Vienna

The architecture in Vienna lived up to and exceeded all we anticipated. Battling the crowds of tourists was an issue when around the main attractions such as Schonbrunn Palace and St Stephen's cathedral, but when we went sought out the less well known sites the crowds soon thinned out.

Our enjoyment was enhanced by the efficiency of the Vienna underground and the provision of a well run aire (motorhome park) adjacent to the underground.

A highlight for Gretel was attending a concert in the same theatre where Mozart played. Due in part to cost and part to being musically retarded Tony did not attend, but snuck round the back of the theatre and took a photograph through the window.

The inside of the Vienna Opera house where the set was being prepared for that nights performance of Don Giovanni. Five separate operas are performed in any one week, a logistical nightmare for the set crew.

The exterior of the opera house.

Europe has a lot of sculpture and memorials. The Judenplatz Holcaust memorial, tucked away in a picturesque square mostly devoid of tourists, is one of the most moving we have seen. Known as the 'Nameless Library' the memorial depicts 65,000 books (the number of Austrian Jews killed in World War 2) with the spine turned inside out, the titles hidden, the untold stories of each individual. We sat and had a quiet coffee, thinking.

A close up of the books.
 

Gretel showed patience to photograph a butterfly, within the Vienna butterfly house, displaying its colour.

A block of flats designed by Friendensreich Hundertwasser, who dispensed with straight lines and incorporated plants as an essential feature of the building. The building was constructed in the 1970's. Whether or not it has aged as well as the more conservative architecture of Vienna is clearly subjective. Interestingly Hundertwasser purchased a large area of land in the Bay of Islands, New Zealand where he designed and helped build the famous Kawakawa toilets. He died in 2000 and is buried in New Zealand.

Typical Viennese architecture