Mozart Balls- they are everywhere! How did I miss this the first time I was in Vienna? Clearly you cannot see a city in one day.

Vlog #11: Contiki European Panorama: Vienna, Austria

httpvh://youtu.be/dV7URBkxNIM

Spanish Riding School

Here is another treat I missed the first time I visited Austria: the Spanish Riding School, home to the famous white stallions inside the Hofburg Palace. Of course if I planned my trip to Vienna properly the first time around I would have been able to see the white stallions since they are open all year, except during the month of July when they are on “summer vacation”. What I don’t understand is why can’t the owners stagger the horse’s summer vacations? Like for example, only have half on holiday during July and the other half in August? I dunno, just a thought.

We did get to see some of the up and coming stallions and the mares trot around- literally. Maybe my lack of horse show experience is coming through here but I’m not entirely sure what I was suppose to be watching. In all it was okay, not really my cup of tea. Unless you really like horses it’s probably not worth checking out, at least in July.

Mauthausen Concentration Camp

Like my visit to the Killing Fields in Cambodia, I never quite know how to cover places like this. It’s sad and absolutely horrible what happened here, I explain a bit about it in my video but basically,

Mauthausen was mostly used for extermination through labour of the intelligentsia, who were educated people and members of the higher social classes in countries subjugated by the Nazi regime during World War II. – source

The owners used the victims as workers and worked them to death. Horrible acts of cruelty happened here, and thousands of jewish people lost their lives here. We watched a video before visiting the memorial and I can honestly tell you that the last 5 minutes were some of the most disturbing images I have ever seen.

Gas chambers and crematorium.

Needless to say I’ve never seen our group so quiet and respectful.