Vienna - Day 1

We awoke after our previous incredibly busy day, and made our way down to breakfast. From our hotel, it was an easy walk to the center of town and its beautiful main square.









It was a quiet morning, so we wandered around it looking at all the fun sculptures and beautiful buildings. Vienna is definitely the "big city" compared to the more country Salzburg.



We decided to take Rick Steve's Ring Tour that follows the Ring Road around the History district. It is a wide boulevard lined with many of the important government buildings, and gives a good initial orientation to the city.







The tour begins at the National Opera House, which is a beautiful building. I'm not sure why it was held in such low esteem that its original architect committed suicide.






We rode the streetcar around the ring enjoying what sites we made. It isn't a bad way to see the city, but unfortunately, the streetcar isn't made to be a touring vehicle and as such the tour is only so good. We eventually went back and walked much of the Ringstrasse to see the beautiful buildings better.




One interesting building that we saw was a beautiful barrack building that is being redeveloped now with a subterranean parking lot to be a large office complex.

After the ring road, we decided also to take Rick Steves' walking tour of Vienna, which also starts at the Opera House.

We walked past the Sacher Hotel, birthplace of the famous Sacher Torte. Unfortunately, it was being renovated, so it wasn't much to see.

Vienna was the seat of the Hapsburg Dynasty, and the presence of the various Hapsburg leaders are everywhere - particularly Franz Josef I, who is held in very high regard.

We stopped along the way to visit the crypt of the Hapsburg royalty, and pay our respects.








It is amazing to see the extensive ornamentation that went into making the amazing sarcophagi.







One royal of particular note was Queen Elisabeth of Austria also known as Sisi. She was a long suffering emotionally disturbed royal. Her "tragic" life has been immortalized in movies and sensationalized in literature.







While in Austria, I saw a book called "Sisi: Vampire Hunter". I did have to wonder why it is that the more wealthy you are the bigger your "problems". . .




We made our way back to the main square, and arrived at St Stephen's Cathedral. It is undergoing a major restoration, and will be absolutely amazing when it is complete.




The tile roof is beautiful. They recently did a fund raising scheme where people could buy a tile for the roof to restore it to its original prewar glory. It was well worth the effort.











We stopped for lunch at this Viennese culinary institution - The Trzesniewski Deli.





They serve these cute little sandwiches of all different flavors, and the tiniest beer that I have ever seen.








Very fun. And the beer was, well , beer. . .









There is a really cool monument in the middle of the square in honor of surviving the Black Plague. It was built as part of a bargain with God to stop the plague. It stands nearly 40 feet tall.

An inset shows King Leopold I praying to God promising to build this monument and a nearby church if God will send his angels to cast out the plague demon. Just below him there is a vignette showing the angel casting out the demon in the form of a wrinkly old woman.

Not your standard Urban Shopping Center art piece.





And just next door is St. Peter's Church, the Church Leopold I promised to build. It is a beautiful baroque church.










It doesn't look like much from the outside, but it is a jewelbox on the inside. I actually liked it better than the more famous St. Stephens.





Absolutely stunning.

Next to the Hapsburg Palace is a creepy memorial to WWII. Strange intertwined bodies give way to a future child being born into a wierd world where another man reaches into the chest of a victim to tear his innards out.




While nearby, an old man crawls across the floor covered in barbed wire.

I do believe that it is the stark contrast of the beautiful churches and these austere images that give Europe its depth and interest. It's a history scarred with horrid deprivation, and yet filled with amazing examples of humanity at its best.