After exploring Vienna the day before in this blog posting, this day took a different twist!

There are so many great places to eat in Vienna, the choices are hard.

We were lucky and Platinum AMEX concierge got us into the Do & Co restaurant that is in the center of the city center shopping district.

They had an amazing special for the season: white asparagus.  With a hollandaise sauce, it was simply amazing.

Now this morning, walking down the stairs of our hotel, I ran into an unusually placed camera.

Ah hah – a US based delegation is also staying down one floor below us.

When we headed to breakfast, the lobby was full of plain clothes police and private security.

What is going on?  Are we in trouble? Guess what is happening here today?  The Syrian peace talks are being held here.  John Kerry, Sec of State felt the hotel the across the street was more of his liking, but everyone else is here.  Should be a fun afternoon.

The hotel is being blocked off by police in all directions.  Surrounded!  OK – we are going to bust out of this security enclave, no pun intended, and explore more of the cultural history of Vienna.

A few years later, I got to sneak across the border and briefly visit Syria myself in this blog posting.