Narrow space

Narrow entrance to two different shops

I shall start this Sunday evening's session at the imac by doing something frivolous ie blogging. ( I'm meant to be updating the year 3 bluepring but am taking a break BEFORE starting work) Here's an interesting entrance to the show shop I was interested in. Have you ever seen anything like this before? I think this was taken in one of the small streets about 5 minutes away from Graben.

Very skilled parking

Many German made cars in Vienna. Here are just two of the more frequently seen cars, a merc and a volkswagen. They certainly seem very comfortable near each other:)

Peterskirche

As seen from Graben

 I knew this was important. Yes I did! And so I have a shot of this Baroque era church to add to my collection. I actually have two shots on two different days. But this one was the nicer of the two. Once again I didn't go in because I was hungry and wanted some food.  If you realise this is possibly a very early church which has stood here since the second half of the 4th century you may well get excited about this shot too. It's actually squeezed in between some buildings so I could be forgiven for thinking it's just another church. Yes yes...philistine that's what I yam!

What you see if you face the Street

This was the only reason I took some shots...because there were others ( who obviously did their homework) taking pictures. More before I decided to whisk my camera out to take some shots.

Maltese Church

Malteserkirche

If you walk along  Kärntner Straße , which as a tourist you will feel duty bound to do...you may come across this church. I missed it the first time I walked down the street. My shallow mind and eyes zoomed in only on the possible shopping along this lovely pedestrianized street. The entrance is just that. A size of a single dooe with empty beige walls on either side. The sign to the right of the picture above is small. I only found out this place was listed on Tripadvisor when I googled places of interest in Vienna.( After returning home from trip). Hehe! Moral of the story, either you google extensively before your trip...and like me take pictures of interest to you and proceed to have fun when you get home.

A closer peek inside

In the reflection you can see the souvenir  shop opposite this church and people walking past without realising what they are walking pass.

With the zoom mode

I didn't go inside, something I'm regretting now. So here's a picture I took from the main door. You can see it isn't very long and the altar looks very grand and it attracts you somehow. This piece was painted in 1730 which is a pretty long time ago. This is a Roman Catholic Gothic church. ( What does Gothic mean? Remind me to google that after posting this.) And it has been restored in stages, the last being in 1998. There's a little bit of history for you. You won't find this place listed in the top list of places to visit in Vienna. So I'm pretty proud of myself having luckily taken a few pictures.

Haas Hause

Focus on the shiny building to the left of picture

Haas Hause is where you find Zara. As you exit Stephansplatz you will see this. It sort of sticks out from the rest of the older architectural buildings around it. It was listed in the places in see but as you may have guessed I wasn't too bothered reading all that before wondering about. As a result there's no complete picture of Haas Hause.

You may ask. What is so special about this building? It was designed by Hans Hollein and it is meant to reflect St Stephan's cathedral, It's all pretty exciting and you may read it all http://www.tourmycountry.com/austria/haas-house.htm

Donnerbrunnen fountain Vienna

I don't have many pictures because it didnt know it was a landmark until now

Yes I've been a little obsessed about finding names for the numerous shots I took in my speedy walk through Vienna during the ERS. Pretty proud of my legs having walked so fast and far and my camera for directing me to objects of interest. This was taken while walking about the First district in Vienna...which I've since read is where most tourists spend their time. ( Here's an interesting fact, the Vienesse consider an address from the first district to be equivalent with an academic degree or a noble name. ) Can you blame us? There's enough architecture and (ahem) shopping to keep you from wandering far. The fountain itself looks mighty nice but the surrounding wasn't grand. They had car parks and roads so it's sometimes depending on traffic occluded by cars. 

Here are some facts about this fountain:

1. It is actually called Providentiabrunnen ( ya a mouthful I know). The sculptor was Georg Raphael Donner. 

2. It was featured in " Before sunrise" starring Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy.

3. The four figures represent the four main rivers of the Austrian heartlands. The two male ones are those of Upper Austria and the femal ones lower Austria

4. These are actually copies made out of bronze. The orginal figures are housed somewhere else. Very long name I can't remember.

This building caught my eye before the fountain.

