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| Triton and Naiad Fountain by Hugo Haerdtl at the Maria-Theresian-Platz, Vienna, Austria |
With so many beautiful places to go around Vienna, We find it difficult to choose the best to visit in a day and a half. We had a few at first but narrowed down to three to fully enjoy each place. Stephansdom at StephenPlatz, Kunsthistorisches at Ringstrasse and the Schonbrunn Garden.
We were at Stephen Platz in the morning. Food and souvenirs stands around the park with a merry-go-round near the St. Stephen's Cathedral. An annual event was being celebrated. We attended a service inside the Cathedral. We went up to the North Tower to see the Pummerin and an aerial view of Vienna City. We had our lunch at one of the sausage stand at the square.
We had spent around 2 to 3 hours at Kunsthistorisches, the biggest museum in Vienna housed in a baroque style building situated at the famous Ringstrasse along with the other same architecture style building that housed the other museums. We wanted to cycle along the Ringstrasse which offers more beautiful buildings and vast gardens to the Danube River and across, but we needed to be back to Central to check in at the apartment by 7 pm. There would be additional 10 euros per hour to pay if showed up after 8 pm and onwards. You might be wondering where were our luggage. We left them at the luggage storage at the Central Station for a fee.
We thought of booking to hotel the next time with 24 hours of service. We had stayed at Grand Central Apartment, conveniently 5 to 10 minutes walk from the Central Station, It was the first to show the cheapest price at 61.20 euros when we were looking for a place to stay as early as in January. The place looks good in the picture and there is a washing machine free to use. I thought it would be inside the room, I could do the laundry while asleep and just do the folding the next morning. The machine was outside and ran out of laundry soaps. We intended to buy soap but decided to just wash our clothes when in Prague. 61.20 euros for a night not bad though. We got what we paid for.
It was in our itinerary to have dinner near the Opera and watch the performance on the outdoor screen and go to Danube and the Prater. Latter is another big public square in Vienna with an amusement partk and it is where the Giant Ferris Wheel is located. We felt so tired, shameful though, we just had our dinner at the Central station and went back to the apartment. We retired early for another big one the following day.
At 8 am the following morning, we left the keys in the apartment and headed to the Central Station. We were not leaving Vienna yet. We again rented luggage storage and had fresh bread and coffee/hot cocoa for breakfast.
We were at Schonbrunn till 3pm. The Schonbrunn Palace was used to be the summer residence of the imperial family. Schonbrunn was Queen Marie Antoinette of France's childhood home. Photography is not allowed inside the palace, we did not go inside. We instead explored its super big stunning baroque gardens for free except for a few with not so expensive entrance fee. From the great parterre to the Neptune fountain, a steep climb up the hill to get to Gloriette, one of the attractions with a fee. We went up the Gloriette for 3.80 euros each. From up there, the magnificent view of the garden and exterior of the palace, more so, great views of the Vienna Skyline.
From Vienna, we took the train at the Central Station for an hour travel to Bratislava.
Our ticket from Budapest to Vienna was booked in March for 19 euros each passenger thru OEBB website.
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| Wind Turbines across Vienna countryside |
Wind Turbine is a device that converts the kinetic energy from the wind into electrical energy.
We had arrived Vienna at past 9am. We could only check in to our apartment after 12 nn. I did my homework, there was a luggage storage at Vienna Central Station where next to it, use of a clean toilet for 50 cents..
The Vienna Central Station was like converted into a mall and literally named The Mall. From there, we took the Underground/Subway to Stephensplatz. We purchased single tickets thru the machine. 2.40 euros each way within the city. I suggest to buy the 24 hours for 8 euros if you take the city's public transport: trains, bus and subways for 4 times and more within the 24 hours.
Stephenplatz is a big public square in Vienna. When the Underground bahn/ Subway opened at the square and the station is the stopping point for changing lines, Stephenplatz has been considered the heart of the city and the Kilometer Zero of the Capital of Austria. Apparently, best to start exploring Vienna.
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| Haas House (left) at Stephenplatz, Vienna, Austria |
Haas House is a modern building at Stephenplatz situated opposite the historical building, St. Stephen's Cathedral. We could see the mirror image of the Cathedral from its facade.
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| Palais Equitable (former Stock im Eisen) at Stephenplatz |
We were wondering at first what was being celebrated on that day. Steffl Kirtag? There were balloons. kids enjoying merry-go-round, a few sausage stands and souvenir stands...??? Got to get through this crowd to our main purpose in this place.
There you go, one of the city's landmark, St. Stephen's Cathedral. Latter stood tall and proud at one of the public squares in Vienna which was named after the Cathedral, Stephenplatz.
