An overcast start to the day but still 20+ degrees. It got better during the day too, 100% better than Berlin! We weren't in a rush, as although I had tickets booked for the Prater Park Ferris Wheel, it was not a timed ticket.
First part of the day went ok and we got to the park without any problem. The ferris wheel was built in 1897 and has cabins or pods, not like one your feet dangle on. They load them 12 to a cabin. Before we were loaded, we watched a couple board a cabin to themsleves, for breakfast. We later saw them in the city having a horse and carriage ride. Special day, I guess.
We had a groip of Germans in our cabin, one of whom was scared of heights, so pretty much as soon as we started moving, he crouched down and didn't look out. He stayed like that for the entire rotation, about 15 minutes.
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| Prater Park Ferris Wheel |
You do get a good view of the city from up the top, and as per the UFO, there is a picture board so you can identify things. I was able to pick out the Austrian National Football Satdium quite easily.
With the wheel done, we had a coffee break at, you guessed it, McDs. Then we made our way to the underground. This is where things started to go pear shaped. Luckily, before we boarded a train, I realised I had left my backpack in McDs, so I ran back to get it. Yes, ran! Not easy after 13 days of big breakfasts, dinners and beers! No-one was sitting where we had been sitting, so I was able to just pick it up. I walked back!
Our next move, took us onto a tram. I had us down for Tram 2. We got 2Z or something, which went the wrong way. Back at our original stop, I checked with a 'guard' who confirmed we wanted just Tram 2. Back on track.
We alighted (one for Catherione there) at Stadt Park and made our way to the J.S. Strauss gold statue. Who knew they had links to music in Vienna? 😁 From there, we walked to the Vienna Concert Haus and then again, to the Karlskirche.
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| The Karlskirche |
Just the other side of the park, is an ornate, 2 part underground station, Stadtbahnstation Karlsplatz. More photos taken, we made our way to the Wiener Staatsoper, the Opera House. All these buildings are very grand and ornate. The entire city is an architectural buff's dream.
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| Wiener Staatsoper |
The last visit of the first half of our tour, was to the W.A. Mozart statue. Another compose! That made 3, as we also passed one of Beethoven! With that it was time for liunch, a bratwurst roll for me. It was interesting watching the guy ram this roll onto a big spike, then force the big sausage into the resulting hole. He should come with an X rating!
For part 2 of the tour, we jumped on another tram, the wrong one, yet again. No real problem, we got off just after it turned the corner, took some photos of the Parliament building, the Rathaus, where there's a film festival in progress, and then the Burg Theatre.
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| The Rathaus, complete with massive film screen |
Walking through the Volks Park, we made our way to St, Stephen's Cathedral. We had planned to do a tour inside but once we were inside, we were both somewhat underwhelmed, so took a few photos and decided we'd save our €40 entry fee. Grizzly lit a couple of candles, as he usually does and we then made our way to the last 'attraction', another old clock that is supposed to move.
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| St. Stephen's Cathedral |
You'll notice I said 'supposed to' above. Every hour we were led to believe it would perform. We had 15 minutes to make our way a few hundred yards. The clock was about 3.5 minutes slow but I was in place ready, along with quite a big crowd, to watch the miracle of movement, on the hour... ish! The video will show what happened. You might even catch what I thought of it.
Tomorrow we enter another country, Hungary, where we shall stay in the capital, Budapest. I have a few sights to visit but we are only there one night, so it will be a busy evening. We might have to delay Grizzly's bedtime till after 9pm!
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