This is a supermarket. A bit upmarket I know this from peeking through the glass walls. I didn't go in because what would I do with a piece of raw meat in a hotel I tell you:) I read somewhere that the the locals do not buy in bulk instead they choose to buy daily and have fresh stuff. An interesting thing. I want to practice this...I think. 

Palais Palffy

The entrance of the building

First a little bit about Palais Palffy, it's opposite the Hofburg and it is meant to be a Palace but I think that's wrong. It was small and very unpalace-like. If you google this name, you can find very little about it. Apart from the fact it was once owned by a family called ( no surprises...Palffy). Mozart performed his first concert here at the age of 6. So yes because of this very fact, this place deserves a mention.

I arrived early.

This was one of the few times I arrived a good 40 minutes before any concert. Got scared of the dark and also worried I may not be able to find the place. The picture above is the little ( and yes I mean small) room we were ushered in for the performance.

Taking a bow before playing

They played like angels although one small comment if you will allow me, I think the costumes could have been better. I thought they were a little amateurish but I didn't dare voice out more until I stumbled out a blog which totally knocked this entire place down. And adviced folks this was a scam ( yes I felt stupid reading that thinking I had been conned) and the tickets were overpriced and the entire feel was like a school concert.

Okay so maybe the costumes were a little less professional and the dancing ( yes they had a spot of ballet paus de deux) wasn't so perfect, but I enjoyed the pitch perfect playing and the songs very much. So no..I have no regrets attending this concert. An experience!

Steffl

Steffl taken from a distance (Smokers they're everywhere uurgh)

What so special about this department store? Mozart lived and died here. And he also wrote and completed The Requiem and The Magic Flute here.Currently located at Kärntner Straße 19. It was founded in 1895. It owes its name to the Stephansdom tower.And yes I bought my two Longchamp bags here for a very good price. 

The glass lift....it was a scary experience

 This was the glass lift in Steffl. I took it because I was tired. So I travelled from level 6 right down to the basement with my nose almost pressed against the glass just to see what it was like. Not so good for the tummy but I got a nice video shot:)

Longchamp WOOT!

Got all excited when I saw this. I confess ...spent some time here oo-ing and ahh-ing over the price. The sales person was lovely. She diplomatically stayed away and offered her services intermittently at just the right time ie to get the ones at the higher shelf for me.

The view from the toilet at level 6 Steffl

The ladies at the Steffl was at level 6. Yes now you know why I went all the way to Level 6. A good experience. Clean and with wide glass windows you can see the buildings across clearly. Imagine...(again yes I'm mozart-obsessed) Mozart may have seen this view all those years back. Maybe his inspiration came from this. Who knows? The man was a genius!

Hofburg Palace

It was a wet afternoon!

Hofburg Palace is another place which was listed on the must-see list in the brochure. I must confess I took this picture on Day 2 while walking about looking for interesting buildings and architecture. I found this just as my legs were giving out and I was wet from the ankles down. I was cold and hungry. So apart from these hots I didn't bother hanging around here too long. But now..as I sit in the comfort of my apartment many many thousand trillion miles away from Vienna, I think...damm I should have taken more shots and gone inside the building.

Another angle of the walls of Hofburg

Who knows I may have been fortunate to see the current President of Austria. It is now his seat in this current day. And if I were transported back to the days where royalty ruled and folks never showered unless absolutely needed...I may have been able to see carriages of the royal family as they leave their residence for a spot of sigh-seeing for air.

If you walk long enough you'll bound to find Hofburg Palace.

So here's a little history of Hofburg which I've gleaned from the internet. Just so if you were ever in Vienna you would do this building justice.
1. Hofburg is today the official residence of the President of Austria. ( Lucky him!)
2. It used to be the home of the Habsburg dynasty ( Lucky them...!)
3. You should take the U-bahn ( tube in normal language) and get off at U3/Herrengasse. And not walk about from Stephensplatz like me. It would save your legs extra pain. Seriously.