St Stephen's Cathedral is the mother church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of the City of Vienna. In the mid 1100s, there St Stephen's Cathedral was one of the two churches in the area where the present Cathedral now stood. The buildings was totally ravaged by fire. In the mid 1300s, during the reign of Duke Rudolf IV, St Stephen's was rebuilt with Romanesque and Gothic architectural style occupying the areas of the previous two churches. The building was saved though from the the WWII bombings, it did not escape the fire that was lit up by the civilians nearby when the Russians entered the city. Thereafter, with the help of the whole of Austria, the Cathedral was rebuilt to it original form with extensions, additional towers and more decorations. The Cathedral, known also as Stephansdom, is one of the major symbols of Vienna and of Austria. It is visited by millions of tourists every year.
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| Giant door of St. Stephen's Cathedral, Vienna, Austria |
The main entrance to St Stephen's Cathedral is through this massive door. You would not miss it as it is giant in size, thus it's named, Giant's door. The door was decorated with sculptures of lions, birds, dragons, monks and demons. Between the door are the two Roman Towers each stand approximately 65 meters. The Giant's door and the Roman towers are the oldest part of the Cathedral.
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| St Stephen's Cathedral Interior, Vienna, Austrai |
The High Altar depicts the stoning of St. Stephen, the patron of the Cathedral. Try to look closely at the three stained glasses which shows the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and the stoning of St. Stephen. At the very top is the statue of the Virgin Mary showing us up as in the Lord was waiting for Stephen to ascend into heaven as the first martyr.
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| Potscher Madonna |
One of the important icons inside the St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna is the miraculous Maria Potsch named after the Hungarian Byzantine Catholicshrine of Mariapocs. The 1676 Byzantine style icon was painted by Istvan Papp commissioned by Papp Csigri after he was released as a prisoner of war by the Turks who were invading Hungary at that time. .Csigri failed to pay Papp. the painting was later sold to Lorinc Hurta and latter donated it to the church of Pocs. It shows St Mary pointing to the child which means "Jesus is the way" and the child Jesus is wearing a cross from his neck and three-stemmed rose representing the Holy Trinity. It is said that in 1696, the mother in the picture shed real tears in two separate incidents. Since most of Hungary was then controlled by the Muslim Turks, Emperor Leopold I of Vienna ordered the transfer of the icon to St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna. The icon arrived Vienna after the five-month journey in 1697. Since then the painting was never seen in tears but believed to have brought miracles and answered prayers such as the victory of Prince Eugeme of Savoys over the Turks at Zenita few weeks after the installation of the icon in the Cathedral.
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| Weinver Neustadter Altar, St Stephen's Cathedral, Vienna, Austria |
The Weinver Neustadter illustrates the life of St Mary. The three Kings were featured handing gifts to baby Jesus. St Barbara, the protector of the firemen and St Catherine who converted hundreds into Christianity in the 3rd century appeared on the scene of the Holy Mother Enthronement.
The Weinver Neustadter was ordered by Emperor Frederick III in 1447 presently at the head of the North nave. The tomb of the Emperor was placed opposite the altar, at the head of the South nave.
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| Tomb of Emperor Frederick III |
Emperor Frederick III was the first Emperor of the House of Hobsburg. He was also the second King of Germany. He ruled from 1440 until his death in 1493.
The gothic style Pulpit at St. Stephen's Cathedral is located along the nave. It was designed with the relief portraits of the four original Four Doctors of the Church: St. Ambrose, St. Jerome, St. Augustine of Hippo and St Gregory the Great. Check out the peeping tommy self-portrait sculpture beneath the stairs believed to be the sculptor of the pulpit. |
| The Pulpit along the nave of St Stephen's Cathedral, Vienna, Austria |
During the time there was no microphone and megaphone, the sermon was held at the pulpit so it could be heard by the worshipers.
A large electric pipe organ was built after the fire in 1945.
Hard to explain how I felt, I was able to hear mass in this church. The place is touristy though, silence is requested during the service.
We climbed the North tower of the Cathedral... oooppps... by lift, for the spectacular sights of the city. If you have the stamina, you could take the 300 steps and over to the South tower with better views. The Pummerin though is at the North Tower. We were saving our strength for the hiking at Cinque Terre in Italy.
There are 23 bells in the Cathedral and the Pummerin (named after St Mary) is the largest and the second largest in Europe after the bell named Peter at the Cologne Cathedral in Germany
The bells at the North tower are still operational while those at the South had been lost during the WWII.
There was a legend that Beethoven realized he totally lost his sense of hearing when the birds flew away as the bell started to toll but he heard nothing.
No doubt St Stephen's Cathedral is the prominent symbol of Vienna and of Austria. Its colourful roof was decorated with around 230,000 diamond shape mosaic tiles. and the spire at the South tower (locals nicknamed it Steff) stood 136 meters.
