I took this shot of the Vienna skyline from the top of the ferris wheel – the Wiener Riesenrad at the Prater funfair in Vienna. The ferris wheel is over 100 years old, and the funfair is filled with amazing rides (more about the fund fair in an future post). But if you want to see an amazing view of the Viennese skyline in an historical manner, I recommend a ride on the Wiener Riesenrad.
When we visited the harvest festival we came across this lady playing with a chainsaw. She was making wooden works of art – but using a chainsaw as her sculpting tool. It was astonishing to watch how quickly she made these small and detailed little animals. It probably took her about 10 minutes to make an animal.
Making art
Little wooden rabbits
I think we should see if she could make us a guide dog!
The Riesenrad in Vienna is a huge and very old ferris wheel. It was originally commissioned in 1897 and is still running. It sits at the entrance to the Prater amusement park (I will speak about the park in a future post).
The cabins are huge and can easily hold about 15 people, and if you visit in the evening you can book a private restaurant cabin. I am not quite sure how they actually get the food into the cabin!
Of course, from the top you have a magnificent view of the city and amusement park. It almost looks like you are looking down at a little model of the city. A must-visit when you are in Vienna!
In my previous post I mentioned the Prater amusement park. It is a massive amusement park just outside the city centre of Vienna. It is easily a 5km loop around the outside of the park, so it can keep you busy (and on your feet) for quite some time!
It has the usual assortment of roller-coasters, scary rides, children rides, food & DRINIS. For us an hour wondering around was plenty of time to spend there (entrance is free but you pay for the rides), but if you love amusement parks you could easily spend the entire day here.
I’m not sure if he is very happy
Viennese food for sale
Scary ride – looks like lego blocks to me
Haunted houser
It is a little touristy, but it is rather relaxing to explore a city riding in an elegant horse carriage. Vienna is one of the many cities where you can do so, pretending that you are the gentry being driven around the city.
In fact in Vienna they even have horse carriage rides at the Central Cemetery. The Cemetery is massive – just under 500 acres, so its not a bad idea at all.
Vienna has the most incredible public transport system; both the tram network and the metro. This is the No.1 tram. If use both No.1 and No.2, you can do a complete loop around the Ringstrasse (Ring Road), what was built to replace the city walls. There are many historic sights on the way, including the State Park, the Opera House and the Franz Schubert.
If you are feeling fit, it is a nice 5k loop along the same route (of course on the pavement next to the trams).
In my previous post, I showed the flower-clock in Stad Park in Vienna. If you walk a little beyond the clock you will see a wonderful statue of Johann Strauss (i.e. junnour) playing the violin. Imagine him playing the Blue Danube as you sit and listen to his music. The statue looks like it is made from solid gold, but it is gilded – a very thin layer of gold has been applied to the bronze statue. It lights up the whole park in the sun.
This is one of the pipe organs in St. Stephen’s Cathedral, Vienna. I am not sure how many there are, but I counted 3 in total (the main organ is the largest outside USA).
It is not often you get to see the dome of a church from upfront. If you visit Karlskirche in Vienna you can do just that. They have built a scaffolding platform right all the ay to the top of the church, If you go up in a rickety lift and them climb about 3 fights of stairs, you can admire the artwork and architectural detail from close up (just don’t look down).
The scaffolding to the top
The dome from close up
Some of the Biblical scenes from up close
It is a wonderful experience, so give yourself some time for the climb.
This is the same church in which we listened to Mozart’s Requiem a few days later.
A view of Karlskirche and the lovely pond in front of it in Vienna. We went back to the church a few days later to listen to Mozart’s Requiem played on period instruments. The pond is a popular student hangout, and is packed at the weekends with food and pub-carts, live music and lost of partying.
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