Vienna, Austria

Tuesday

Welcome to Wien, the capital of Austria! This is the beautiful Stephansdom (St. Stephan's Cathedral), tucked in the centre of the city. We spent much of this morning touring the cathedral with the audio tour in our ears.

There has been a church on this site since the 8th century. This building has its beginnings as shown by the Romanesque west door (the front entrance) which dates from the 13th century. If you can peek through the screen keeping bits of crumbling stone from falling on the heads of those entering and leaving, you can see rounded arches in various designs, typical of Romanesque architecture. Walking inside you move through the centuries to 1578, the date the cathedral was officially completed.

While many elements of medieval carvings remain, much of what you see looking down the nave to the east end where the main altar is located is much later, 17th-18th century Rococo, as in the altar on the right of this photo. While I can appreciate the artistry of the Rococo period, it is a bit over the top for my taste. I guess I am a medieval woman at heart!

Probably my favourite part is this amazing pulpit which probably dates from around 1480. It is wonderful to see work like this remaining as the cathedral was severely damaged in 1945. The detail is mind boggling. The best part is the 'window gawker' who peeks out from under the staircase. It is a self portrait of sculptor!

Below is the Tomb of Emperor Frederick III, 1513. The Emperor actually died in 1493, but such incredible carving cannot be accomplished overnight.

I cannot find anything out about this fine fellow, but he is the only representation of someone from the 16th century that I found. His clothing is wonderful!

Somehow the Baby Shop and this extremely ornate example of medieval architecture manage to reside next to one another. Just behind me is the narrow entrance to the Tee Haus (Tea House) where we had a typically local lunch. Glenn enjoyed Käsespätzle (think mac and cheese with an accent) and a salad while I had a Viennese snack of a Brötchen (crusty roll) with ham, pickle and horseradish, a hazelnut petit four, a marzipan chocolate and coffee. The pickle was a surprise. From the fragrance I expected a dill pickle; however, it was a cross between a dill and a sweet pickle. Overall, it was delicious. I could eat those sweets every day!

Yesterday we had a short tour of central Vienna. Our guide explained about the numerology included in building the cathedral. Everything the builders did was wrapped around the biblical numbers 3, 4 and 7, including the number of steps to get to the top of the tower. I wish I could recall more detail, but my brain is being bombarded with a lot of facts of late!

Coffee houses have been a tradition in this part of the world for centuries. Several were recommended, but many of them had no available tables. We did find one of those recommended with a table just waiting for us down a little alleyway. The Café Hawelka had very cosy tables out front where Glenn and I along with new friends on the cruise Karen and her 93 year old father Roger enjoyed treats. I had Maria Theresia Kaffee which is strong coffee with milk served with orange liqueur in a small brandy snifter to be mixed into the coffee. Mmmmm! To top that off Glenn and I both had a sweet cheese strüdel with lots of custard. The typical Kaffee Haus experience!

The name for these river ships like the Gullveig on which we are cruising is 'longship.' Hopefully this photo might express the reason for the name:

In the photo you see two of these more than 400' long longships moored side by side. They are incredibly long! They can be found frequently moored next to one another, up to four longships no more than 6" apart! Our window is currently looking into the stateroom of another ship.

This afternoon Glenn took a tour of the wheelhouse which he found fascinating.

Captain Glenn!

I am currently salivating in anticipation of tonight's main course - Wienerschnitzel. A Viennese tradition, Wienerschnitzel is a veal cutlet pounded extremely thin, breaded, fried in butter and served with lemon wedges. Heaven!

Tonight we leave Vienna and continue upriver to the small Austrian town of Krems.