WIEN!

VIENNA, AUSTRIA -- Hello from Austria! I am on a pay-as-you-go internet system so I do not have time to write much, but let me say this... I have spent the entire day here sightseeing and I absolutely love it. Aesthetically speaking it is one of the most beautiful cities I have ever been in. Today alone I started at the Maria Hilfer, the main shopping district (their version of Park Lane or Michigan Ave or 5th Ave)... it was pretty wild seeing all the familiar shops and stores and yet all of the advertising was in German. After walking a good mile down that thoroughfare, I made it downtown! I started at the Hofburg, which is the palace of the former Austro-Hungarian empire from the 19th and early 20th century. The palace was stunning, and it is enormous... really it is more like a fortress. When I get back to London I will upload pictures (before the weekend).

From the palace I walked into the old section of downtown, which is much more historic and it is almost entirely pedestrian-only, which meant lots of outdoor seating and people just going for a stroll. It is fall here (like in all of the northern world) and the trees are all beautiful shades of yellow. It sure feels colder though, mostly because compared to London it is. Vienna sits at about 1,000 feet above sea level (London is about 50 feet above sea level), and more importantly Vienna is only a 90 minute drive from the Alps, whereas London is a 45 min drive from the relatively warm waters of the North Atlantic Ocean. Thus it has been in the 30s all day here, whereas it is in the upper 50s in London even though it is early November.

Okay so in the old section of Vienna I went to Stephensdom, a Gothic-style massive cathedral that very much reminded me of Canterbury and to a lesser extent Notre Dame in Paris. Like those two it is massive and just dominates the surrounding buildings. After a lap and quick look inside, I did some shopping and actually got myself something (gasp)... a new watch! I've been looking for one for a year already and yeah it was a great price, and comes with a 2 year international warranty so I am good to go! I continued my way back towards the Hofburg, and then on my way to the Staatsoper I saw the Viennese Holocaust Monument which was deeply moving. It is in the middle of a big square and basically the message I took from it was this "We know we totally f-ed up, and we know that there is nothing we can say or do that will ever come close to fixing that, but we are deeply sorry and at the very least we feel that we need to dedicate this extremely high-visible site to educating locals, visitors, and passerby to the atrocities that were committed in this city, region, and country." I will share pictures in a few days, but yeah, it was very well-done, and a totally different perspective being somewhere that it actually happened (as opposed to museums in Washington D.C., London, and Jerusalem).

I then headed to the Karlschire, or St. Charles Cathedral, which is a Roman-style architecture with victory columns and a large central dome that also dominates the skyline, though in a completely different area and in a completely different way. On my way back I actually stopped at the Staatsoper, and as I was walking by it just so happened that they were opening the doors... I had a peek inside, and for 2 Euros ($2.50) I had a 45 minute guided tour in English of the Vienna State Opera House! It was STUNNING! Again, will post pictures soon.

After that I walked back to the Hofburg (it is a central location, in the middle of everything really) and inside the palace I went to the State Treasury, which contains all of the crown jewels (much like the Tower of London)... lots of crowns, swords, and jewels... it was quite a collection! I then cut over to the contemporary government buildings... saw the Vienna City Hall (which has a gothic influence) and then the Austrian Parliament (which as a Greco-Roman neo-classical influence). I completed my walk back to the hotel and one 5-mile loop of a sightseeing day later I was right back where I started!

Tomorrow, my second and only other full day in Vienna, I am planning on walking back to the State Opera House, and from there hopping on a hop-on hop-off bus tour to the United Nations, Danube Tower, and two Palaces just outside of the downtown area. Wednesday back to London!

Have a great Monday/Tuesday/Wednesday everyone!

Edit:

Here is a public album with a few pictures I managed to get on facebook from my phone - check them out!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2640903&id=8623973&l=b7fbaa01e7