Willkommen an der Universität Wien

The tube station you should get off...if you're attending university

 The University of Vienna is worth visiting. So here's where you get off at Universitat Ring. After this, everything else is pretty simple until you get out of the station. Not many signs pointing you to the right direction. And if you hadn't bothered googling the picture ( like me ) you may end up walking purposefully in different directions in vain. ( A separate post for the sights around the university main building)

Never mind the skinny jeans, observe the tram running through this station

 A cute little tram runs through the tube station. And it's pretty silent so once its outside the building it buzzes about and you need to be aware where the tram lines are. I walked to the left of the picture and up to broad daylight.

The main building of the university

Here is the main building found after 15 minutes and asking one single person on a bicycle. You may notice the lines of this picture isn't clean and I lobbed off bits of the top. Tired!! ( And excited at finally finding the building)

The very comprehensive list of Almar Maters

 This is in the main hall (Aula). We had an Aula Maxima at our old university but it didn't look half as grand as this Aula. The first thing that strikes you is the height of the ceiling. Materials must have been cheap back in the dark ages cos the ceiling went up forever.

Guided tours only in Summer

I missed the guided tour sessions so I did the next best thing which was to look around on my own and make up my own version of what is what.

Discrepancy in size of doors

 Still at the Aula where you may peek through the glass onto the courtyard. I found the door sizes weird and felt a little like Arrietty in the Borrowers.

Lovely stairs to walk up

 After walking about I took these lovely stairs which lead me to more interesting spots and also to the toilet.

The ceiling in one part of the main building

Just look at the intricate designs on the ceiling. We wouldn't be able to achieve this any time.The light streaming in gave it a creamy hue. Nice!

What a long corridor

This is a sight through one of the main huge doors. My head comes up to the door handle and I can just about peek through this. The University of Vienna is one of the oldest in the German speaking world and it has many other buildings scattered about but this main building is certainly worth visiting.

two shops in different eras

Old shopfront to the left of the cathedral

The other tourisy thing to do ( don't roll your eyes) is to buy stuff for friends and family. And this I did. Not an easy thing to find in Vienna. Or maybe because I was at the wrong area altogether. This quaint little shop was still closed when I walked pass. Look at the lettering above.And if you look closer you may make out a  wee gate at the door. I wonder whether this was what all the shops were like in the past.

Modern shopfront 

Then of course, I found this! No doubt about what they're selling. This was the first tourisy shop I found so I bought most of what I wanted here.

Aida

One of the many "Aida"s in town

You can tell from the weather what day this picture was taken. Hint! It rained tremendously the first morning day. Remember I was forced to buy an umbrella? I took this picture BEFORE I read about Aida in the brochure I found at the hotel where I stayed. It listed Aida as a place you would want to have coffee and cake at. Fancy that...my camera knew this was an important place before I did:)

THIS was on the list of things to eat at Aida

The brochure said we were to sit at Aida and have Sachertorte. This I did. I'm very obedient when it comes to comfort things really. Programmed that way I guess. This cake came with cream. No picture I do not want you to see the size of THAT dollop of cream I slurped through. Lovely! I want it again. But since I don't bake I'll have to hunt around the shopping centres and hope I find something close.

Coffee comes with a glass of water always. Why?

 Coffee was just the thing I needed having had a bad night's sleep due to a stuffed nose. The glass of water was presumably to wash down the caffeine? I'm not sure the timing of drinking the water...was it before, mid-way or after coffee.

Ice-cream

The entrance was enticing

 Still on the Vienna theme. I seriously think those of you reading the last few posts are convinced I did NOT attend the conference. You're wrong. I had good time management:) And so here are some pictures , all centered on this one shop along the main street. I cannot name streets mainly because I wasn't too bothered with where I was walking. I'm more of a landmark kinda gal.  It was a lovely sunny morning and what else should one do but get an ice-cream and shop?

Clear lines..lovely bright feeling

 Do you not agree that this part looks very much like a nursery?

It gives you a happy feeling being in this shop

 You'ld expect some nappies and blue teddy bears stuffed in these drawers

Ahah!!! And here comes the selection

I was greeted with this sight and boy oh boy....got into a twist trying to choose the perfect flavour

Which flavour?

 Interesting names spelt differently but if said aloud brings the English meaning to mind. So no problems trying to decipher which was which.

After much oooh-ing and hmm-ing..this was my choice

I can't remember which flavour i chose eventually. Hazelnuss I think.