Day 2 Vienna,

up early, 

and we were out,

into a grey day, 

we made our way over one of the bridges, 

for our breakfast here at the Mae Aurel,

I am not sure what Kai,

and Diana ordered, 

but Steve had salmon, cheese and a boiled egg, 

I went with a selection of cold cuts and cheese, it was huge! again a very reasonable bill, although I have to say I forget how much, 

out into the street, 

a quick pose, 

and we started walking towards, 

this huge glass house, 

but first a pose, 

and this is where we are going, 

the Schmetterlinghaus, 

or butterfly house, 

it certainly looked big, 

in we go, 

coats off as it was so warm and humid compared to outside, 

inside a display cabinet of pupa, 

with one just hatched, 

camera in hand, 

and we were off, 

it took an age for the lens to stop steaming up,

and here are our first few butterflies, 

from the right, 

and left feeding, 

the place was nicely laid out, lots of rockwork, 

and display cases,

with hatching butterflies in them, 

I thought this was neat, walking under a waterfall,

tropical plants everywhere, 

and a few goldfish, 

that I snapped, 

over the bridge, 

for some reason a few butterflies liked the outside glass of the conservatory,

 

almost hidden in a artificial tree trunk, a stairway,

leading to a upstirs viewing platform, 

time for a selfie,

and one of me!

looking across the tropical tree tops it reminded me of Kew Gardens, 

I have to say,

it was all so nicely laid out, 

especially the viewing platform, 

with its almost hidden staircase, 

the walkways almost like being in the jungle,

I had another look at the fish,

and feeding butterflies, 

as well as the plants, 

time for a sit down, 

as usual I bimbled off, 

snapping away, 

I spotted this one,

looking back to Diana, Kai and Steve, 

from the left, 

and right, 

it was wonderful walking around, but having been to Hall Place, we were somewhat spoilt as there were so many butterflies there, so many more than here, but there it is, it might a have been a 'off' day here,

a quick look at the merchandise on offer,

 

as you might have expected, 

all butterfly themed, 

and these look familiar, I think they are the same or near identical as the ones we bought at Hall Place,

the butterfly attraction, 

is in the grounds of the Hofburg,

it is one of the largest palace complexes in the world, 

formerly the residence of the imperial family, next a long walk, 

until we arrived here, 

museums, 

with huge doors, 

and sweeping vistas, 

in front of which, 

were imposing statues, 

we made our way to the front of this one, and crossed the road,

where there were a number of EVs,

waiting to take tourist,

around the city, 

I mentioned a icy bridge yesterday, here the paths in the park are the same, be carful out there!

the gardens were so well laid out, but all of the bushes had covers over them,

to stop frost damage, 

I wondered what they were, 

they were in fact rose bushes, we never seem to cover them in the UK, I guess because it does not get as cold as Vienna, 

this looked like great fun, 

an huge outdoor ice circuit, 

and I do mean huge, in the far distance the other side of it,

it all looked like so much fun, 

but the thought of a broken arm or worse hip, put me off of trying,

I settled looking at the snowman display, 

behind the rink another imposing building,

lots of stalls selling hot food and drink,

we walked past, 

what we thought were,

the parliament buildings,

the statue outside, 

past three busts, 

we made our way to the Natural History museum, 

again a huge statue, 

in the middle of the square, 

looking back to the Natural History museum, 

we passed the statue again,

stopping briefly for a pose, 

or two, 

before going into the art museum, 

we bought not only the museum tickets, 

but also paid extra to view the Rembrandt exhibition,

as you might expect, the entrance hall was amazing, 

the ceiling spectacular, 

we made our way upstairs, 

to view the Rembrandt exhibition we had been given time slots, so as not to overcrowd the halls they were in, 

a quick pose, 

on our way up, 

well one more, 

we were nearly at the top of the stairs, 

magnificent, 

we entered the exhibition,

the master, 

a little about him,

and when he was younger,

 

a self portrait, I will leave the descriptions to the narrative that accompanies them, 

this diagram explores the different ways a painting can be made, using I guess sight lines,

the model, 

giving the painters eye view of perspective, 

which did not photograph well!

oh well there it is, 

then a practical show of how shadows can give perspective,

which Diana tried, 

her shadow, 

getting larger as she neared the light source,

and there she was gone,

this a box that you could look through to give a impression of perspective, 

here you can play with a 'letterbox' composition and have it printed out, 

we then decided to view the Egyptian section, 

starting with cats, 

each room decorated in the Egyptian style, 

even the ceilings, 

everywhere we looked, 

mummies and their caskets, 

paintings on the walls, 

more mummies in cases,

we continued through, 

to the next room, 

which had sculptures, 

on display, 

a little about these two,

next Roman and Greek sections,

sarcophagus, 

and statues on display, 

this one looking slightly creepy, 

on the floor mosaics, 

in the display cases, 

Greek vases, 

then back to statues, 

we could have spent the whole day here, well I could have, 

outside opening hours,

a great way to see the city, 

but we walked, 

past another chocolate shop, 

it was so tempting, 

we had to go inside, 

the agony of choice!

I was amazed at this, cannabis openly for sale, the same as Thailand, 

we passed one of the flower stalls,

before one of the main pedestrian only shopping streets,

all manner of shops,

and stalls here,

the Christmas lights looked better in real life,

like these, we fancied a coffee, 

and where better than Aida?

where they sell coffee and cake, founded in 1921, they should know a thing or two about it too!

the girls make their choice of cakes, 

back outside,

we walked back past the church, 

nicely illuminated, 

the roof resplendent,

onward towards the canal,

past Christmas lights, 

and horse drawn coaches, 

we have a way to go,

lights stretching into the distance, 

a Alligator shop, hopefully with no problems going through customs with alligator products, 

or with anything from this store!

and this is where we are going for our evening meal,

Motto em Fluss,

we had booked a table earlier in the day, 

Diana wanted to take a few of me, 

so a couple of poses it was then,

next Diana,

and Kai, 

complimentary breads arrived, 

I pursued the menu, 

but first 'Cheers!', from myself and Steve, 

steak for Diana, 

with broccoli for us all to share, 

lamb for myself,  

with red cabbage and potato salad, Steve and Kai went with similar, the bill came to about 200 euros from memory, the food excellent, we made our way back across the river, and to our hotel, where after a nightcap we were all off to bed.