parks, palaces and protesters in Wien!

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My Mom and I are here in Vienna! It is incredible, more beautiful than I had expected it to be. Everywhere you look there are buildings, doorways, architectural details worth a photo or two, and I've already taken far more than is necessary here! This morning we walked through the city, stopping at St. Stephen's Cathedral to climb the 343 stairs to the top of the north tower, which has a remarkable view of the city surround. Then we went over to the Hofburg Imperial Palace, which is a giant, overwhelming, beautiful complex of buildings and gardens. In the gateway entrance to the palace complex we stopped to listen to a violinist, who had hooked his instrument up to speakers, amplifying his sound to fill the domed gateway. Then a horse-drawn carraige passed through... It is really just like a Disney theme park. But it is impossible not to love it. I find it hard even to feel the obligatory embarassment one should feel when enjoying something so touristy, I'm lapping it up so thoroughly. Later today we'll probably go to a mirrored cafe and buy expensive coffee and cake and, I hope, continue with our unabashed enjoyment of the Vienna Tourist Experience.

After visiting two conjoined museums that exhibited medieval armor and musical instruments from prehistory to the 19th century and having a quick Bratwürst bought from a street vendor for lunch, my mom and I split up so that she could go back to the hotel and take a rest and I could continue to explore the city. I went to the Votivkirche, which, for whatever reason has struck me as the most beautiful building in all of the beautiful buildings I've seen here, somehow more striking even than the larger and more famous St. Stephen's Cathedral. The Votivkirche was built in the mid-19th century in a neo-Gothic style, and the two pointed white towers that mark its entrance are visible from various points around the city, rising above the other buildings. Inside, it has the most beautiful stained glass. Across from the Votivkirche is Sigmund Freud park, which isn't really anything special or unusual as far as city parks go, but it just tickled me to walk around reading the informational columns featuring photos of Freud and quotes by him on everything from the subconscious, to jokes, to freedom and sexuality.

Our pension is on the corner of Kärtner Strasse, a pedestrian only thoroughfare that, despite the gray and rainy weather, is packed with well-heeled tourists from all over Europe and elsewhere, judging from the variety of faces and languages one sees in the street. To get home from Sigmund Freud Park, I turned down Kärtner Strasse, to be greeted by an unexpected crew of black-wearing young pro-choice activists, getting ready to stage a demonstration on the plaza, complete with banners and signs proclaiming women's rights to choose and universal rights to sexual pleasure. It was great! I took a quick picture, which came out blurry, but I didn't want to offend anyone by treating them like yet another tourist attraction, and it didn't look like the rally was getting started anytime soon, so I moved on. But it was refreshing to see a crowd of young activists drawing attention to the pressing issues of today amidst the dreamworld seeking tourists crowding the rest of the streets (myself unashamedly included!). (I don't know what Austria's abortion rights laws are, I'll have to look that up). So that's Vienna so far, pictures and commentary on the rest of the trip to come later!

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