Tour Day 13: Hanging With the Habsburgs
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Habsburg Treasury and Kunsthistorisches Museum
Gerhard guided us as a group through the Treasury pointing out the pieces that were important and why. I had been looking forward to seeing the crown of the Holy Roman Emperor and it did not disappoint with its' panels all around and Roman arch. I spent as long as I could examining it closely. I also really enjoyed the intricate embroidery of the bishops vestments. He then took us through a good portion of the paintings of the Kunsthistorisches before setting us loose for free time the rest of the day. With advice on what else to see from Andrea we spent another good hour seeing paintings by the likes of Vermeer, Bruegel the Elder and others.
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Our Farewell DinnerWe gathered in the lobby and Andrea led us to our final group dinner of the tour at Depot Cafe and Restaurant. Andrea gave a heartfelt speech about our group and handed out chocolates and Habsburg postcards as thank-you's for travelling with her. Brett and I received Franz Josef and Sissy, and Deb got Maria Theresa! Yvonne had bought a postcard for all of us to sign for Andrea and asked me to give a little thank-you speech. I happily did this as Andrea was a wonderful guide who answered our questions thoughtfully and shared about the areas we traveled with enthusiasm. We had a wonderful final dinner filled with laughter and remembrance of our adventures together, and sadness at saying good-bye.
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Practicalities ~ Free Time
Rick Steves tours generally feature a great mix of tour group time and free time. The free time enhances your personal European back door experience by allowing you the time to see the things you are really interested in (that others might not be) that isn't a 'big site' you will be seeing with the tour. I'm big on researching what to do in my free time ahead of our trip as I really enjoy it, but your guide will be able to tell you what things might be good for you to see based on your interests if you don't want to plan anything. One cautionary word about this strategy, some things you need to get a ticket for way ahead of time, so do enough research to know if that is the case. The slideshow is a taste of what we chose to do in our free time. Your choices may be different.