Cathedrals and Stallions and Towers, Oh My!!

Vienna is an amazing and beautiful city, that's for sure!!  We got going bright and early on the 29th with a bountiful breakfast at the hotel.  The dining area was very elegant with white tablecloths and china.  Our hotel had a parking area, and we got 48-hour tickets for the Vienna subways, which is definitely the way to get around in the big city.  

Karls Kirke was our first sight after getting off the subway at Karlsplatz.

This wasn't even on our official itinerary -- we're so glad we walked over to check it out!

This was the reserved seat box for royalty inside the church - Beth looks right at home!

The Vienna Opera house was very impressive.

The walk along "The Ring" was full of impressive sights.

It's impossible and expensive to get tickets to see the Spanish Riding School performances , but our hotel
concierge encouraged us to go see a morning exercise session of the Lipizzaner stallions - very cool!!  

The stallions and riders were very impressive!

We heard a recorded announcement that there was absolutely no flash photography allowed, which
made sense, so the horses wouldn't be distracted.  After I had taken a bunch of pictures without my flash,
a nice employee came up and said there were no photos permitted at all.  Whoops!!  

For the morning exercise, the stable hands would bring out one group of horses, then the riders would work on different maneuvers.  The routine would repeat with different horses and riders during the session.  

This is the royal palace where the Spanish Riding School / Lipizzaners are housed.  

Photo op by this big statue on the corner of the palace.

The palace gates.  Everything was so BIG and so ornate!!  

The city was full of horse-drawn carriages - I loved the sound of the hooves clip-clopping on the cobblestones!  

Not sure the name of this church, but just one of many on our walking tour.

The Olsons on the move, heading to The Ring again to see more sights after the Lipizzaner exercise session. 

We happened onto the Minoritenkirche which originally dates back to the 12th century.

Beautiful gothic interior, all decorated for Christmas!

One of the side altars

It was another cold day, but hey, we were in VIENNA!!!!   WOW!!!

This is the Austrian Parliament building - very impressive!

Tim and Beth at Parliament!

Vienna's city hall - the Rathaus - such beautiful architecture!

More beautiful Viennese architecture on The Ring - across from the Rathaus

I'll bet the park in front of the Rathaus is beautiful in the spring and summertime!

Oh, goofy kids!  "Gute Fahrt" actually means to have a good trip in German, but Paul and Beth suggest another meaning!!   They giggled every time they would see that expression anywhere.  

The Olsons checking out Vienna University.

Another BIG cathedral - not even sure which one - we didn't go any closer because we were on the way
to St. Stephens, which is even more magnificent (and which did NOT have a giant ugly billboard on the
scaffolding in front of it like this one did - ugh!!)

This picture is for my parents, who love to tease Tim about going to the pub with the locals
after basketball every Friday night.  Here is a Viennese pub!!  :-)  

More impressive architecture.  Vienna is a lot like New York or any American big city, except
for all the old, ornate buildings everywhere!!  

Statue on the way to Stephensplatz

Our first view of St. Stephen's Cathedral, which is certainly one of the most impressive
sights in Europe!!  WOW!!  

The tiled roof of St. Stephen's is amazing in the sunlight - so colorful!

I couldn't even get a good picture of the facade of St. Stephen's because it sits right in the city center.

The interior is equally impressive and so tall!!

The organ and stained glass window at the back were impressive too.

Alana really wanted to climb the tower at St. Stephen's, so we waited in line for tickets.

Paul and Alana at 1 Stephensplatz, ready to ascend the tower!

Getting warmed up for the climb!

Gargoyles out the window on the way up the tight spiral staircase.

On the staircase.....

And finally, the view from high up in the tower.  We were only allowed to go up about half way, but we still had great views of Vienna!

The roof and spires from above...

The square below, which later in the evening was absolutely packed with people!

The rooster atop the roof.

Postcards of St. Stephen's in the shop at the top, and these postcards as well!  
(Especially photographed for Daniel Murton in Australia!!)    :-)  

Another view of the roof's intricate tile patterns and the city skyline!

On the way down the tower - Beth and Paul in the bell tower level below me! 

A view out one of the small decorative windows on the tower.

A view back at one section of St. Stephen's roof, down a side street.  Lute in his Hope cap!

There were Christmas decorations everywhere!

Waiting for someone who had to go to the restroom.  Again.  ;-)  (No names mentioned!)

We stopped to warm up with hot tea, coffee, and a steamed milk for Lute!  (I was checking emails to make contact
with Katie, the teacher in Bratislava, who was also in Vienna with her family!)

Alana with her tiny espresso, and Lute with his BIG steamed milk! 

The streets above the pedestrian area were spectacularly decorated with lights!

We finally met up with Katie, Jeannie and Chuck for supper.  It was so fun for our families to meet after we've shared so many experiences with Katie in Slovakia!  Katie's birthday is New Year's Eve, so we brought a marlenka cake (typical Slovak dessert) to celebrate!  The restaurant staff was really nice about serving it after dinner as a surprise for Katie!