We made the walking tour in time and it turned out to be excellent. We stayed off the main streets and saw the "other side" of Vienna. We walked through a labyrinth of small medieval streets and went into alleys and courtyards that normally we would have not seen.
St. Rupert's Church is the oldest church in Vienna and this is none other than St. Rupert himself. He is the patron saint of the salt merchants and hails from Salzburg.
This is a good example of how the buildings have changed over the years. The lower windows are all closed off and newer ones put in as the interiors change. The guide said in some cases people have found half of a mural on a wall and knowing that the other half is below in another apartment they just keep quite about it. If they informed the powers that be they could be forced to give/sell the apartment to the historical society.
Even way back when they had to control access. The bumps on the wall were put there to stop carriages from entering the street.
Church of the Jesuits:
From the outside this Catholic church did not look like much but as soon as you entered you were awe struck by the opulence. The ceiling is actually flat but it was painted to make it look arched. One of the most amazing churches we have been in.
Street pictures came before street names. This one has a picture of a cow and a wolf playing backgammon and represents the contests between the Catholics (cow) and the Protestants (wolf). There is also a difficult to see spy hole in the corner. Of interest is that they just did a study which says that the city of Vienna has more spies in it than any other city in the world.
Claims to have the best schnitzel in Vienna!
St. Stephans again. It is after all the centre of life in Vienna!
Mozart lived in several homes throughout Vienna but this was his last. When he died he was buried in a reusable casket in a mass grave. Seventeen years later his wife decided to bury him by himself - they think they found him but the DNA does not match his sisters. So, either Mr. Mozart is not his father or they have the wrong guy!
The Parliament building built in Roman style.
The National Library
City Hall with a film festival going on at night. Note the LITTLE coffee to go truck in the foreground.
Stopped for a schnitzel lunch in what looked like a German beer hall. It was delicious! Our only treat today was apple strudel, it was all good! Oh, I forgot about the gelato ...it was good too! Gelato is everywhere.I have never seen so many people eating gelato! Even in Italy.
We took the ring tram tourist train and honestly it was a waste of time . But, it did explain what some of the buildings were that we had been passing in our walks. We then hopped on the tram and went back up to the Opera.
We had good intentions of going to the Vivaldi Concert but we both fell asleep. OK, so our clocks are not quite right yet - hopefully soon!
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