Amelia was just finishing her breakfast in the opulent dining room at the Hotel Trumpy in Zurich, Switzerland. Damask window drapes gave a Victorian feel to the room and the tables were set with the finest china dinnerware and linens. Breakfast was delicious and filling served by formally-dressed staff members with impeccable manners.
Amelia was on her way to Vienna by train for her annual holiday of a fortnight. She would visit cousins in that magical city of Freud, Mozart, Beethoven, and Johann Strauss. Weather was predicted to be mild with sunshine. In any event she was carrying her umbrella, or brolley as the English called it.
The train would depart the Central Station close to the Bahnhofstrasse shopping streets. Leaving at high noon departing for Vienna. Amelia would take the hotel shuttle to the train station. The hotel had packed a lunch for her and she planned to have dinner in Vienna near the Stephansplatz at a favorite restaurant called Figlmuller which opened in 1905 and served the best schnitzel and vegetable broth soup she ever had enjoyed.
Amelia was excited to visit the Prater which had been donated to the people in 1766. The park and amusement center attracted visitors from around the world. She planned to hear a concert by the Vienna Choir Boys with her cousins and then enjoy an evening boat cruise on the Danube. Amelia wanted to stop at the Bucherer Jewellery to see if a small golden charm might be added on her bracelet to be a reminder of the trip.
The following day she walked about the Prater park and met a friend for lunch. The skies this day were an azure blue and filled with puffy cumulus clouds. How wonderful to be alive and enjoy this day, she thought. Gretl was seated on the rooftop terrace at the restaurant when Amelia arrived. They enjoyed their time together and ate veal schnitzel with noodles. Dessert was Sacher torte covered with fresh cherries.
Amelia took the underground tube back to the Ringstrasse and her hotel. The day had become grey and cloudy, but still time to stop at the Backerei Café Helferstorferstrasse Bakery for the following morning’s breakfast cinnamon buns and morning Danish.
Her hotel was the Hotel Graf Stadiom within walking distance of the Inner Stadt past parks and flowering gardens. The hotel provided breakfast, al but it was nice to have extra morsels to munch on at her leisure. Amelia slept soundly and was ready for her next adventure in the beautiful city of Vienna.
The day was museum day and she planned to visit the Imperial Treasury, the Schoenborn Palace and Sigmund Freud’s home at No. 19 Berggasse. She would see his famous couch in a building that had been built for him in 1891 and where he and his family lived for 47 years before fleeing to London during the Nazi invasion.
Amelia’s fortnight vacation seemed to fly by and she enjoyed taking photographs of the many sights of Vienna. She would be host to an exhibit of those photographs at her main library once she returned home. Amelia had needed her umbrella only twice during her visit so the weather gods had cooperated! She had her train ticket purchased and would leave in a few days. She had so many pleasant memories now to last her through the dark days of Winter.
She would listen to Strauss waltzes and recall all those hours of pleasure when the snows descended.