Musik

"Musik" means Music in German!

 

Vienna is a city full of music!  It is an old city with a modern flair.

 

One of the modern things they do in Vienna is the free city bike program.  You register to use the program and you can ride the city bikes from any city bike station (there are lots of different parking stations around the city) and you just drop it off at any station where you are going to.  Next time you need a bike, you just look for another station!  Pretty cool! 

 

 

 

You might think this ferris wheel is a modern addition to the city, but it has been here since 1897, when it was one of the earliest Ferris wheels ever built.  It was damaged in World War II, but they fixed it back up.

 

The gondolas on the ferris wheel look like old fashioned train cars.  They are large enough to comfortable fit 15 people or more.  They also have special gondolas that you could have a candlelight dinner in while you go around!  This is the view from the gondola at the top of the ferris wheel.

 

This giant swing ride went WAAAAY up in the air.  No way would you catch me on that thing!  Way too high with only a little chain seat belt to hold you in.  No thanks!

 

Inner workings of the ferris wheel.

 

ME!

 

Some old fashioned telephone at the Reisenrad.

 

The Riesenrad is in an amusement park called the Prater Park.

 

Kieran really wanted to ride the "Dizzy Mouse."

 

We just had to take a picture of this Metro stop.  "Schwedenplatz" means Sweden Place in German. :)

 

Look at these cool flowers in the shape of a treble clef!  One guess who the statue is...

 

That's right!  Mozart!  He is the biggest celebrity of Vienna, apparently!

 

He started quite a fashion statement.  Even today, people still dress up like him.

 

Vienna is full of music.  Here is the famous Opera House.

 

And on the inside, even more impressive!

 

We did not go to the Opera, but we did go to a Mozart concert at the Vienna Musikverein Concert Hall.  It is one of the best acoustic concert halls in the world.

 

This is the inside.  Fancy chandeliers, decorative carved wood everything, etc.

 

We sat in the balcony.

 

Here is the old Stephansdom (St. Steven's Cathedral) next to some new funky building.

 

The reflection of Stephansdom on a glass building.

 

This looks like a magical pixie land. But it's not.  It's the inside of the Stephansdom.

 

The light coming through the stained glass makes this weird disco lighting effect.

 

Check out the disco organ.

 

Of course we had to climb to the top.  Here's the view.

 

 

We also visited St. Peter's Cathedral. 

 

Not as large and disco-like, but still beautiful.

Here is the Hofburg Palace.  What's weird here is that they have the "Spanish Riding School" where they train horses to prance around inside some building.  It pretty much looks like that concert hall we went to, except for instead of an orchestra and seats on the ground floor, there is a bunch of dirt, and the horses dance there.

 

Here is a yellow suit.  Enjoy.

 

We don't know what this fountain was, but it looked cool, so we took a picture by it.

 

Finally, the last thing we did on our trip was to visit the Schloss Belvedere (Belvedere Palace.)  It is now an art museum, and my mom wanted to see the Gustav Klimt.

 

This, here, is a bush.

 

 

This is called a "gyrlphon" (half girl, half gryphon).

 

The flowers at Belvedere.

 

And now, another Ladyger (if you recall, the ladyger is half lady, half tiger.)  "It's pretty much my favorite animal."

 

Help! We are trapped inside the schloss!

 

THIS was my favorite thing on the trip.  It is a pole wearing a sweater. Yes, even the poles here have great style.  This could really catch on.  Maybe I will learn to knit and start selling them on ebay for people's poles.