Opulent Vienna

While we were lying in our bunks last night trying to get to sleep in ridiculous conditions (32 degrees at 10.30pm in a room with no air-conditioning) Annalisa said, 'Man, what an opulent city Vienna is', and I thought that was a great word to describe it. Vienna screams wealth and everywhere you look is some ornate, lavish building to look at and it is just gorgeous.

Simon recommended we check out St. Stephen's Cathedral and this was easy to get to because it was only a few stops away on the metro. We both marvelled at how good a condition it was in and this was simply because the outside had been cleaned. As we walked around it we also noticed a pretty funky pattern on the roof which seemed quite unusual for a cathedral, I liked it though.

Outside St. Stephens

Can you see the roof?

The top is clean but the rest not yet, see the difference?

I liked looking around the square that the cathedral was in and found some horses to get up close and personal with. Down one street I happened to see an emerald dome poking out of the top so we went down there to find out it was another church.

Spot the dome

Horses with cute hats on

Inside St. Peters Church

What was underneath that dome

Our next stop was meant to be the Hofsburg Palace complex but we got a bit lost and couldn't find the entrance, it was so massive! At this point I reckon it was about 35 degrees so our ability to concentrate and understand a map may have been somewhat impaired. It wasn't a bad thing though because we ended up coming across things we may have otherwise missed.

Another impressive dome

A fountain to splash a bit of water on ourselves with

Balancing act

In the Hofsburg grounds

A wing of the palace

Outside parliament

Parliament

We then came across an amazing venue for a film festival and are thinking of going to the one there tonight.

Check out that back drop!

We were tired and hot so decided to stop exploring at this point and head back to make some dinner with fresh food we'd got from a market. I made my specialtly kumara, spinach and feta dish but got some spices from  the market. Hehe note to self for future cooking - do NOT overload with foreign spices, unless you want a mouth explosion...

Happily cooking away

Before we knew the spice level...

It was a rather successful day considering the early start. Today we are thinking of doing a city tour and go to the Hapsburg summer palace but it is supposed to get up to 38 degrees so water is going to be key! At least Vienna is well stocked with water fountains!

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