Vienna!

Vienna is a beautiful city filled with many museums, art collections, theatres, opera houses, restaurants, and more. Here's a few of my Vienna stops.

St. Stephens Cathedral (Stephansdom)

One of the most important gothic structures in Austria, St. Stephens Cathedral stands proud in central Vienna. Built in the 12th century this is one of Vienna's most famous sights; you can climb up the 343 steps to the Tower Room, the tallest of the 4 towers for views across Vienna. St. Stephens has the second biggest free-swinging chimed Church bell in Europe and is an amazing building inside and out.

A monument against War and Fascism

The Gate of Violence; Street Washing Jew; Stone of the Replublic; and Orpheus Enters Hades - a site to commemorate the victims of the Nazi Regime in Austria (1938-45) and those killed in the air raids of the second world War.

The Kunst Historisches Museum

- A few displays in the Kunst Historisches Museum - one of the many museums in Vienna.

The Wiener Royal Orchestra

No other city has been home to so many international renown composers - Schubert, Strauss, Schoenberg and Berg were all born in Vienna and composers Mozart, Beethoven, Haydn, Brahms, and Mahler all lived here. All through the main square in Vienna, tickets are available to partake in any one of several performances. Growing up listening to my sister Sandra play piano I am a fan of classical music, and so a performance of The Wiener Royal Orchestra was in order. They played several compositions from Mozart, Strauss and others and included a little Opera and Ballet.
(Please check out this site where you can enjoy music written and composed by my sister)

The Giant Ferris Wheel

A Vienna landmark and the world's most famous ferris wheel is a must to take a spin on. Built in 1897 it has survived natural disasters and war; at one point in 1944 fire and bombs destroyed most of the technical installations and all of the cabins, it was of course rebuilt and back in business the next year. You may have seen it in movies like 'The Third Man' or 'The Living Daylights'.

Petit Point

I stumbled upon a Petit Point store in Vienna and of course had to check it out. My Grandmother created many incredible pieces and received several awards for her work - one she did 'The Last Supper' had over a million stitches in it. Sadly, a huge portion of her creations burned in a house fire. The Petit Point store carries beautiful framed creations, jewellery and much to my delight, handbags. Petit Point is the finest possible needlework, a Petit Point stitch is a half-cross-stitch done typically on a silk canvas which requires up to 361 stitches on the square centimetre (2350 on the square inch) and slowly becomes an amazing work of art! The handbags are incredible - one day I will own one of these beauties. Check out these beautiful works of art here.

For New Year's I took in the 'Mamma Mia' musical, featuring the music of ABBA - in German! It was a great show with a talented group of artists.

Thanks for reading - next stop  - Nice.