Vienna - Christmas, Castles and Cold - Part 2

Saturday morning recap:

1.  After getting up early to take advantage of quiet streets and time to get my navigation straight, I wandered the empty streets of Vienna.  Have I mentioned how much I love early Saturday mornings in European cities?  Nothing is open and the streets are deserted.  It feels like a romantic comedy movie could take place right in front of you as you stroll the cobblestones.  Which brings me to another point.  This trip, more than any other in my life, I felt like one big hormone/pheremone, moreso than I've ever felt in my life.  I don't know what it was...actually I do.  It was the combination of Christmas, cold weather and beautiful sights that had me restraining myself from grabbing the nearest Austrian guy and mugging down.  Good thing that didn't happen...I felt like I was a boy crazy teenager, which I never experienced that intensely when I was in high school.  That all being said, the scenery was great.

2.  As I wandered the cobblestone streets, I found St Stephen's Cathedral:

Rick Steves gives St. Stephen's 3 pyramids.  This brings up an interesting debate about his ratings.  It's pretty clear that he ranks by the book as compared to what else is in the book he is writing.  For instance, this book is Vienna, Salzburg, and Tirol.  I would say I really enjoyed St. Stephens, but when you put it up against St Peter's (also 3 pyramids) in Rome, it's no comparison.  I think he needs to switch to a 4 point system.  3 was too high when you consider what else in other books he's given a 3.  However, for Vienna, 3 is perfectly acceptable.

 

 

The roof has incredible detail on it.  The original roof was destroyed by an errant bombing by the Nazis in WWII.  The pride Viennese feel in St. Stephen's is pretty evident in the inside, but the roof is the ultimate display of that pride.  Each tile in the restored roof was funded by a Viennese citizen to rebuild.  Pretty cool.  Another interesting point...in English, the capitol of Austria is Vienna.  In German and to most Europeans, it's known as Wien, which means that people from Wien are known as Wieners.  Let the giggling commence.  RS uses Wieners throughout his book and it makes me giggle every time.  Sign of immaturity or sign of being young at heart?  Yours to judge.

 

 

Altar in St Stephens

 



Tomb of Federick III, the father of the Hapsburg dynasty (1415-1493).  Another example of Wiener pride in the cathedral - the tomb was encased in bricks during WWII by locals, saving it from damage.

Close up of the painting at St Stephen's - shows the stoning of St Stephen.

This is the statue work done around the pulpit.  The marble sculpture includes 4 fathers of Catholic theology (not pictured).  The interesting part of this sculpture is the time frame it was created in.  It was on the brink of the Renaissance period, in fact, the Ren. period was already in full swing in Italy, where Raphael and Michaelangelo were busy creating the works for the Vatican and taking full credit for the work.  Prior to the Ren period, most sculptures were done anonymously in order to ensure credit went to the Creator and not a creator.  However, in this borderline Ren work, the sculptor put himself near the floor peering up at the four fathers.  It's a very funny little guy peeking out from under the stairs.  Love it!

St. Stephen's quick video tour

Outside of St Stephens. 

After touring St. Stephens, I grabbed breakfast on the Platz at a Viennese cafe.  They still allow smoking in restaurants and MANY Wieners still smoke.  That was unfortunate, but the atmostphere was just right looking out at the cathedral and the growing crowds and clouds.

St. Stephens will feature prominently in future posts, stay tuned!