Vienna and a Day for Celebration!

Our Vienna Holiday took a little detour by way of the local Police Station and the U.S. Embassy yesterday morning, but that didn’t derail us for long.  By noon, I had a new passport in hand and am now free to continue on to Prague on Saturday and back to the U.S. on Monday.  This was truly a day to celebrate!

The local Vienna police station was easily accessible by metro and located directly behind a large McDonald’s.  Obtaining a copy of the official theft report required only a few minutes.

The Embassy wasn’t nearly as intimidating as we thought it would be.  In our minds, we thought we would be walking up to a fortress-type facility with U.S. Marines standing guard.  Instead, the Consulate Office was at the Marriott Hotel on the 4^th floor.  The people working there were absolutely wonderful in every way.  I just had to fill out a couple of forms, provide them with a copy of the theft report and a couple of passport photos – which could be taken right there.  Within an hour I had a freshly printed official replacement U.S. Passport.  What a relief to once again have proof of identity while out of the country.

Now with those distractions behind us, we got right back on track and could continue on with what we really came here to see.  Since the U.S. Consulate (Marriot Hotel) was located in Town Center we could walk from there to many of Vienna’s beautiful sights.

St. Stephen’s Plaza is an amazing collection of cobblestone streets open only to pedestrian traffic and continuing for blocks on end.  There are street performers and horse drawn carriages. There are many high end shops, restaurants, fresh fruit and vegetable stands, the Opera House and yet, another stunning church St. Stephen’s Cathedral.

Just a few blocks from St. Stephen’s Plaza is a gorgeous park called Stadtpark, with statues of Mozart, Schubert, Strauss, and many more.  There are beautiful flower arrangements throughout ~ Oh the Tulips!

The metro is such a great way to travel.  It is modern, convenient, efficient and easy to use. I wish we had this type of transportation in the states. A lot of people that live in Europe don’t have cars and use the subway to go everywhere.

Tonight is our last night in Vienna, and we’re looking forward to meeting my cousin Dottie and her husband Jeff.  They’re from my hometown of Rock Island, Illinois. Imagine that, we’re both in Vienna at the same time.