Day 43 - Hitting the High Notes in Vienna

It was an early start in order to get the underground to Donaupark Parkrun, one of only a handful of parkruns in Austria. The event team were really friendly, and the first timers’ briefing scored highly for both information and comedy value! It was impressive just how many places people had come from for this parkrun - there were obviously lots from the UK, but also runners from Australia, India, Denmark, Germany and Afghanistan.

The run itself wasn’t one of my finest as I was not feeling it AT ALL, so really did have a park walk instead! Still, it was 5km more than I would have done if I had stayed in bed.

As the parkrun was in the shadow of the Danube Tower, I thought it would be rude not to go up it whilst I was nearby! The views were great, and I very much enjoyed a pastry in the rotating restaurant too. I was a little self-conscious in my running kit still but no-one complained - at least not to me! Entertainingly, the restaurant gave an excellent view of the slide that goes outside the tower, down about three floors. I gave that one a miss (my phobia was less about the height and more about getting stuck or friction burns!)

After a bit more of a walk in the park, I got back on the underground to my hotel for a shower and, yes, a nap!

Revitalised, I set off for Prater, an amusement park in the city. It is quite different from the others I have been to on this trip, like Tivoli and Liseberg, as it is free to enter, but each ride is essentially its own business - kind of more like a permanent funfair rather than a park, so you just pay by the ride. There were some properly crazy rides there - a slingshot in particular looked MAD, but I decided to just go on one of the rollercoasters called Megablitz, and then the highlight of the park, the Wiener Riesenrad, the oldest ferris wheel in the world.

Whilst it was a little disappointing that you only got to do one circuit (with regular stops), the views were nice, and it was quite cool to ride in the cabin.

Following a stop for a drink and snack (and to follow Final Score), I decided it was time to get out of the rain and back to my hotel, ready for the concert I had booked for this evening.

I had been persuaded to buy a ticket for this concert by a salesperson in Stephansplaz yesterday. I was very much aware that it was a tourist trap, but it was wonderful. The Vienna Premium Orchestra (a seven piece orchestra) played various songs, mainly by the hometown heroes of Mozart and Strauss, and there were singers and dancers too. It was all very joyous.

It was still raining when I left the concert, so it was a bit of a scamper back to my hotel (I must confess, via some McDonald’s’ chips. I have walked over 25000 steps again today though!), where I had a good catch up on the phone with Matt before writing this! A busy day - I’ll sleep well tonight.

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