Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Vienna - Day Two

We were to catch a bus tour at 10:30am, a three hour tour...sounds like the song for Gilligan's Island!
Still in walking distance to get the bus, these are the sights along the way...


Stunning building architecture to be seen everywhere your eyes could roam. It felt like a dream, the colours so vibrant from the day before's rain storm.

 Close up of the fountain as we walked by...arriving at The Opera House

More views looking away from The Opera House

 So beautiful & the sound of the flowing water from the fountain, adding to the ambiance that surrounds you.
 Bus Time! Three hours of touring & getting out at The Schonbrunn Palace
After getting off the bus, we were ushered to the toilets and charged .65CDN cents to use the toilet. It brought back memories of my Eaton shopping days downtown at The Wellington Square. As a child we would wait till the way was clear & shimmy under the door to open it for our elders. The doors now go all the way to the floor, to keep such events from not happening!LOL
 Sights from the bus---
More Sights
 Finally-Schonbrunn Palace
 Fountain in the center
A view from the back of the Palace, oh my the acreage  to this estate!
 1100 rooms, 2000 servants to tend to the palace. We only had 1 hour to view this enormous estate, those with more time & not on our bus, walked all the way to the building in the background!
 Close up of building, nice zoom lense. Mitch & Nick I cannot thank you boys enough for the gift of this camera XOXO.
 A small piece of the palace
 Back of the palace
 A rose tunnel, oh my how sweet the smell & how rich the contrasting colour of red & green!
 How pretty is this!! It makes me want to take my front garden down & build a small scale one of these!
 I'm still thinking about it... I've been to Epcot, motto "If you can dream it - you can do it"
 The roses were everywhere & in every colour imaginable.
 The contrast of the black pergola, intensified the roses colour & grounded the building.
 Three hours of awe and now off to The Leopold Museum
 Modern Functional Art
 Very Modern Building

Bill & I saw the Klimt Collection, floor after floor of all his life & work. And Hoffman originals!! I was in heaven! That ends our day of Vienna.

 Sights from our hotel, can you see to the left the roof-top garden?
Looking out our balcony door  
 Here's a zoom of that roof-top garden
Construction was underway across from us, with the jet-lag I slept right through it & The Flying Pigs, Spain & Italy Football game, with all the cheers & fights!  
 Good Bye Hotel K&K Maria Teresa
Even Vienna's garbage burner has style, took this photo as 'something I'd never seen before' our driver amused, smiled & told it was the garbage incinerator. Well, there's a surprise upon leaving!

WOW Vienna!

We arrived late at night, the flight to Vienna from London England was over 6 hours late - three cancellations of flights & a very rough landing due to a huge storm front. That same storm front caught up to us after landing & once in the taxi, our driver stopped & said that there was not visibility!   Boy was there thunder & lighting & rain, during our drive to the motel. Morning presented itself with a beautiful day for us. 
 This is our first walk about from our hotel. Bill did much planning to have everything in walking distance, he did a great job!
 This horse & horseman is facing...
 This horse & yes, there's a story behind everything! I've a good memory just short. This is your visual tour of Vienna with a few of my own captions...
 It doesn't matter where you look, there's always something to WOW you!

 And the scale is so large in size...
 And the large bronze statues  & enormous cement statues, everywhere.

So much culture---

This was one of the smallest statues that I'm standing next to!!

I'm so jet lagged-however the awe of everything keeps me going

 The lion has his tongue sticking out, oh the details that are to be seen!
 This is a ceiling covered with mesh to keep the pigeons out, looking up all day was hard on the neck.
Look at the size of these fountains...& the movement of the figures!

 Splashes of gold - adding to the richness & beauty of Wein aka Vienna
 Entertainment was everywhere! Bill told me how this was achieved, it wouldn't be magic if I told you! Must say, clever though!
 This church is being restored, it's 600 years old! We in Canada are commemorating The War of 1812, see why I'm in awe with all of this. History - everywhere!

 The quilter in me wanted to document the roof of this church, such style & design---600 years ago!!
 Colour values - colour & design, WOW! Looks like the crocheted version of the rippling wave!
 The front has had restoration, the side is covered but shows what's underneath being restored, and beside it the original yet to be restored, huge, huge, scale in the Gothic style. 
 This is the name of the church
 Look at the grandeur of buildings, next to the people
 And the ultra modern glass building...
 Looking back to the church again - WOW such beauty.
 Look up, look way up....
Miniature bronze casting of the church
A funding incentive, much needed for this enormous undertaking of restoration, to this church.
I found a small door, 600 years ago people we smaller than today & this door does look small in scale to the larger ones. 

 I just shrieked with the visual delight of natures colours!
 Gold & Grandeur


 Loved the church! WOW!

 Bill in-front of a statue that I've already forgotten the name of - must research this one. Statues & fountains everywhere, in honour of the commemoration of so many influential people & others showing brutality once you see what the figures are doing.
 This is the circle that---

 the car chase from The Borne Identity was done...
 at the Market Square. Now I will have to watch the movie again. The week before leaving I watched the seasonal ending of Ugly Betty, in ends with her in Vienna & Missing took place in Vienna too! I saw it as a sneak peak at what was to come. I was not disappointed!!
 Finally the end of the day & dinner time. Bill found this wonderful restaurant, underground! down the stairs we went & it opened into-
 this outside Bistro with the restaurant inside.
Our Dessert
 We shared a Hungarian Trifle for dessert - that was loaded with nuts!! Bill's allergy - he successfully ate around them! No Eppy Pen needed, not that we had one!
 And that concluded our first full day in Vienna - both jet lagged we walked to our hotel to recharge for the next day, Sunday. What a day indeed!!