Vienna Military History Museum

Today while most of the 65+ guests on board were on a ship excursion, we did our own thing. Before we could leave the ship, we had to stay onboard while our ship switched places with another one. It's quite common for river ships to be "stacked" next to each other. This means that you might have two or more ships together and you need to pass through each one before you can get to the dock. It was fascinating to see the caption maneuver the vessel. Once that was complete, we left our cabin and headed outside.  

We arranged an UBER from where we were docked and took it to the Heeresgeschichtliches Museum (aka Museum of Military History). It's a very inexpensive museum at only €9 for both of us combined. For starters, they have the largest collection of military uniforms, swords, bayonets, hats and helmets that I've ever seen at any museum in the world. And all in very good condition. And that's just one whole floor. On another level one side is dedicated to World War I. It starts with the actual car that Archbishop Franz Ferdinand was travelling in when he and his wife were assassinated in 1914.

 That event by itself didn't start the war, but it did set off a number of events that led to the war. Each section focuses on a different year and highlights all the major events from that year. They have these cupolas (I'd call them turrets) that were used during the war. You can see where artillery shells hit the roofs, but were sturdy enough to not be destroyed. The one I took a picture of was used at the Siege of Antwerp in 1914. And they have a howitzer. 

I've only seen pictures of these massive weapons. To stand next to one you really understand how big they are. This particular model weighs 90,000 kg when fully assembled and requires 12 men to operate.  

One other section focused on the lead up to World War II. It was interesting to see how fascism was so easily embraced by the people of that time. Austria essentially just rolled over and became Germany's puppet. Echos of what's happening today. History does repeat. Make sure you get out and vote to help stop it. 

After the museum, we walked about five minutes to a nearby restaurant called Klein Steiermark.

 Angie thought the outside looked like what Hansel and Gretel's house would be like. We had a great meal of potato soup, pumpkin ravioli and vegetable strudel. Can you tell we needed some veggies? The pumpkin ravioli was my favorite. The ravioli had a slight savory filling. But it was the sauce that brought this altogether. It was a creamy herbaceous sauce with chunks of pumpkin, scallions and fennel. It all worked together so well. We shared a piece of chocolate nougat cake for dessert. 

We arranged for our UBER back to where the ship was docked. As we had witnessed earlier, our ship was "stacked" behind another one which is quite a common occurrence when the rivers are busy. So we entered the CroisiEurope and crossed onto the Avalon Tranquility.  

Later tonight there is a happy hour at 5 PM, followed by our nightly briefing. Dinner will be earlier than usual because most of the guests are attending a concert and leaving at 7:30. We're staying onboard and will likely try the Dinner Bistro which is a buffet they set up in the main lounge. It features most of the items from the evenings dinner menu, just in a more casual style. After dinner we may walk down along the Danube. All aboard is 10:30 and we are expected to sail at 11 PM and be in Durnstein tomorrow morning. We spoke to the captain earlier today and he confirmed there will be a couple of locks the ship will go through. We both love locks so we'll plan to be up for those. The first one is at ~1:30 AM and the second at ~ 5:30 AM. It will just be nice to sail, at least a little bit.