Our driver delivers us to the door of the Hotel Imperial in Vienna and as we enter the lobby it certainly lives up to it's reputation. Just behind our hotel is a red bricked building called the Musikverein Wein. We will be visiting that one evening for an all Mozart concert. And in the distance you can see the dome of the Karlskirche or Church of St Charles. Now we get into our carriage for a spin around the Ringstrasse. (Actually we took a tram ride.) The State Opera House is one of the greatest in Europe. Next we have the Austrian Parliament with its Greek columns. Followed by the Rathaus (city hall) <could you make up a more appropriate name?> with its barouque towers. Speaking of towers, there's the double towered Votive Kirche which stands right in front of Sigmund Freud Park (really!) Next we have the National Museum of Art. A magnificent building with large dome. We're standing in Teresien Platz, that's Marie Therese Square. Marie Therese was the only female and final ruler of the Hapsburg dynasty. And on the other side of the square is the Natural History Museum. The statues on either side of the front entrance caught my eye. The one with a Native American is labeled "Amerika" and the other with a Stature of Liberty type figure is labeled "Europa." We noticed quite a few bands assembling and found out that it was National Wind Instrument Day. After all that sight seeing, we definitely needed to check out Schwartzenberger's Vienna Coffee Haus. Lot's of good pastry treats to sample there. Ok...that's enough whipped cream. For a real treat I'm ending today's blog with just a stream of different buildings that shows you the outstanding architecture of this city.
Of course those are the golden arches.
