Mozart contemporaries all over Vienna, particularly in Stephansplatz! 

The new "internet chair!" 

The Globe Museum

This was an impressive little museum.  There were big globes and little globes, globes of the earth, of planets, of the night sky (in the inverse, of course, unless you were inside looking out.)  There were even models that demonstrated how eclipses work, using candles and mirrors as the sun.

Ever wonder how they print the surface of a globe?  The image on the left explains it.

Esperanto Museum

Mozart's House

The amazing Mozart lived with his wife and two children in an apartment in this building for all of 3 or 4 years.  Now they've turned the entire building into a museum!!!  The audio tours provided an interesting perspective on Mozart's life and times.  We don't claim to be music historians, but we were surprised to learn that Mozart was a member of a Masonic order!  No photos allowed inside, though. 

Die Spanisch Hofreitschule

The Spanish Riding School - world famous Lipizzaner horses and riders performing amazing feats.  Further, we had read that as a child Marie Antoinette learned to ride here.  Training is open to the public (for a not inconsiderable fee) so we figured we had to check them out.

We watched them practicing with the young horses for an hour or so, as did all these people, and they never did anything interesting!  Now there is a racket.

Rathaus

There was a festival of music at the Rathaus while we were in Vienna.  A veritable Taste of Vienna, followed by a screening of an opera or a classical music performance!  And look at the size of that screen!  As in Paris, my lovely good looks got us noticed by the media.  Someone will have to go to Vienna next year for this festival and listen for the girls inviting people to come to the festival!!! 

The Belvedere

Anika runs through the grounds.

The Prater

An interesting Ferris wheel that uses little coaches for the compartments.  The was apparently where a famous scene in the movie The Third Man took place.  Now we need to add this movie to our list of videos to rent! 

In general, the kids have loved the European playgrounds since they always have something fun and interesting.  On this day they learned to tight rope walk!

Cafe Sacher

When you're in Vienna, you have to stop by the Cafe Sacher at the Sacher Hotel.  It is where the world famous Sachertorte originated.

Uniqa (Uniqa is an Austrian insurnace company) Building

A unique building with over 45,000 LED's covering the outside to present this fun light show. 

Of course the first time we saw this building it was covered in bubbles.  When Yannis got there with the camera a couple of nights later, it was just geometric shapes. 

 Schönbrunn

This is the summer residence of the Hapsburgs.  Interestingly, it is only a few miles from the winter residence - the Hofburg, which is shown at the top of this page, as this is where the Spanish Riding School is located. 

The gardens are amazing! 

Der Irrgarten - The Maze At Schönbrunnen

 

 

Although it is called The Maze, it is really three different mazes, one of which they have obviously recently laid out - the bushes are still growing it!  In the new one they had several interesting amusements, including the stepping stones Tasha is jumping across, which try to spray your feet as you go by. 

 

 

The Imperial Zoo At Schönbrunnen

This was apparently the first zoo ever built - sometime in the mid 1700s!  You wouldn't know it as you walk around, though, it has been beautifully maintained.

 

The zebra mongooses were fun to watch!  These guys were actively looking for grubs, some of which are hidden in the coconut.  And isn't the little guy cute?

  This is an Asian rhino!  Smaller and more armadillo-like.

The birds!

The zoo has several very successful breeding programs.  They are currently working on breading pandas, and their pair had a baby the week before we arrived!  Unfortunately, Mom and Babe were hidden away, but both Anika and Yannis got decent shots of Dad!   

Anika was in the right place for this Polar Bear shot!!!

 

As we were resting our weary feet, look what emerged from the pond right in front of us: