The View From My Beer
This trip was taken before I got in the habit of taking photos with a view from my beer.
Vienna
Vienna was the first stop on my 2002 Round-The-World trip. This trip was originally planned before I got married. Not having enough money to have an extended trip for the two of us, I decided to abbreviate the trip cutting out visits to Helsinki and London. I am not sure quite what to expect on my first visit to Austria. It was a part of Europe I was curious to see, having been entralled as a kid by the movie The Sound of Music.
The capital city of Austria, Vienna has a population of 1.9 million. Over the years it has been part of many empires. Between 1558 and 1918 it was an imperil city. After WW I it became the capital of the Austro-Hungarian empire. From 1938 to 1945 it was part of Hitler’s “Greater” Germany. Following WW II it was occupied by American British, French, and Soviet forces. Austria finally regained its independence in 1955.
Vienna is known as the both the ‘City of Music’ and the ‘City of Dreams’. It is the birthplace of both Mozart and Beethoven. Much of the central part of Vienna is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage with many examples from the Middle Ages, Baroque, and Gründerzeit periods.
My Walk
Vienna
Having arrived early in the morning I spent most of the afternoon walking around central Vienna visiting as many places of interest I could find. There was a lot of focus on Mozart.
Wiener Riesenrad
Vienna is also home to the world’s oldest ferris, Wiener Riesenrad. Constructed in 1897, it is 65 metres high.
