Vienna Day 2

Where to begin… This was a day of tours and pictures. So much information that I honestly don’t remember a fraction of it but I’ll do my best.

The morning tour was a walking tour of downtown Vienna – the historical bits. We started in Maria – Theresien Platz, a square dedicated to the only female ruler of Austria. Apparently the royal family almost died out before she came along and had 16 (I think?) children. And ran the country.

The statue, the square, more statues…

We then walked to the square where Hitler addressed the Austrians from the terrace of the Neue Burg before WWII. Our guide gave us a fascinating history lesson about Austria and the Austrian empire – I had no idea so much of Europe was once part of Austria! It started break apart during WWI and borders continued to change for decades after.

From there, we walked to one of the royal gardens where we saw a statue of Maria’s husband and one of Mozart.

The city hall (not a church or a castle!!):

More pics of buildings, the royal greenhouse (now a butterfly house and a restaurant), and a double headed eagle ornament:

The monastery wall was uncovered during a remodeling so they preserved this section to show what was there before.

And now, churches… First up is Augustinus Church where, if I remember correctly, royal weddings took place. And it looks like it.

On our way to the next church, we passed the Lipizzan horse stables. Apparently most of them are on vacation but one was there and poked their head out to say hi.

Also, Atlas holding up a (gilded, of course…) globe:

Next up, St. Michael’s church. It still had remnants of the old paintings on the walls. And I really wish I could have heard the organ in concert – someone was practicing so we heard a little bit but not much.

More buildings – this part of Vienna is beautiful.

Roman ruins discovered when they were building the subway.

Yet another statue and a building ornament shaped like the crown:

This is a private royal chapel that was literally connected to the apartments. Also the birthplace of the Viennese boys choir.

Rose gardens – apparently you can pay to have a rosebush dedicated to someone. Which is sweet, as long as you don’t break up.

The university where Freud taught – apparently he didn’t really want to teach so held his classes stupid early in the hopes that no one would take them. Didn’t work 😁

More cool buildings and interiors – we didn’t go into any more churches. By this time, we were exhausted.

After a rest, we went on a food tour for dinner. I was pictured out so I don’t have much from that tour, except a few things:

It was a long day. A good day. But long.

Oh yeah – our hotel in Vienna was awesome. Hotel Stephanie is the oldest hotel in Vienna. The beds were incredibly comfortable.

But I think the bar and dining room could’ve been a little fancier 🤣

They also had this really cool old passport in the elevator.

I’d stay here again in a heartbeat.