“Light” Trip to Vienna & Prague

[rots5]

imperial just looks old fashioned with gold and such

now a days i think the younger gen doesnt appreciate it as much, and would rather a gorgeous resort with pools and bars all over. just my opinion.

[meshugener]

How do you do that 3 weeks after baby's born?
Perhaps your wife had oral delivery.

[Racer7400]

Great TR

[moish]

Never really understood the point of a butler in a hotel.

one of their duties is to unpack and pack your suitcases. i intend to use that service when i stay in a single location long enough

[moish]

imperial just looks old fashioned with gold and such

now a days i think the younger gen doesnt appreciate it as much, and would rather a gorgeous resort with pools and bars all over. just my opinion.

you are confusing city hotels and resort hotels. when visiting a beautiful city, such as paris or vienna, im definitely not looking for a hotel with many pools etc.

an old fashioned hotel or dated hotel is when the hotel has old uncomfortable beds, floor creaks, smells like my grandmothers house, everything manual, furniture starting to come apart etc. the ideal for me is when they take an old elegant hotel and refurbish and reinvigorate it for use in the 21st century. this hotel falls into the latter category, as well as the westin palace in madrid. 

[moish]

How do you do that 3 weeks after baby's born?
Perhaps your wife had oral delivery.

nope, no oral delivery. natural delivery b"H at home

 did you miss the part where i wrote "light"?

[damaxer91]

you are confusing city hotels and resort hotels. when visiting a beautiful city, such as paris or vienna, im definitely not looking for a hotel with many pools etc.

an old fashioned hotel or dated hotel is when the hotel has old uncomfortable beds, floor creaks, smells like my grandmothers house, everything manual, furniture starting to come apart etc. the ideal for me is when they take an old elegant hotel and refurbish and reinvigorate it for use in the 21st century. this hotel falls into the latter category, as well as the westin palace in madrid. 

Try explaining that to some of the people here #goodluck

[Jkhein]

nope, no oral delivery. natural delivery b"H at home

 did you miss the part where i wrote "light"?

delivery at home? Wasn't there pashkivilin against them recently?

[moish]

delivery at home? Wasn't there pashkivilin against them recently?

what would be the reason?

either way, in my situation it wasnt by choice...

[Jkhein]

what would be the reason?

either way, in my situation it wasnt by choice...

the reason being that they dont go to doctors for tznius reason, and only do home births, if it works is good and if not, not r"l
Well, my neighbour has given birth to all (4) of their children at home too, also not their choice.
Bituach leumi are definitely happy.

[meshugener]

Even if you call it a light trip, I can't imagine doing that.

@JKhein
Why pashkevilin? What's the problem? I heard its very popular recently in some communities.
ETA: just saw your last post, some do it because (they say) it feels something special and natural... Nothing to with tznius

[Jkhein]

Even if you call it a light trip, I can't imagine doing that.

@JKhien
Why pashkevilin? What's the problem? I heard its very popular recently in some communities.

there have been fatalities

[moish]

On Sunday we bought a ticket for the Hofburg, the former Imperial residence in Vienna. The ticket, which includes an audioguide, starts off with the Silver Collection. At first it’s quite interesting, but after a bit it starts to get a bit boring. You can then skip to the next ‘attraction’, the Sisi Museum, which explores the troubled life of Sisi, wife of Franz Josef. The next attraction is by far the most interesting, the Imperial Apartments. Here you can see where and how the Hapsburgs lived including the iron bed of Franz Josef.

Next, we bought a ticket to see the Imperial Treasury, also in the Hofburg complex. Here you can see all the crowns and jewels you’d like. Some say it’s more spectacular than the Crown Jewels in London, but I didn’t think so.

Largest cut emerald in the world


Another famous attraction in the Hofburg Palace is the Spanish Riding School with a great horse show, but they too take a vacation in the summer. Other performances missed due to summer is the world famous Vienna Philharmonic as well as the Boys Choir. It was a tad strange experiencing Vienna without experiencing the music it is famous for. I guess that means I will have to make a winter visit at some point.

Next, we made our way to the Jewish Museum on Dorotheergasse which I didn’t find too informative.

[moish]

On the way to the museum, we happened upon a pro Morsi demonstration with some demonstrators waving the green Hamas flag. It’s for reasons like these that I wear a cap whenever I travel.



We then went back to Alef Alef for dinner and to pay for Shabbos. Yes, we sat directly under the fans which made for a comfortable meal. The star of the show here is the classic Viennese dish, the Viennese Schnitzel which I found to be delicious. Too bad it’s not served on Shabbos.

I should mention that we found the subway system in Vienna to be extremely efficient, with trains coming around every 5 minutes. There are also elevators in virtually every station making it very stroller friendly. We bought the 72 hr pass which set us back 14.5 Euros each. Just be sure to validate it the first time, and after that, I just kept it in my wallet since there are no turnstiles in the metro system.

Before we set out in the morning, we had our suitcases all packed up and I told the front desk that should they need the room after 4pm they can just take my bags out and leave them in storage. When I arrived back at the hotel around 8:30pm, they told me they just left my bags in the room since I might need to use the bathroom etc. before I check out. I checked out, loaded the bags into my car and drove the one minute to our new hotel, the Bristol.

The Bristol, while still a nice hotel, lacks much of the elegance of its bigger brother the Imperial, and the service is not as personal. I used my suite night awards as well and was upgraded to the Opera Suite before arrival. While not as polished as the room in the Imperial (the floors creaked) the room was much larger, and when travelling with 3 kids, bigger is always better.

[moish]

Seats in the elevator, great idea!

[Marco Polo]

Great TR. Not one of the top places on my "to do" list, but it will make it on.

[AJK]

Try explaining that to some of the people here #goodluck

It's not a matter of proper explanation. It's a matter of a taste.

And, to me, the "dated" look is hideous.

Feel free to have your own taste.

[Marco Polo]

It's not a matter of proper explanation. It's a matter of a taste.

And, to me, the "dated" look is hideous.

Feel free to have your own taste.

I would be wondering if the linen was as old as how the room looks.

[AJK]

I would be wondering if the linen was as old as how the room looks.

 

[Dan]

one of their duties is to unpack and pack your suitcases. i intend to use that service when i stay in a single location long enough

Eh, I'd rather pack and unpack my own underwear.

Still waiting on your NZ report...that's more up my alley.