For us, summer in Vienna is like summer in Washington, D.C. We are happy to drop in for something of interest, but otherwise, we are just as happy to leave the city to the visitors. One day two weeks or so ago, though, we had need to cross into the Inner Stadt to collect a couple of camping items we had ordered and that had been shipped to an outdoor store “in the city.”
Anna Grace and I decided to make an outing of the errand, walking the Ringstraße and snapping whatever interested us as we went along. (Spoiler: “Sommerfrische” took over halfway around, and we decided lunch and an afternoon at the pool was a more compelling outing.)
One of the many pedestrian lanes around “The Ring.” Why are there no tourists walking about, you might ask?
Perhaps they are all busy, “Hopping On, Hopping Off.”
Standing in the archway of HeldenTor, or Outer Castle Gate near Hofburg.
Despite tourists everywhere in Burggarten, the Strolling Mozarts couldn’t seem to snag any potential concert goers.
Taking advantage of the empty chairs in the Burgarten.
We thought the interior of the official Vienna Tourism Office rather sleek.1.000 Reasons to Love Vienna available in your favorite language.
One of the elegant arcades of the Vienna State Opera.
The only street food stand we know of where it is possible to order a, “Schnitzel-in-a-Box,” with Fries.
Hotel Imperial, a former Stadtpalais of the Duke of Württemberg and his wife, Duchess Maria Theresia (the former Empress of Austria). Many dignitaries, some famous (Queen Elizabeth II) and some infamous (Adolf Hitler), have stayed here.
About halfway around the ring at Schwedenplatz we decided to call it quits, grabbed a snack at the retro Würstelstand, and headed to the pool.
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