Vienna!!

What a city!!  The main attraction of Vienna is the city itself. Just walking around soaking up the scenery.  We met up today with Herta, who is a friend of the wife of a school mate of Armando (is that clear as mud?)  Here we are in front of a statue of Johann Strauss in Stadtpark. (I think if you click on the pictures, they will get larger.)

Herta was a great tour guide - today we walked all around District I which is the main center of Vienna, and around the Ringstrasse. That was originally the walls around the city but a couple hundred years ago or so, they tore down the walls and made a big wide street around the town and lined it with impressive buildings and parks. So here are some of the images from our walk today.

City Hall on the Ringstrasse

National Library. According to my guide book, Hitler made a rousing speech from that balcony in 1938.

The Hofburg Palace

This lion and the next few were also taken around the Hofburg Palace. Isn't he just the coolest lion you ever saw?  I don't know if you can tell, but his tongue is hanging out and it's black.  (Actually he reminded me a little bit of the flying monkeys in the Wizard of Oz, but he was still really cool.)

On a shopping street with the Palace in the background.

Armando claims that when he took this picture he didn't even notice the naked lady statues holding up the building!

The Graben - a major shopping street. The monument is called the Pestsaule or the Plague Column, which was built by Leopold I who fled the city during the plague and vowed to erect a monument if the plague would end.  (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pestsaule_(Vienna))

The next few photos are of St. Stephen's Cathedral. The inside is amazing, but our photos didn't turn out well, so I've included a couple photos stolen from the internet. St. Stephen's is considered to be the very center of Vienna. 

This is the back of the oldest church in Vienna. I just loved the statue standing there by the back door with the crooked tree.

 The Wien River. This, which is partly underground, was in the 1949 movie "The Third Man" with Joseph Cotton and Orson Welles. We'll have to rent the movie when we return.

 The next few photos are of the Karskirche (Charles Church), built in the 1700s by Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor for his namesake patron saint Charles Borromeo, who was revered as a healer of plague victims. 

There is a scaffold and also an elevator, so you can go right up to a platform right next to the dome - Armando figured we were about 10-12 stories up - and see the frescos up close and personal.  All the architectural detail you see is all faux painted. And the shiny gold color you see is all gold leaf.

This photo is a bit blurry, but you can see how high up we were, and actually we were on our way down in the elevator then.

The famous Vienna Opera House on the Ringstrasse.

 The Burg Theatre on the Ringstrasse where they do classical plays like Shakespeare.

The Parliament on the Ringstrasse

The Natural History Museum on the Ringstrasse 

Our hotel is a 5 minute walk from the Ringstrasse, it's comfy, roomy and clean, obviously we have WiFi. 2 minutes from a couple of shopping streets with restaurants, shops, a grocery where we can buy wine, beer and cheese.

Today it was in the 30s, but not really that cold as long as we have our winter clothes. It rained on and off, but lucky us, it only rained a lot when we were eating lunch and when we were back in the hotel resting our feet, otherwise it was just grey with a sprinkle here and there. I guess that's how it's going to be most of our trip.  Some day we will actually retire and then travel in the spring and fall like normal people.

Note to our friends flying out of Memphis (this might pertain to others too). I booked our flight on KLM. We flew from Memphis to Atlanta to Paris to Vienna. Each leg was on a different partner airline (KLM/Delta/Air France).  Apparently their computers do not communicate well. It took us over 30 minutes to check in at Memphis, because Delta didn't know about our flight from Memphis to Atlanta, they thought we were starting in Atlanta, so they had to straighten that out (KLM knew but hadn't told Delta). No problem in Atlanta, but when we got to Paris and presented our boarding passes at the gate, we were told to go sit down, and after everyone else was on the plane we were allowed to board.  So if you are flying multiple airlines, even if they are partners, confirm confirm confirm!!!

Also we're going suitcase shopping tomorrow.  Armando has a new suitcase, but coming here from the airport the wheel got caught on something and mangled and now it doesn't roll well at all. And since we're going to be traveling by bus and train, dragging our stuff behind us, it's important to have luggage that rolls. Also the hand carry handle on mine broke, but I can still roll it and carry it from the side, so I will muddle through. It's always something.