefore we have to be satisfied with some photos only. After lunch we drive further north to a big open field near Novy Svét where we are requested in no uncertain terms to move from our parking spot, more than likely by the owner and his wife, though we have no ways of telling, since 4 languages are spoken and not a word understood. We decide to oblige and move on to a much nicer location overlooking the mountains and a small lake. We retire for the evening while the heavens open ever so gently.

After manoeuvering Merzy out of the bog... with some help

Into Chech Republic

Emile spinning (fishing technique)

Last bit of spinning before leaving our stop next to the river at Kvasice

and some dance moves

Welcome to Austria

Park4night stop in Wien at Donau-park with Danube Tower in the background

Beautiful painted exterior walls in Wien

Votikirche

The City Hall/Rathaus

The City Hall serves as the city's administrative centre

Pallas Athene Fountain with its 4-metre-high statue, adorned with gilded helmet and lance, in front of the Austrian Parliament

Kunsthistorisches Museum at the Maria-Theresien-Platz

Empress Maria Theresia Monument - she became one or Europe's greatest rulers, who not only successfully defended the realm she inherited, but also set in motion reforms that created the foundations of a modern state

Maria Theresia Monument flanked by the Naturhistorisches Museum

Heldenplatz (Heroes' Square) at the Hofburg Palace

Heroes

Sculpture of Emperor Francis II located in a courtyard at the Hofberg Palace

Schonbrunn Winter Palace

Plague Pillar - a 21 metre tall Baroque pillar built to commemorate the end of the devastating plague of 1679 that cost at least 75 000 Viennese their lives

St. Stephen's Cathedral

Staircase inside the cathedral

The distant High Altar - the first focal point upon entering the cathedral

Exquisite Donner Fountain at Kartner Strasse

The State Opera House/Wiener Staatsoper

Karlskirche/St. Charles Church - crowned by a magnificent 72m dome and famous for its twin 33m Triumphal Pillars with their spiraling bands depicting scenes from the life of St. Charles