Vienna - Opera House, Hundertwasser, Prater Ferris Wheel

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We went to the Saturday market down near the ringstrasse. There was everything from fresh produce, fresh fish, meat, Turkish food, Italian food, Viennese food, candy, pastries, beer, wine, olive oil, clothes, toys, etc. It went on for several blocks. We picked up a couple of things, but mostly it was fun watching everyone. We bought some scarves and then our friend bought a jacket. Mom was pretty good at haggling the price down and Helen (friend from the cruise) and I were pretty impressed.

We then made our way to the Opera house via bus this time since we were visiting places quite far from one and other. The Opera house interior was gorgeous! Very baroque. Once we were finished with that tour we hopped on the bus to see the Hundertwasser apartments. The artist, Hundertwasser, felt that the new architecture was too perfect with straight angles and no personality. He believed that in nature, there are no perfect angles so his signature is strange architecture with trees growing out of walls, gardens on the terraces, floors that are crooked and slanted, walls that are tilted, etc. It was a little too modern for my taste but fun to see.

Then we found our way to the Prater amusement park with the Wiener Riesenrad, the Great Ferris Wheel, built in 1897. The Giant Ferris Wheel was destroyed during the war but was rebuilt. Emperor Joseph II opened the Prater in Vienna in 1766. There were Merry-go-rounds, and other amusement booths along with food booths when it first opened. Prior to being an amusement park, it was an imperial hunting ground dating back to 1162. I can't believe I didn't even take a picture of the wheel, I had to take a picture from the brochure! I did get shots from the Ferris wheel overlooking the city.

We had dinner out which included wiener schnitzel and a Greek salad; multi-cultural food all over the place. Oh, and wine. 😊

On our way home from dinner, we walked around a little and came back to the Opera House. The opera was going on inside and it was being shown on a movie screen outside of the house and the actual music was being pumped out so everyone who wanted to could stop, look and listen. They were performing Rigoletto. It was pretty awesome!

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