The multi coloured roof of the St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna is designed with mosaic of the double headed eagle, the symbol of the empire of the Habsburg dynasty who ruled Austria from 11th century till 1918.
More Views from the North Tower of the Stephansdom
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| aerial view from the North Tower of Stephansdom, Vienna, Austria |
Vienna City skyline with the City Tower and Mondi building at Marxegrasse
view of the two tower Jesuit church, a University church adjacent to University of Vienna.
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| views of Vienna City Skyline from St Stephen's Cathedral North Tower, Vienna, Austrai |
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| view of the DonauTower, Vienna, Austrai |
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| view of the Vienesse Prater, Vienna, Austria |
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| Lamee Hotel Rooftop |
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| view of the Votive Church towers from the North tower of St Stephen's Cathedral, Vienna, Austria |
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| views of Vienna City Skyline from St Stephen's Cathedral North Tower, Vienna, Austrai |
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| Aerial view of the Stephenplatz from St. Stephen's Cathedral North Tower , Vienna, Austria |
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| Horse-drawn carriage at Stephenplatz, Vienna, Austria |
Why was there Merry Go Round at Stephenplatz? There is this major event in Vienna that is celebrated before summer, Steffl Kirtag (Steffl fair). Latter has been celebrated annually since the 50th anniversary of the the re opening of the St. Stephen's Cathedral. in 2002. It was celebrated from 10 May~21 May in 2018. Fortunately, we were there on 11 May.
Not only the Viennesse sausage stands offered during the Steffl Kirtag event, Austrian Pastries as well.
We joined the long queue at a food stand at Stephenplatz, with the assumption we could have the best Vienna Sausage for our lunch.
Well...It was reaaallly good!
Yummy!!!
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| Museum of Art History (Kunsthistorisches), Vienna, Austria |
It was not easy for us to choose which museum to visit during our short stay in Vienna this 2018. We had trimmed to three: Kunsthistorisches, Belvedere and Albertina. We thought of visiting all the three, definitely not a good idea. We wanted to see more of in Renaissance and Baroque period, apparently, Kunst was for the win.
Kunshistorisches or the Museum of Art History, also known as Museum of Fine Arts, is housed on one of the two almost identical palatial buildings at Maria Theresian Platz on Ringstrasse. The other mentioned building housed the Natural History Museum and located opposite the Kunst. The two buildings were built between 1871 and 1891 commissioned by the then Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria-Hungary to place the art collections of the Habsburg family and later opened for general public access.
That area was named the Museum Quarter. The buildings and gardens around this area are impressive enough to stay for an hour and over if not keen to museums.  |
| The Four Continents (The Four Rivers of Paradise by Peter Paul Rubens at KUNSTHITORISCHES |
The Four continents of the world are depicted by the females in the painting with the god of their respective rivers. The female on the left depicted Europe with the god of the Danube. At the center is the black beauty Africa with Nile's arm around. On the right is Asia with the god of Ganges. Behind Asia is America with the Rio del Plata. Seen also on the painting is a Tigress protecting her cubs from the crocodile. Several Putti at the bottom surrounded the crocodile.
The painting was done within the period of the truce between the Dutch Republic and Spain. Rubens was hoping to return to Antwerp, Belgium.
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| Mary with Child and Saints by Palma Vecchio (1480~1528) at KUNSTHISTORISCHES, Vienna, Austria |
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| Venus and Adonis by Peter Paul Rubens (around 1620) at KUNSHISTRISCHES |
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| Stairway to KLIMT, KUNSTHISTORISCHES, Vienna, Austria |
Marvelous unique painting of Gustav KLIMT (1862~1918) displayed 12 meters above the ground. The paintings, commissioned by the previous Emperor Franz Josef, depicts period of art history.
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| 1728 Charles VI and Gundacker Count Althann by Francesco Solimena |
The painting depicts the director of the Imperial buildings was presenting to the Emperor Charles VI the three volume inventory of the Imperial art collections.
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| 1773 Coin at KUNSTHISTORISCHES, Vienna, Austria |
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| 2017 Austria 20 Euro Coin displayed at KUNSTHISTORISCHES, Vienna, Austria |
Maria Theresa was the only female who ruled the Hapsburg Empire. She was the Empress for 40 years and mother of 16 at the same time.
