Vienna - Cafe Griensteidl

Time for a break and there is a great place to sit, take in the 5PM "Kaffee und Kuchen" (coffee and cake), and watch the world walk by.  You will see a mix of tourists and locals walk by this location.

Vienna - Cafe Sperl

  Cafe Sperl coffee at home.  Try it! (affiliate link). 
Years ago I bought coffee from Gevalia, online, and received the European Classics selections. One of the coffees was "Cafe Sperl" and I remembered that it was in Vienna. I planned a trip to this cafe so that I could experience it for myself. I was not disappointed.  And now that I have discovered that I can purchase it online from Amazon (link at the top of the page), I think that I will need to relive my adventure!

Menu Cover

Vienna - Chocolate, crystal, silver, gold, and scary statues

We strolled a little down Kohlmarkt. I stopped in Demel to buy some chocolates. It was so hard to decide.  K went to buy some postcards, so while I was waiting I window shopped at a cute little gold and silver shop.

Der Demel - great stop for Chocolates
Click here to learn more about Demel.

Vienna - Cafe Mozart dinner

We ended the evening with dinner at Cafe Mozart on Albertinaplatz.  We both selected, independently, the Vienese "Tafelspitz" for 19,80 euros.

Started with a glass of wine. Notice that the
glasses are marked for an exact pour.

Vienna - Adolf Loos classy WC

We are back on Graben to finish the walk.  The window shopping continues to be great and then we came upon the famous Adolf Loos designed public water closets (toilettes!).  The story is that a local chemical maker need a  publicity stunt to showcase his chemicals. He purchased two wine cellars under Graben and turned them in to classy Modernist style public toilettes.  Chandeliers. Finely crafted mahogany.  And a .50 euro entrance fee.  Very clean and stylish.

Fancy entranceways.  No huge signs, you just have to be in the know!

Vienna - St. Peter's Church (Peterskirche)

This post has several videos.
Following Rick Steve's Vienna City walking tour, we stepped off of Graben to tour St. Peter's Church.  The text in the travel guide did not prepare me for what I was about to see, although you can see that there is fair warning.

Leopold I also ordered this church to be built as a thank-you for surviving the 1679 plague.  The church stands on the site of a much older church that may have been Vienna's first (or second) Christian church. Inside, St. Peter's shows Vienna at its Baroque best. [Steves] [emphasis added]

The church is squished in a side street.
Normal and not too flashy.

Vienna - Souvenirs

There were plenty of souvenir shops in Vienna and you could certainly buy all that you want of a variety of items.  You need to plan ahead to have extra baggage room for your souvenirs.

Stores were clearly marked.  There were plenty of T-Shirts and postcards.

Vienna - Graben

What is a "Graben".  A street name.  and more than that...

This was once a Graben, or ditch, originally the moat for the Roman military camp.  [Steves]

 Graben was a busy street with three lanes of traffic until the 1970s, when it was turned into one of Europe's first pedestrian-only zones. [Steves]

WOW!  I love pedestrian-only zones!!! And here I am, standing at the mother of all foot only zones.  Walk with me...I took these photos for you.

Vienna - Stephansdom (St. Stephen's Cathedral)

After all of the churches and cathedrals that I have visited on this trip, St. Stephen's Cathedral did not fail to provide a breathtaking view of yet another fabulous cathedral.

An interesting comment about the reconstruction is on the wikipedia site.

The most visible current repair project is a multi-year renovation of the tall south tower, for which scaffolding has been installed. Fees from advertising on the netting around the scaffolding were defraying some of the costs of the work, but the concept of such advertising was controversial and has been discontinued. As of December 2008, the majority of the restoration on the south tower has been finished, and most of the scaffolding removed.

Read more about this fabulous cathedral on wikipedia.

The church was heavily damaged during WWII.  

A gate was drawn across this section, probably
in preparation for the upcoming Mass.
I stretched through it and took these
photos.  This is a high resolution photo,
so click on it to see it in greater detail.
This immense nave is more than a football
field long and nine stories tall. [Steves]

 The nave is lined with clusters of slender pillars that soar upward to support the ribbed crisscross arches of the ceiling.  Stylistically, the nave is Gothic with a Baroque overlay.  It's a spacious, glorious venue that is often used for high-profile concerts.  [Steves]

The organ.
High resolution photo also.

The floor

Ceiling detail

Pillar Statues: The nave's columns are richly populated
with 77 life-size stone and ceramic statues, making a
saintly parade to the high altar. [Steves]

One more task to take care of before I leave.

It was a beautiful cathedral. 

Rick Steves offers a great walking tour of the Cathedral in his Vienna book.  The majority of the Cathedral was closed at the time, but I would return to see the remaining portions closer.

Vienna - Stephanplatz

sThis is an open plaza (platz) with a lot happening.  I'll explain as we look around at the people and the buildings.  The descriptions of the building architecture comes from Rick Steves' awesome walking tour.

 This is the link to the paperback version. I used the Kindle version on my iPhone..

Kaarntner Strasse pours into the main square.
Notice the pink BIPA sign on the right. You know
what is in that store! We've been through the aisles.
Click to read the blog post on BIPA.
Notice the shiny building in the middle of the picture.

"This is the modern Haas Haus.
This is a post modern building by Austrian architect
Hans Hollein, finished in 1990. Curved facade echos
Roman fortress of Vindobona (found near here).
There was much protest about this building
but it's been accepted. Notice how the church
pointy architecture is reflected in the smooth glass." Steves
Click here for wikipedia information on Haas Haus

It didn't take long to learn that "Konditorei" meant pastries!
This is a chain store in Vienna.
Click here to read more about AIDA.

This is the street called "Graben".  We'll go down here later.

The "Stephanplatz" Church: St. Stephan's Cathedral.
The interior is in a separate blog post. Look closely at these photos
and you can see that there is scaffolding with images of
the building covering all of the construction and renovation
work going on.  This allows the restoration to occur without
taking away from the beauty of the building and surroundings.

Click on the photo to see the detail.

Artists at work in the plaza.

Street view towards another cathedral with the green roof.
We will go there later.

International Building/Bank of Austria

Detail of the upper floors of the International Building.
Decorative Art Nouveau elements.

"Equitable Building,
filled with lawyers, bankers and insurance brokers,
is a fine example of Neoclassicism from the turn of
the 20th century." Steves

"Look up and imagine how slick Vienna must
have felt in 1900." Steves

Detail of the cobblestones in Stephansplatz.

"Notice how the smooth, rounded glass
reflects St. Stephan's pointy architecture.
The cafe and pricey restaurant inside
offer a nice perch, complete with a view
of Stephansplatz below." Steves

Now, let's enter the St. Stephan's Cathedral in the next post.