Votiv Church

After the disappointing visit to the Giant Ferris Wheel yesterday, we were all looking forward to visiting the main sights of Vienna today. Nila took us on a walking tour of the historic city center of Vienna starting at the Votiv Church. This church was built to a neo-gothic style in the late 19th century to commemorate the escape of the Emperor Francis Joseph from assasination.

1. Votiv Church	2. Interior	3. Statue	4. Stained glass panel	5. Coat of arms

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Rathaus

A short walk from the Votiv Church is Vienna's Rathaus. You wouldn't have guessed it - that translates to City Hall ! Hmmm.. maybe it is quite an apt description of the building after all. :)

This is quite an impressive neo-gothic building of a similar vintage to the Votiv Church. Across the road from the City Hall is Vienna's National Theatre building.

1. City Hall	2. Low angle shot	3. Statue	4. Tram

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Parliament House

The Parliament House was our next port of call along Ringstrasse. The building was suitably grand with the front of building attended by numerous statues and punctuated with a monumental fountain at the front.

1. Parliament House	2. One of several large statues in front of the building	3. Statue at the top of the fountain	4. A small lamp ornament	5.The grand entrance	5. Fountain

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MuseumsQuartier

Another member of our group, Stelia, was due to arrive last night from Philadelphia. But inexplicably, she did not meet us at the apartment last night as arranged. We had no means of contacting her as her US mobile phone did not work in Europe. Nila was worried sick the whole night and day but thankfully, Stelia made contact with us today. As it turned out, there was some mixup with the address of the apartment and she wasn't able to find the place.

Nila and Jimmy went to get Stelia at her hotel while the rest of us visited the MuseumsQuartier (MQ). The MQ is a series of very elegantly designed modern complexes housing contemporary art museums. We didn't actually get time to visit any of the museums at the MQ.

The MQ is a good example of what I liked about Vienna. Vienna has managed to retain the old world European charm while re-defining itself as a modern city. This blend of the old and the new makes Vienna as interesting city to visit and perhaps even to stay.

1.Museum of Modern Art	2. MQ	3. Lamp ornament	4. Leopold Museum on the right.

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Inner City

We headed towards the inner city area after meeting up with Nila, Jimmy and Stelia for lunch. The inner city is a very charming and pleasant area to stroll through. It definitely has the stereotypical European feel to things here. We started off at the Heldenplatz which is an open park area that is ringed by the Hofburg (Imperial Palace) buildings and flanked at both ends by two opposing equestrian statues of Prince Eugene and Archduke Charles.

This area has managed to retain its charm which appeals to both locals and tourists alike, without turning itself into one big tourist trap. The Heldenplatz also has the dubious honour of being the site of one of Hitler's mass rallies in 1938.

1. Locals enjoying a day out @ Heldenplatz.	2. Horse drawn carriages @ Heldenplatz.	3. Statue of Archduke Charles with the Minorite Church in the background.

We walked through the Hofburg buildings and emerged at the top of the Kohlmarkt shopping street. The Kohlmarkt is to Vienna as Via Condotti is to Rome. The street is lined with designer boutiques and cafes and is also one of the nicest areas to walk through. We were immediately mesmerised by the crowds here and with the overall atmostphere. This was certainly the most happening end of town that we have visited today.

4. The gang in front of the Hofburg.	5. Kohlmarkt - one of the nicest areas in Vienna.	6. Kohlmarkt.	7. Kohlmarkt.
8. The gang & Kohlmarkt.	9. Albert running down one of the back lanes around Kohlmarkt.

There seems to be a growing trend for cities to commission series of brightly painted animals to be scattered throughout the metropolis. We came across Vienna's series of painted horses that were strategically placed throughout the Kohlmarkt district. This reminded me of my trips to Chicago and New York a couple years ago where the animal of choice for their downtown artwork was the bull. I think Sydney may have tried something similar as well but can't remember what the animal was. It definitely wasn't the kangaroo ...

10. The guys in front of the Hofburg.	11. Very funny ...

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Stadt Park

From inner city Vienna, we continued our walking tour a short distance to the nearby Stadt Park. We went there primarily to see the golden statue of Johann Strauss. This was also the site of another challenge in The Amazing Race 4. As you can tell, I like that show a lot ! :)

1. Mr Strauss himself.	2. The gang at Stadt Park - William craning his neck to get some visibility in the photo. :)	3. Closeup of Mr Strauss.

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Opera and Beer

No - we didn't go to the opera with beer in hand ! We did attend an opera at the State Opera House. We bought really cheap standing room tickets for EUR3 each. It was a very popular opera, though I do not recall the name of the opera we watched. The standing room area was literally standing room only (well ... what else did I expect ?). :)

But unfortunately, the whole show was in German and we had been walking all day. I was quite bone tired and tried to remain interested for as long as I could. But after 20 minutes, I decided to throw in the towel and wait for the guys outside to rest my weary legs. Ten minutes later, the rest of the gang came out as well, with the exception of Jimmy.

12. Nightshots of area surrouding the State Opera House

We didn't think that Jimmy would have remained inside as this wasn't a Star Trek convention, so chances are he left before any of us. We gave him a call on his mobile and it transpired that Jimmy left 3 minutes into the opera and went to check out the casino around the corner !

After re-grouping, we took up the recommendation of the concierge at one of the hotels nearby to try a Viennese beer garden. The recommended beer garden - Salm Brau - was excellent. The atmosphere was cosy and the food was great. Albert clearly enjoyed his beer there. He ordered a huge tankard of beer that must've held at least one litre of the good stuff. He was swaying a bit after putting that much beer down.

13. Nila and Hsin Hsin in front of the micro-brewery.	14. Albert putting down a huge tankard of beer.

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And this is only day one of our fourteen day holiday ! We went back to our apartment to nurse our aching feet and to look forward to tomorrow's activities.