Vienna

 (Stephansdom | Hofburg/Volksgarten | Schönbrunn Palace | Miscellaneous)

(Click on any picture to get a larger version of that image.)

Out of all the European cities I visited, Vienna was my favorite. It's got everything — cosmopolitan Old World atmosphere, impressive relics of a dead empire, great food and incredibly decadent desserts, and musty crypts with mouldering remains. (Plus, coming from Germany to Austria was like visiting Canada from the US — common enough in language and culture to make you feel comfortable, yet different enough to make you feel like you were visiting someplace interesting.)

Stephansdom (St. Stephan's Cathedral)

From the street, St. Stephan's might not be the most attractive cathedral you'll see in Europe, but it has it all:
... attractive rooftop views (and an interesting roof) ...
... and a catacomb in the basement. The catacombs are everything you'd imagine them to be: rooms stacked floor to ceiling with skulls and bones. A white-walled vault holds various members of the Habsburg dynasty (some lay complete in coffins, others just have their entrails stored in containers along the walls).

Palaces:

Schönbrunn

Outside the city is Schönbrunn Palace, which is everything that I expected Versailles to be: a huge building with a lavish interior, sprawling gardens, and large ornate outbuildings constructed for no apparent reason. (Not that Versailles doesn't have these qualities; I just found Schönbrunn to be more impressive.)

Hofburg/Volksgarten
Near the center of old Vienna is the Hofburg, the winter home of the Habsburg rulers. You can tour the former royal apartments and see the royal treasury (and the royal silverware collection), among other things. On the Hofburg grounds is the Augstinian Church, which houses the most pathetically sad monument (check out the face on that lion!) that I've ever seen. (The monument is a memorial to Empress Maria Theresa's favorite daughter.)
Across the street from the Hofburg is the Volksgarten, a pleasant public garden.

Wiener Prater

This 220-foot Riesenrad is a Vienna landmark in the middle of an amusement park along the Danube. (Not Disneyland, but a pleasant enough way to pass the evening.)

St. Peter's

If you haven't had enough of skeletons and crypts, not too far away from Stephansdom is St. Peter's, which features the bejewelled skeletons of Christian martyrs in glass coffins.

This page maintained by Kevin Hogan <khogan@Adobe.COM>.
If you enjoyed it, you might like to see pictures of my other European travels.

Last updated on September 25, 2000