Adventures of David and Paul: Vienna Day One

After a day in Munich, we took a 4 hour train ride to Vienna. It was a very nice ride with pretty towns and countryside which included some views of the Alps. We arrived in Vienna's new train station early in the afternoon and made our way to our AirBnB in the inner ring of the city. The AirBnB was cute, with a small kitchenette, a living room, a bedroom and a bathroom complete with a German shelf toilet. We didn't waste much time before heading out to explore the city. Vienna has tons of sights, museums, parks, and cafes.

A cute town along the way. The train ride was very scenic.

Countryside and Alps from the train.

To start, we went on a whirlwind tour of the center city's main sites. Our first stop in Vienna was the Jesuit church, just a short walk from our AirBnB. It has an over-the-top early-Baroque interior from 1705... with a lot of pink. We continued on to Stephansdom, the main church of the city. It has a unique colorful tile roof. We climbed up the south tower for sweeping views.

The outside of the Jesuit Church.

Interesting perspective paintings on the ceiling.

Pink spiraling columns.

The front facade of Stephansdom.

The soaring gothic/romanesque interior.

Climbing up the never-ending spiral staircase.

Views over the historic center of Vienna.

The distinctive tile roof makes this church a symbol of Vienna.

More of the tile roof, with the Austrian double-headed eagle.

We had a late lunch followed by more exploration of the historic city center, walking through parts of the Hofburg (the Hapsburg's palace) including the imperial treasury museum. The center part of Vienna is very walkable. There are shops and restaurants everywhere along with numerous museums and historic sites. The government has done a great job maintaining this portion of the city to encourage tourism and maintain a 19th century look.

Lunch at Gasthaus Poschl.

The center of Vienna is cute.

The main building of Hofburg Palace, which served as the seat of the government for the past 600 years.

In the Hofburg entrance. There are carriages all around the center of the city.

An imperial crown in the treasury.

Nothing to see here! Just a snake eating a baby.

Another part of the Hofburg. It's a large complex.

Don't you point at me.

One thing that's immediately noticeable walking around Vienna is how great the public transportation is and how bike-friendly it is. Many of the streets had separate bike tracks, and there was an easy to use comprehensive system of streetcars and subways. We ended up using transit quite a bit, but also walked all over the place. As you move out from the inner circle there are more modern buildings and more trams and subway stations, but the city never loses its walkability and charm.

Our next stop was the natural history museum (Naturhistorisches Museum), a huge museum occupying an old palace. It's a part of Vienna's massive museum quarter; adjacent to the Kunsthistorisches Museum, the Leopold Museum and the Mumok. The building itself is a mirror image of the adjacent Kunsthistorisches Museum and is very impressive. There were a combination of old-school exhibits and some that have been updated relating to geology, biology, taxonomy and astronomy.

Plenty of good bike and transit infrastructure.

The impressive view of the museum.

An, umm... interesting statue on the outside of the natural history museum.

An old rock and mineral exhibit.

Dinosaurs!

The main hall of the museum.

Our final stop of the day was Praterpark, one of the world's oldest amusement parks. It operates more like a permanent fair: entry is free, but you need to buy a ticket for each ride, which are independently owned and not particularly cheap. If you want to ride everything here it can add up. The park also hosts one of the oldest ferris wheels, from 1897.

After visiting Prater, we grabbed a bite to eat at a restaurant near our AirBnB. Viennese food is very meat and salt heavy, with few veggies. David had some vegetarian dumplings and Paul ate a beef stew-like dish. No schnitzel today, but plenty to come later during our stay in Austria.