Vienna

From Budapest we rode the train to Vienna, the old capital of the Hapsburg Empire, and they won't let you forget it. It's a city filled with grandiose buildings, castles, palaces, statues and people.

Around every corner, down every narrow street or alley, is a huge monument, a statue, a plaque or something like that. Schönbrunn Palace has always been my favorite, with the gardens and the Gloriette memorial on the hill. Here's Aeneas carrying off is father and his children from a burning Troy.

In Vienna everything is big. In the Prater, Vienna's premiere amusement park, the Wiener Riesenrad is one of the earliest, and from 1920 until 1985, was the world's tallest Ferris Wheel.

An example of a Vienna style building. All over the city, there are block after block of huge rococo buildings that presumably hold flats or office buildings.

And of course you can get a tour by horse and buggy, or by open motor coach, or by Hop On-Hop Off tour bus.  We rode the streetcar and the underground. We didn't get any commentary.