Stephansdom, Prater Park

This weekend I had thought to travel to Venice, but I've decided to put that off and get done some of the prime sightseeing in Vienna. This will give me more time to organize trips abroad and make sure I have all the information I need. It will also give me confidence that I am not going to run out of time to see the magnificence of Vienna as I am touring around other parts of Europe.

Not quite as impressive as the one in Krakow,
but still amazing

Not quite Mariazell's organ,
but still big and relatively pretty

Today I caught up on my sleep from the week and prepared to go out. I had thought to go to Schönbrunn today, but realizing I ought to go into town to get some lunch, I instead decided to actually, truly go through the Stephansdom and give it my time. I may still go back to take a tour up into the tower or down into the trips, but I feel like I've experienced the inside properly, now. It was quite impressive, though honestly perhaps not the most impressive of the cathedrals I've visited. Two things struck me, however. One was the amount of exquisite Gothic ornamentation in the interior. While it didn't cover every surface, as I've seen in some of the cathedrals I've visited, where a particular fixture or element of the cathedral is ornamented, it is exquisite and suffusive. The other remarkable aspect is, of course, the way the exterior is designed. It is unique to have such a tall tower off to one side (the South Tower), a remnant of the attempt to build two. The North Tower was halted and became a Renaissance dwarf with a dome. Most remarkable however, is perhaps the roof tiling.

Here is a wikipedia segment on the incredible roof:

"The glory of St. Stephen's Cathedral is its ornately patterned, richly coloured roof, 111 meters (361 ft) long, and covered by 230,000 glazed tiles. Above thechoir on the south side of the building the tiles form a mosaic of the double-headed eagle that is symbolic of the empire ruled from Vienna by the Habsburgdynasty. On the north side the coats of arms of the City of Vienna and of the Republic of Austria are depicted. In 1945, fire caused by World War IIdamage to nearby buildings leapt to the north tower of the cathedral and went on to destroy the wooden framework of the roof. Replicating the original bracing for so large a roof (it rises 38 meters above the floor) would have been cost prohibitive, so over 600 metric tons of steel bracing were used instead. The roof is so steep that it is sufficiently cleaned by the rain alone and is seldom covered by snow."

The restored front (The building is so large that you can't get a complete shot of the front of it without getting surrounding buildings in the photo...)

More of the restored façade

Clock on restored façade

Another fascinating thing that is going on at the Stephansdom is the restoration effort. Pollution of various kinds has turned the original limestone exterior essentially black in many places. The restoration efforts have parts of the building covered over with either particleboard or canvas designed to look like the parts of the building they cover. Scaffolding behind these covers is being used for the restoration. While I'd love to see the whole building completely without covers, they are making incredible progress. When I arrived, half the front of the building was covered, and half restored. Comparing the restored part to other unrestored parts shows an astounding difference. Now, the entire front is uncovered, so I can at least see that not only unadulterated, but restored. Now they're working on the side of the building and the base of the South Tower.

Compare to this segment that's unrestored

Restored statue on the exterior

An un-renovated, blackened section on the North side

Scaffolding for the beginning of the
South side renovation 

South Tower with canvas while it's under
renovation to show what it would look like.

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Prater Park seen from the Reisenrad

After exploring the interior of the Stephansdom and walking all the way around its exterior I headed to Prater Park, deciding this was probably a better use of my time than trying to squeeze in one of the more involved historical monuments. The park is contained within the city proper and was once a Hapsburg hunting ground. It is not as large as the Vienna Woods, which were also a hunting ground, but those are outside the city and therefore there's more space available. I wanted to take some photos of the amusement park, which I had previously walked through. I didn't have a need to go on the rides, since they are essentially similar to those anywhere in the world. I did, however, take a ride up on the giant ferris wheel, the Wiener Reisenrad. It was almost ten euros, but it was worth the ride. It's an experience in itself, and I got some great views and photos of the entire city of Vienna. I've also remarked on how so many big cities, particularly European cities, seem to have a famous ferris wheel. An intriguing holdover from the Industrial Revolution and early 20th Century. The Reisenrad also featured a short museum beforehand showing the development of Vienna, the construction and early days of the amusement park, and the fire that ravaged the original ferris wheel. These exhibits were all made out of small figures that moved inside of cars for the ferris wheel that were not in use.

Older buildings from the Reisenrad

Stephansdom from the Reisanrad

Newer buildings from the Reisenrad

Juxtaposition: old and new

Artistic photo taken in Prater Park

After the Reisenrad experience I walked in the park for a while. It is tremendously huge, so I didn't attempt to walk the entire thing, though I would have liked to do that to feel "complete." I also sat and read for a while. It was gorgeous in the Autumn afternoon sun as it was setting around four or five. the trees are changing, though there's still a good bit of green mixed in. Now, back at home, I'm contemplating what tomorrow will hold. I need to decide what historical location to visit before going to Don Giovanni in the evening.

Three random photos to end with:

An outpost of Madame Tussaud's in the amusement park

Canadian graffiti inside my car on the Reisenrad

Another monument to my least favorite composer...