The Sites of Vienna

My Lonely Planet travel book describes Vienna's grandeur, making mention of "grand imperial palaces and bombastic baroque interiors, revered opera houses and magnificent squares."  My experience in Vienna has been quite different.  Besides a couple of hours spent wandering the downtown core I have been to several playgrounds, a swimming facility, and the Vienna Zoo (twice).  At least I can say that I'm not having the typical tourist experience.

Our strategy of taking turns spending quality time with Alex while the other person visited places of interest was a good one.  Unfortunately, it didn't factor in the possibility of Thipp being beset by migraines.  So over the past couple of days the little man and I have set-out on activities orientated towards his enjoyment (especially if it includes icecream).  We then return to the apartment mid-afternoon with his sleeping head resting on my shoulder.  Exploring a new city can be exhausting, after-all.

The Vienna Zoo had some additional intrigue for me.  Besides being the world's oldest zoo, founded in 1752, many years ago I had read a number of John Irving's novels (The World According to Garp, Hotel New Hampshire, Cidar House Rules, and a Prayer for Owen Meany) and recalled that bears made semi-regular appearances, including one from the Vienna Zoo.  I figured that the zoo must have been a hang-out spot for Irving (especially given the economics of buying an annual pass...believe me, I checked it out).  However, while at the zoo I didn't find any reminder of Irving and the black bears were snoozing in the shade.  However, I did see an impressively active polar bear (pictured in the blog) and three pandas (I thought that it was only possible to see these in China or Toronto).  Best of all, we found a playground and, of course, some ice cream.  I'm sure that in Alex's eyes this was grandeur.