Vienna! Part 2

Okay, back to Vienna!

Day 3

I believe we first set out to find the Jesuit Church, which we'd read was really pretty and interesting, but we couldn't find it based on the directions, but ended up at Stephansdom, the most famous cathedral in Austria, so it wasn't a bad tradeoff!




Part of the outside of Stephansdom. It's hard to get far enough away to get a good picture of the whole thing, though I'm sure it can be found online!

The inside of Stephansdom. There were tons of tourists! It does give you a perspective on how BIG it is, though!

Also inside, further to the back. It's the main alter, which you can just barely see in the background of the picture before. This church is still Catholic, by the way.







Then for the REALLY fun part of the day! We went to Prater, which is the amusement park in Vienna. The entrance is free and you pay for the individual rides, so it was cool to go walk around and see everything and only pay for one or two rides. The atmosphere is just so much fun, and the weather was beautiful. So is the park. Some of the stuff is so cute and old-fashioned!



The famous Prater Riesenrad (Ferris Wheel), which is what the park is known for. Rides were crazy-expensive though, that being the main attraction! (9 euros is a bit much I think)

An adorable old-fashioned little kids' carousel

A beautiful swing ride near the entrance, so you can get an idea of how pretty some of the stuff is, especially up near the front, in the older part of the park.

Haha, us with the giant thing of cotton candy we just HAD to buy, since we were at a carnival. I am trying to look very excited (which I was) and lean back to get in the picture at the same time, and I failed.

We rode on the other ferris wheel in the park, which had the same fabulous view of Vienna, but, being un-famous, was only a fraction of the price of the Riesenrad.

We rode on the coolest ride EVER, a LIVE carousel! That means that there were real ponies, as well as the little sleigh things, and you could either ride or sit in the sleigh. So exciting!

View from the outside (P.S. - Wiener means Viennese; the German name for Vienna is Wien)

This awesome old-fashioned music player was actually still in use!

A horrible pun that we weren't sure how to react to...

Struggling with the arm-wrestling machine!

Artsy picture of the Riesenrad







Day 4

On the 4th and final day, we decided to go visit the Clown and Circus Museum, mostly because we were intrigued and decided there was a good chance it would be really interesting. It took us FOREVER to find, even with specific walking direction. Then it was in a really shady part of town. And it looked pretty scary. The entrance consisted of a small doorway covered by a rusty gate, with the name painted on the window above the door. This entrance was also shared with another museum, apparently. We were saved the decision as to whether or not to brave the creepy museum by their odd opening hours: Sundays from 10-2 and every other Thursday from 7pm-9pm. Strange hours if you want people to come. I sure wouldn't venture down there at night! Below is an illustration of the sketchiness. The entirety of the entrance is encompassed in the pictures. There is no colorful circusness hidden beyond the borders. That's it.














After that, we went back to a safe part of town and looked at our list to figure out where to go next. This is where we ended up:


Guess what it is. An important government building? A cafe? A museum?

Wrong.

It is the Jesuit church I mentioned earlier! The outside is a bit decieving, but it looks right at home next to the Science Academy! But wait until you see the inside...





This is without a doubt the most richly-decorated and elaborate church I have ever seen. It is absolutely breathtaking. It's a real shame that they have that strange astronaut banner strung over the ceiling (I have NO idea why), because if you look closely the ceiling is arched and looks to be just as elaborate as the rest, possibly even with frescos...

I believe the pink and green is all marble. There were about 4 little antechambers on either side of the main sanctuary, also elaborate, with large paintings and a dark wood confessional in each one.

Above the entrance, with the organ and little viewing balconies.

The main alter

To prove I was here!





During this time, we also ate ice cream (or gelato or whatever it is because it's not like American ice cream!) twice, dined out at several different locales, and had a fantastic girls' night with giant pizzas and cake and a movie!
My flight was a 7am, and I still had to take pubic transportation to the airport, so I had to get up crazy-early on Saturday. I cut it a little too close, and missed my flight AGAIN (I know, horrible), and my card was not working. I had a horrible moment of fear that I would be stuck in Vienna and miss my enrollment on Monday and have a whole semester wasted class-wise, but eventually got something worked out and got back safely, actually at the same time I would have before, because my rebooked flight was direct instead of with a layover in Zurich. I think it's safe to say that I have learned my lesson and will probably never be late for a flight again in my whole life!!

All in all, it was fantastic, even weighing in all the travel stress. I really miss being able to spend time with Kate. I don't know why, but the friends I made in Schwabisch Hall are so much closer than the friends I have made here. I am still holding out hope for people I meet in classes and such, though. Maybe it was just the instant bond that people make when they are thrown into a foreign country alone! In any case, it was great to be able to spend a few days with Kate again, and get to explore Vienna (with a personal guide nonetheless!)--it is, after all, one of those must-see European cities! It was totally worth every ounce of stress, and then some!