Day 11 - Butterflies, Belvedere Castle, and more

We started the day at the Butterfly House, in the Hofburg Imperial Palace, after running through some serious sprinklers.  It was only 11AM but already hot!

We also met Mozart (his statue actually) at the entrance, putting us in a cheerful mood. 

Luckily his statue, unlike many many others, is not covered in a mesh to be protected from birds/pigeons.  

On the opposite side from the "Mozart entrance" was Cafe Landtmann, apparently a Viennese institution famous for the coffee and apfelstrudel.  Indeed, a balance of sweet, spicy and soft but textured food flooded our palates. Iced cappuccino a glorious failure though...

Here are my daily impressions:

1. Many Austrians and Europeans in general smoke! Especially at restaurants, outside. All restaurant tables have ashtrays, but not water. Not my idea of healthy. 

2. Vienna is clean, not too crowded with cars and people like Rome and Paris, and more civilized. No cars are parked on sidewalks, streets are clean, and blind people are helped by lines smartly imprinted in the sidewalks. The bike and pedestrian lanes are beautifully marked, too. 

 3. Everyone speaks English! Seriously! 

4. The Hollywood current is influencing even Vienna, otherwise I can't explain these stars...

(I love my shoes, so I wanted to acknowledge that by keeping them in the picture)

5.  Old street signs for stores and trades are adorable! This is in English, but most are in German. 

6. Vienna has the most adorable traffic lights I've ever seen! Do you agree?

7. The view of the city from the Belvedere Castle is  stunning.