One thing we did see that we had not seen before was part
of the Spanish Riding School. The stallions were on a month's holiday in the
countryside but we saw some of the mares. There would seem little doubt that
the Lipizzaners of the school have a good life with 2 months' holiday a year
and a pleasant retirement.
When we were given free time we went for a look in
the fabulous Swarovski shop and then had coffee/beer and strudel on the
Kärntnerstrasse before meeting the bus to go back to the boat for lunch.
It
seemed a shame for those who were in Vienna for the first time that there was
no chance to visit the beautiful Schönbrunn Palace and gardens but no doubt the visit whetted their appetite for another day.
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| Brings back the memories of the high life n the Alps! |
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| The Prater Wheel. Almost totally destroyed in the war and scheduled for demolition, the fact that it starred in 'The Third Man' with Orson Welles and Trevor Howard boosted its popularity and it survived |
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| The enlightened emperor Josef II |
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| Lipizzaner Stables in the city |
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| A rare glimpse during the horse holiday period |
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| Rickshaws come to Vienna! |
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| Just love the costumes! |
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| Fiakers doing a roaring trade as usual - €80 for 30 minutes for 4. Same price as for a gondola for two for 45 minutes in Venice in 2010! |
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| Adaptable UPS! |
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| Plague monument. Everywhere we've been there has been talk of how the Black Death ravaged Europe on various occasions in history, usually claiming the lives of a third of the population each time. Monuments give thanks to God for not allowing it to be even worse than it was! |
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| Plague of the US mega brand near the Vienna Plague Monument? |
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| The Holy Trinity |
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| At the foot the Black Death is defeated and cast to the ground. Above that is the Emperor who, with his direct line to God, is thanking God personally for delivering the city from total devastation |
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| Well someone has to do it! |
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| No, not an abseiling thrill ride but the window cleaners! |
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| Not as expensive as we expected |
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| The consummate tourist, complete with glove |
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| The consummate Apfelstrudel connoisseur! |
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| Gustav Klimt's "Woman in Gold", part of the wealth of Jewish-owned art looted by the Nazis nd subject of the recent film. Once prised via court action from the firm grasp of the Austrian government it was sold a few years ago for a then record of $135 million dollars. It's now on display in a New York gallery |
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| If only he'd known how valuable his name would become, he'd probably now be richer than Andrew Lloyd-Webber! |
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| Only one photo this time for one of the great cathedrals of Europe while we travel along one of the great rivers of Europe |
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| Nice to see that touches of Marxism live on the in the non-Communist world! |
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