Quick Hop to Vienna

Jennifer had to go to Vienna for work, so we added the weekend before as a quick trip.  We had some great 'eis caffe' - tall glass of cold coffee with two small scoops of vanilla ice cream in the coffee, and whipped cream on top.  Wish they had those in Paris!

Another delight we had was a lychee prosecco that the Bangkok Thai Restaurant gave us at the end of our meal.  I've never tasted anything quite like it.  Although I generally don't appreciate champagne or prosecco, I loved this.  I'm not sure if it was a cocktail they mixed up there, or came in a bottle.  I should have asked!

A few pics from random doorways around town.

This style of a column in the shape of a person (a caryatid) is all over Vienna.  This is one of the best in my opinion (actually one of a pair).  Most of the others are very muscular and nearly naked men, which made me wonder about the orientation of the emperor or emperors.

And now for something strange and gross.  A forty foot tall fountain monument in the middle of one of the main pedestrian roads of the old town commemorates the end of a plague.  This little scene is center front of the whole monument.  Look carefully, it's very strange.   Have you ever seen a cherub committing murder before?  Or sagging, wrinkled breasts on a sculpture?

View of Stephansdom, the cathedral of Vienna.  The black is from a hundred years of burning coal.  They're gradually sandblasting it back to its original white color, section by section.  

We had to get a workout to get this photo.  Up about 180 feet in a tiny spiral stone stairwell with few windows.  And then you're only about half of the way to the top of the biggest tower.  So, you can imagine how tall this tower is.  Stephansdom is famous for this tile pattern on the roof.  

Interior of one of the many baroque churches in Vienna.

Below is Votivekirche.  I love the two matching towers of pure white stone.  The front of this church would be the best photo angle, but it's obscured by a 75-foot tall Samsung 4S advertisement.  The massive advertisement covers up the scaffolds put in place to scour off the soot.  I'd love to come back and see Votivekirch when it's all white.  It's my favorite, despite Stephansdom being more famous, bigger, and more important.