Vienna, Austria - Walk from Opera House to Belvedere Palace

My mission for the day was to walk to the Belvedere to see the works by Gustav Klimt.  I looked at the map and it was less than a mile from my apartment to the main building.

A brief note from the night before because I don't have enough photos to actually post an individual blog post:  I crossed the Opernring in front of the Weiner Staatsopera (Vienna Opera house). This was near the apartment.

Cafe Museum where I met two IIBA Austria Chapter board members the day before.

 The Hop On Hop Off tour buses stop a few steps from the apartment building main door.  You can buy tickets from the vendors standing near the bus.

 And now let's start the walk to the Opera house.   The fog was hanging very low throughout the city and there was a slight drizzle.  I grabbed my umbrella and started off by walking on Walfischgasse and turning right on Schwartzenbergstrasse.  Yes, read the street names and feel my pain!  There is a little mall in here if you need to get essentials and other things. I then walked to cross Kartner Ring.

Here is where I learned about the green bike lanes.  You have to be careful walking across these because it is a bicycle freeway! You walk where you are supposed to walk, bikes zip along, and cars have their space.

 McDonalds in a fancy building.

 Schwartzenbergstrasse splits in to two Schwartzenbergplatz roads.  I stayed to the right. This building is the "House of Industry",  one of the most outstanding examples of an architectural style called "Late Historicism". It was built between 1906 and 1909 and is one of Vienna's last squared stone masonry buildings.
More on the architects and building materials at this website:
http://www.iv-net.at/b1354m111/the-house-of-industry/

 This is the "Akademietheater" (academy theater), a performing arts theater and the smaller of two theaters in the Burgtheater organization. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akademietheater

 Karlskirche dome in the background with a close up of the beautiful and fancy work.  Karlskirche is a baroque cathedral.

 This is the French Embassy.  It was built to glorify the relationship between France and the Austro-Hungarian Empire of the beginning of the 20th century, and to assert and influence the power of the French republic. It was designed by Georges Chedanne, a famous architect of the Galleries Lafayette department store and the Elysse Palace in Paris. Construction began in 1904 and Chedanne surrounded himself with the most representative artists of Art Nouveau.
(Source: https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ambassade_de_France_en_Autriche)

 There are a few policeman (hard to see) standing in front of a memorial to the victims of the Paris shootings.  I have a few pictures in a later post that I took when I walked by the embassy on my return trip.

 Christmas trees for sale at the tip of the Belvedere Garden space.

 This memorial fountain is Hockstrahibrunnen. It took me a while to research this and I resorted to translating a German article.  Well, this is a high beam fountain and was built at the completion of the Vienna high water supply sources.  365 small fountains around the edge represent the days of the year.  Six fountains coordinate with the seven days of the week.  Twelve high beams (this must mean that they are capable of shooting really high) coordinate with the months.  24 low beams coordinate with the time of day and 30 rays in the middle of the island with the days of the month.  The fountain was dry when I visited.  You can see a functioning photo here:
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hochstrahlbrunnen#/media/File:Wien_-_Hochstrahlbrunnen_bei_Nacht_-_blau.jpg

The statue and wall behind is Heldendenkmal der Roten Armee (Heroes' Monument of the Red Army) is a Soviet War Memorial to commemorate the 17,000 soldiers who fell during the Battle for Vienna of World War II.

 I turned around and took another photograph of the French Embassy, and the crosswalks with the bike lanes and traffic merging.

 The other street corner.

And my walk continues...I am halfway to my destination.