More Imperial Grandeur

Our last day in Vienna ... how quickly the time flies.  We decided to end our week here the same way we began it - with a visit around the city centre.  

For most of the day we just wandered up and down the streets, not bothering too much with the map or a particular destination.  Noah kept us entertained with almost constant chatter, most of it not making much sense.  We can't imagine where he is getting his energy from.  He seems to keep going and going and going with a smile on his face the whole time and he hardly spends any time riding in the stroller to boot!

There are so many impressive buildings in this city and we kept finding more.  The following pictures are just a small fraction of what there is to see in Vienna's city centre.

This is a pretty classy subway entrance, don't you think?

Karlskirche (St. Charles Church)

One of the main pedestrian shopping streets - Graben.

For lunch we wandered south into Vienna's open air market - Naschmarkt.  Part of the river that runs through the city was covered over and the Naschmarkt fills the long narrow 'square' that was created. It is filled with a long series of permanent open-air market stalls and restaurants and was very interesting.  We had a simple but fresh and delicious meal here.

The long, narrow walkway through the Naschmarket.

A few cheese filled delicacies in the Naschmarkt.

Noah enjoying lunch in the Naschmarkt.

Spices fill a stall in the Naschmarkt.

After lunch, we wandered some more.  We went back through the Hofburg (Vienna's large, regal and imposing palace), which we had walked through earlier in the week.

Noah stops for a drink at the base of a statue in a vast Hofburg courtyard.

We then happened upon a government district, including the Greek-looking Austrian Parliament building and a variety of imperial-looking office buildings devoted to different government departments.

Austrian Parliament

Hofburgtheater

Our ultimate goal was to have coffee at one of Vienna's famous cafes before we ended the day.  We decided to try Cafe Demel because of its famous pastries, chocolates and other desserts.  We shared a chocolate truffle torte and an apple strudel and we weren't disappointed.

Our coffee and pastries at Cafe Demel.

A small section of Cafe Demel's pastry display.