Vienna
Today I arrived in Vienna — it is beautiful here! There are ornate statues and buildings pretty much everywhere you look. Probably because it is smaller and more compact, this city shows its history as a former imperial capital much more palpably than other capitals I have been to (e.g., Amsterdam, London, Paris, Berlin). It is just dripping with 18th and 19th Century wealth.
And it’s crawling with tourists. I have already heard Arabic, Swedish, French, Spanish, and of course, English spoken here.
Tomorrow I will be visiting St. Stephen’s cathedral, the State Opera House, the Art History Museum, and (if I still have any stamina) the Hofsburg’s palace in the old city.
Meanwhile, I am staying in a Frau Ildiko’s old apartment building with a spiral marble staircase with an ancient elevator in the middle, super-high ceilings, lots of character, and lots of must.