April 6-9, 2025.
I flew in and out of Vienna, to attend a conference in Brno, Czechia,
which was 2 hours be bus from the Vienna airport. After the conference,
I spent 2.5 days, from the afternoon of Sunday, April 6, 2025 through
Tuesday, April 8, 2025 as a tourist, and then flew back Wednesday morning
(literally traveling about 24 hours, a tram, a train to the airport,
3 flights, some long-ish layovers, and a 1 hour drive from the airport
to get back home.
I only had a small amount of time to get a sense of this amazing,
ancient, modern city. So I did the best I could. I also had a
light cold, which reduced my energy level a little. And at times
it was a bit cold and windy. But there was nice weather too.
I hadn't made a lot of plans, since there was so much in Vienna
to see. So I explored the area near where I was staying, walked to the
Blue Danube (I know "blue" is not actually part of its name), and explored
the old town area near Stephensplatz, the area around the massive
St. Stephen's Cathedral (Stephansdom). The Prater is an amusement part
that was a couple blocks from my hotel. I wandered around there one
night among the lights and rides.
77 photos.
Click here for photos of
Brno from the same trip.
I walked from Praterstern on the Lassallestraße to the Reichsbrücke (Imperial Bridge) which is the bridge that crosses the Danube river connecting Leopoldstadt to the south to Donauinsel (Danube Island) to the north. Technically the river runs northwest to southeast at this point, but I'm simplifying it to be east-west which is kind of how it is more or less in this area, give or take some twists and turns. Automobile traffic is on the top, below that in the middle is train and subway traffic. And to the sides are foot and bicycle paths. There's a nice view of the river on both sides.
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I think this is some functional dock rather than art. The Donauturm (Danube...(more)
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The Vienna International Centre (VIC) is one of the major UN sites (New York,...(more)
The Prater itself is a large park just north of the Danube.
The Wurstelprater
is an amusement park that occupies a small part of the
Prater though
often people refer to it as the Prater as well. The name Wurstelprater
comes from Hanswurst ("Johnny Sausage") a buffoon character
in rural carnival theaters and touring companies. The Wurstelprater is
an à la carte place. It's free to walk around the park—people
only pay for the rides. So I wandered around, explored, took some
night pictures, and bought some postcards. It was around 9pm and
there were a lot of people but it wasn't insanely crowded. Several
restaurants and bars are there too.
The rides include the Riesenrad (Giant Wheel), which is almost 65m (212 ft)
tall built in 1897 and the Blumenrad, a smaller ferris wheel. The park
has 14 roller coasters, two log flumes, bumper cars, ghost trains,
a fun house, several chair swing rides including the Praterturm which
is 117m (384 ft) tall, arcades, museums, and a planetarium.
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The Extasy ride (in the red zone) are groups of 4 cars that spin like a tire...(more)
Technically, this was all in the Leopoldstadt district and all within a few blocks of the Praterstern station. I had walked around the area during the day, but after dinner, I walked a little looking for a cafe where I could get dessert. I passed by a church and a cute little cafe.
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St. Johann Nepomuk Vienna was built between 1736-1737. It's on Praterstraße, a...(more)
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A proper dessert at a Vienna cafe: tea and a sacher torte. I hadn't removed a...(more)
St. Stephen's Cathedral (Stephansdom in German) in Vienna was consecrated i 1147 and was built on the ruins of two earlier churches. Over the centuries, it has been extended and restored. It is huge and open to the public. A small lift (elevator) in the north tower allows people to go up to the top and can walk around part of that area and take in the amazing view.
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A small concert/performance was just ending. The stained glass windows here...(more)
Stephansplatz
is the plaza or square that's at the center of Vienna and named for
the biggest, most notable building there: Stephansdom, or
St. Stephen's Cathedral, which is one of the tallest churches in
the world (see the previous section).
There used to be houses between Stephansplatz and Stock-im-Eisen-Platz
before the 20th century, but since then Stephansplatz now refers to
the entire area. The U-Bahn (subway) station there is the busiest one
in Vienna.
Stock-im-Eisen ("staff in iron") is a part of a tree trunk into
which hundreds of nails have been hammered, since the Middle Ages and it
is ringed by an iron band closed by a large padlock and the earliest
written references to it date back to 1533.
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The color and cubical theme of my hotel room. I took a few afternoon naps, as...(more)
Click here for photos of Brno from the same trip.
