Vienna, Austria
We were in Vienna last year so I did not duplicate the pictures this year. We were flying out of Vienna and that is why we were back. Here is a VIDEO 6 MB of the scenic Slovakian countryside we passed through on our train ride from Croatia to Vienna.
Here was a church that we did not see last year, so I thought I was worth it to take a few pictures. You can be the judge. It looks unassuming enough on the outside, huh?...
The Jesuit (or University) Church, described by our tour guide as demonstrating a "baroque on acid" style of decorating, bordered on a visual sensory overload.
We couldn't believe these crazy columns. Zany.
This church was somewhat gaudy, but at times it was actually nice. Look at the carved ivory inlays in these pews. Also, each top piece you see (they were on all the pews) was hand carved.
Looking up towards the ceiling, even more ornate clutter.
In another building, this wall still has canon balls fired by the Turks back in the 1500's lodged in it.
Sure this statue is large, but what is really impressive is how it is balanced on only the horse's back two legs. The tour guide explained that the sculptor tried to duplicate this feat on a similar statue across the square, but could not do so and had to touch the horse's tail down to make that other sculpture stable.
Strangely enough, the Earth From Above exhibit, which I had seen in London last fall, was now in Vienna.
Jamie marks our starting point, good old Minnesota.
I marked our current spot, Austria.
I don't remember (and can't locate) the name of this church, but I do remember the controversy. When it was being built no building could be taller than city hall, but the builders of this church wanted to make it such that it would be. They came up with the idea to put a statue on top of city hall so that it would still be the tallest building. Today you can still see a semi-random statue on top of Vienna city hall.
We had a couple drinks, killed some time, and then had some good curry at the Blue Box. After this, we headed out to our hotel near the airport. The taxi driver hit 160 km/hour (or about 96 mph). The next morning we got up at 5:00, buzzed over to the airport in a shuttle van, and were on our way home.
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