Scenic Tours Jewels of Europe #13

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Vienna

Our bus trip took us around the Ringstrasse that was built along the site of the city wall. Inside the Ringstrasse has heritage restrictions on what can be done, but outside doesn't.

I don't remember a lot of what we saw because I had the dreaded lurgi (bad cold) that was going through the boat. We had been to Vienna before so I spent the afternoon in bed. But I did get the solution to a problem that had puzzled me since were there. I asked the guide what was the windowless cylindrical tower that we had seen before. She said an antiaircraft emplacement tower (Flakturm). They were meant to be near indestructible. The Viennese decided to get rid of them so they tried to blow one up. The broke 3,500 windows but only put a crack in the tower. So they decided to keep them!

We spent some time walking to the Hofburg Palace. On the way we saw the Pestsaule - plague monument - started by Emperor Leopold I to celebrate the end of he plague.

St Stephen's Cathedral has a very colourful roof. The spire, at 444 ft, was built in 1435 and was the highest in Europe for 450 years. It is a good landmark.

The Hofburg Palace was a most impressive building with 2 statues of Hercules on each side of the entrance. At the nearby Spanish Riding School we saw the horses getting ready for exercise. We had a little time to spare before the bus came so we wandered into one of the lovely gardens nearby.

In the evening we went to the Liechtenstein Palace for a musical recital. The entrance hall was beautiful with decorated ceilings and a richly decorated carriage on display. The music hall was beautifully decorated with perspective painting that made the ceiling seem to disappear into the space above. We enjoyed the 10 piece orchestra and 2 vocalists.

Our bed was decorated with a flower.

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