After a short flight from Cluj on Tarom, the national Romanian airline (motto: "we have twenty six planes"), I was in Vienna for the weekend.
The weather was cold and it was raining, the city is expensive to live in, people are chain-smoking in cafes and restaurants, and you have to step on hordes of tourists, but despite all that, it is impossible not to like Vienna. There is such a cultural, historical and musical heritage throughout the city that you always stumble on something different at every corner in Vienna; a baroque wall here, a palace there, a small cobberstone street. I could really barely scratch the surface of things to see here, and I merely stayed in the Innere Stadt and Central Vienna. Many of the buildings were under repair, which was a bit disappointing, so I won't bore you with typical pictures of monuments (just a few). I wanted to visit Schonbrunn which is known to be second only to Versailles, but time was too short.
As usual, the best way is to explore this city on foot, and not hesitate to take side streets; passed the bling bling of the center, its luxury boutiques, and unavoidable street dancers, there are some hidden jewels in Vienna .
Stephansdom on Stephansplatz (what can I say, another great Stephan!) is an impressive gothic structure right in the center of Innere Stadt (plus gothique, tu meures). Note the intricate design on the roof. On the other side is the Austrian eagle.
Inside Stephansdom. They were rehearsing Haydn "The Creation", which I attended that evening.
Une 2CV.
The Hofburg has been home to the Habsburgs, one of the most powerful empires for centuries. I won't bore you with many pictures here, everything is so impressive that pictures are useless. You can visit the Kaiser apartments, and of course get the full story on Sisi, maybe the most famous empress, wife of Franz Joseph. It's not just one building, it's a series of multiple palaces and courtyards, and if you want to know more, go to your favorite tourist guide.
Inside the world renowned Spanish Riding School. This institution has been training horses for centuries. It was not possible to take pictures during the show, but just imagine white Spanish stallions in this arena (I'm not talking about Julio Iglesias here).
The barns. These horses have the good life and a room with a view.
Mozart is everywhere in Vienna: on chocolate boxes, on mouse pads, on boxer shorts, and oh yes: that's where he lived.
The Ring is a boulevard that circles the center and where you can find the biggest monuments: the city hall, the university, the parlament, various museums, theaters, palais etc...This one is the Rathaus (town hall) with a circus in front of it.
No, we are not in Greece. This is the Austrian Parlament. Note the majestic statue of Athena, supposed to bring wisdom to the folks inside, and how she is proudly carrying mini-me in her hand.
The following shots show typical cobberstones streets in the center.
The Nashmarkt was a feast in itself. You can find anything there:
...all sorts of fresh produces,
....spices from India, Middle East etc
....dead fish,
...people having a good time,
... and well, stuff.
Last pictures, random impressions...
Austrians have really a sweet tooth!
The Prater, ever so famous after the 3rd man...
The (not so) blue Danube.
Ciao!
