ProjectVISUAL

Just a quick update on my latest trip away – I spent 5 days in Vienna at the end of May as part of a college trip I had to take part in. The college part (also the boring part) was over by the 30th, leaving the 31t for me to wander the streets of Vienna to see what all this fuss I was hearing about. You see, Vienna has got the reputation of being the “Cultural Capital of Europe” and I wanted to find out why. I was staying in the Golden Tulip Hotel on Wallgasse, near the city center. It’s a four star hotel and my room was on the top floor, with a small but open roof terrace to boot! The brochure stated that there’s a wonderful view of Vienna from these terraces; that might have been true if all the other ugly buildings weren’t in the way! Anyway, leaving at 9am, my first stop of the day was to be St Stephens Cathedral (also called Stephansdom) in the Innere Stadt (Inner Town). A quick trip on the subway from West Bahnhof brought me there. I should mention that even though the temperature that day was a sweltering 31 degrees celsius, and I was literally running from shadow to shadow so to avoid catching fire, St Stephens Cathedral still managed to impress. For those statistically inclined, it was built in 1147 and is a whopping 136.7m high at its peak. The immediate area is a tourist magnet, with plenty of photographers making the most of the busy streets. Stephansdom provides a spectacular view from the roof and I’ll be putting up some pictures from there as soon as I go through them properly, keep an eye out for an Austria entry at Pictures Around The World. Nearby in Neumarkt is the Donnerbrunnen, the most extravagant fountain in Vienna and well worth a view. A trip to the Hofburg followed but pathetically I surrendered to the sun and ran back to my air conditioned hotel room

Once the sun had subsided a little I headed out again for a few more hours. I tried to checked out the Schloss Belvedere but it was closed for some unknown reason. I did manage to get out to the Schonnbrun before the sun went down – I’ll be putting up photos of that also at Pictures Around The World.
It’s a pity but I didn’t make it out to Danube Island (Donauinsel), which I hear is a great way to spend a day in Vienna. Maybe next time!