Vienna, Austria

Wien, Vienna, the capital of Austria. This was our introduction to Germany. I'm sure if I spent more time there, I would learn a lot of differences between Austria and Germany; but, as it was, I was in the two countries a grand total of three days; so the major comparisons will have to wait.
They both speak German! And they like beer and pretzels and sausages. The architecture here was a lot like it was in Budapest, which surprised me. But there were a lot of classical statues and pillared designs. We were only there one day, which is much too short, and so we weren't able to take full advantage of all the fascinating musical history that exists in Vienna. Beethoven, Schubert, and several other famous composers have homes/museums in Vienna.

I am standing here next to one of the national museums in the city center area of Vienna. Connected to these impressively large museums is the Hofburg Palace which used to to be home to the dynasty of royal families who ruled Austria.

Here's a large pedestrian street chalk full of monuments, restaurants, and shops. Farther down the streets are several of Vienna's most famous churches.

St. Stephen's Cathedral. A little work being done of the top of the spire there, but check out the cool colored roofing on that gothic bad boy; eh?

We rode up the elevator to the top of the cathedral (finally! an old cathedral with an elevator!) and received this excellent closeup of the roof. You can't quite see it behind me, but the crest of Austria is displayed amidst the pattern of diamonds on the roof. Look more closely at the picture and you'll notice the the chicken weathervane they have chillin in the corner. A nice touch, I think.

This is one of the passageways through the Hofburg Palace, with four statues depicting Hercules bashing some impish thugs at the base, the beautiful pillars leading up to the decorative angels and heavenly scene on top, and the massive green dome hovering above.

Much of the palace (the gardens and several other buildings) was actually closed due to the EuroCup, which was being celebrated daily in the center area of Vienna. Austria and Switzerland were the host countries of the EuroCup soccer championship this year, and so they have these gigantic FanZones set-up in main areas of different cities. In Vienna the FanZones covered the historical center, making it impossible to gain entrance into several of the monumental buildings.
Oh well; we went and watched a game that night.

And talk about your street food! Austrian sausages! You better believe it. Wurstelstands... or Sausage stands: they're cheap! they're amazing! they're everywhere! We are missing them in the US and we don't even know it. I remember that mine on the left is Currywurst, a bratwurst with a ketchup and curry powder all over it. Three letters for you... OMG.

The EuroCup FanZone! Right in the middle of historic Vienna. That's the National Opera House behind me, with a monstrous big screen showing the match between Italy and France and also supporting the weight of a larger than life inflatable soccer ball I'm sure more than a few of the Fanatics would have liked to have a kick at.

We're still in the FanZone here, sippin on some Austrian beers, chowin on some Indian samosas, and watchin Italy kick butt in their quarterfinal match, all with the astoundingly beautiful Rathaus (townhall) towering over us. It was quite a night, and then it poured rain on us, and we all ran away. The end of our lone day in Vienna.