Having left the
cathedral we had a wander around the streets but it was a very grey
afternoon. Streets are quite wide and sometimes involve crossing numerous
different sections; cycle lane, tram line, bus lane and finally cars - you need
to concentrate.
Luckily there are
these cute pedestrian lights to help.
Home of
the Vienna State Opera.
In one
corner of Stephensplatz (Cathedral Square) is Stock-im-Eisen (literal
translation - stick set in iron) a gnarled old tree trunk into which travelling
locksmiths arriving in medieval Vienna would drive a nail for good luck.
Cathedral reflection.
Mozart
is everywhere but sadly we didn't have time to visit his flat.
The huge, gilded, Baroque Plague statue commemorating the 17th century outbreak (estimates range from 12,000 to 75,000 deaths).
Roman
ruins just in front of the Hofburg.
Statue
of Archduke Charles in Heroes Square.
More
buildings in the Hofburg complex
Similar
to Prague, these old vehicles offer sightseeing trips.
As do
the many horse drawn carts and at €50 for a 20 minute ride, the animals are
very well looked after.
We then
stopped off for some Gluwein, I don't like the stuff anyway but this was
particularly unpleasant; very sweet and too many spices. The only good
thing were the mugs which you have to pay a €4 deposit, but far nicer that
plastic/paper cups.
This chap’s
wearing a kippah (I only learnt the name recently, in Prague).
As well
as foodstuffs for sale there were stalls of Christmas decorations.
By now
it was starting to get dark so we headed back to the metro and our riverside
hotel.