Sebastian, the chief bodyguard to the Roman Emperor diocletian was punished to death for his Christian belief. St. Sebastian was painted around 1457/59 by an Italian artist, Andrea Mantegna (1430/31~1506)
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| Maria-Theresian-Platz, Vienna, Austria |
Maria-Theresian-Platz is a public square on Ringstrasse in Vienna. In between the two historical museums: the Kunsthistorisches (an art museum) and Naturhistorisches (Natural History Musuem), is a monument in memory of Maria Theresa (1717~1780. Maria Theresa is the only female and last sovereign of the Habsburg Dynasty. She ruled for 40 years, from the death of his father the Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV in 1740 until her death in 1780.
The monument has the large 6m bronze statue of Maria Theresa with the statues of four horsemen of her generals. The statue depicts the Empress greets the people with her right hand and her left hand holds the document of the Pragmatic Sanction. The monument centered the four big lawns at the Maria-Theresian- Platz each with a beautiful made of white marbles fountains inspired by the mythological Tritonenn and Najadenbrunnen
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| Monument of Empress Maria Theresa at the Maria-Theresian-Platz on Ringstrasse, Vienna, Austria |
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| Triton and Naiad Fountain by Edumund Paul Andreas Hofmann of Aspenburg at the Maria-Theresian-Platz, Vienna, Austria |
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| Triton and Naiad Fountain by Anton Schmidgruber at the Maria-Theresian-Platz, Vienna, Austria |
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| Triton and Naiad Fountain by Hugo Haerdtl at the Maria-Theresian-Platz, Vienna, Austria |
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| Triton and Naiad Fountain by Anton Schmidgruber at the Maria-Theresian-Platz, Vienna, Austria |
You could spend half of the day walking around this area full of extravagant buildings in great styles of Classical, Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque architectures. At the side of the Museumstrasse are where most of the Museums .
Across the Burgring, we went through the Burgtor gate to get to Heldenplatz. |
| Burgtor Gate, Vienna, Austria |
Burgtor gate is a historical gate between Maria-Theresian Platz and the Heldenplatz. It was then the Outer Castle gate when the now Ringstrasse were fortified moat walls protecting the Hofburg Palace.
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| Welt Museum Wien on HeldenPlatz, Vienna, Austria |
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| Welt Museum Wien on HeldenPlatz, Vienna, Austria |
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| Hofburg Neue Burg section, view from Heldenplatz |
Heldenplatz or the Heroes Square in Vienna is a public square in front of the Hofburg Palace Wings. It was at this public square Adolf Hitler announced the annexation of Austria to the Nazi Germany (Austrian Anschluss). That famous speech of Hitler, Heldenplatz has been the subject of several literature works such as dramas and poems.
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| Statue of Archduke Charles of Austria on HeldenPlatz, Vienna, Austria |
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| Equestrian Statue of Prince Eugene of Savoy. on HeldenPlatz, Vienna, Austria |
From the statue of Prince Eugene at Heldenplatz, the exit towards the Lowelstrasse leads to the Michealplatz , Hofburg Palace and the Old Town.
Heldenplatz is between the two beautiful garden parks. Behind the Hofburg Palace Wing, along the Burgring is the Burggarten, once the private garden of the Emperor. On the side of the statue of Archduke Charles of Austria, along the Burgring is the Volksgarten. Continue walking along the Ringstrasse leads to the Neo-Greek style Government Parliament and the Five Towers Gothic style Rathaus (City Town Hall).
Apparently, everywhere in this area is picturesque. You could take subway from the University ring to the Prater or to the Danube in Vienna. Our itinerary for this day ended at Heldenplatz though. We had to go back to the Central to get the key to the apartment. We could had done this after our visit at the Stephansdom, we were worried we would not have enough time to see much at the Art History Museum (Kunsthistorisches).
Going back to Central, we used the City bike. We had registered online using our credit card. We were charged each one euro. There are many bike stations in the city. You could find one near the subway. Free to use for thirty minutes. If you think you will cycle more than that, you could return the bike at the dock station and rent another one for another free thirty minutes use. Cycling to central did not take half an hour.
At the Central Station, we collected our luggage and walked for around 10 minutes to the apartment. We planned to go to the Prater after dinner but we were really tired. It had been a long day. We just arrived from Budapest this morning. We had been out from 6 in the morning and it was not until half past 7 in the evening that we got to get in the apartment, freshened up and changed. It was another long day the following day. We were at Schonbrunn till 2pm and then traveled by train to Bratislava.
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| View of the Great Parterre and the Gloriette at Schonbrunn, Vienna, Austria |
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| View of the Schloss Schonbrunn, the Garden and the Vienna City from Gloriette, Vienna, Austria |
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| Gloriette and the Neptune Fountain view from the Schonbrunn Grand Parterre |
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| Schonbrunn line of Trimmed Trees along the garden path, Vienna, Austria |
check out video taken at Schonbrunn Park
continued from Budapest, Hungary
continued to Schonbrunn Palace
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