Vienna and the Czech Republic
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Just spend a couple of weeks in Vienna and Czech Republic. Some for work and some for holiday.
Some general thoughts:
Vienna- Really liked it. There was almost no fighting here during World War 2, so a lot of historic buildings
- Very orderly. I am pretty much a rule follower, and the people of Vienna seem to be also. For example, at street crossings where there is a walking man/no walking man signal, people will wait for the walking man signal even if there is no traffic. Also, the public transit seems to be on a honor system. I had bought a pass, but I did not see any way to scan or otherwise show my ticket (except it was on my phone)
- Quite clean. Maybe not Japan clean, but not much sign of garbage, etc.
- More % of people smoke there, both men and woman. There were even cigarette vending machines!
- Tremendous culture and history. Did not really know much about either of Austria, but it was interesting to learn.
- Aldi store is called Hofer in Vienna. LOL
- People were nice and friendly
Czech Republic
- Went to Praha and Cesky Krumlov. Both were quite interesting and fun.
- Like Vienna, was not damaged during World War 2, and lots of historic buildings, etc.. (Actually, there was one bombing where a plane was going to bomb Dresden Germany, went off course and thought Praha was Dresden and bombed it instead!
- Praha has a lot of history. The old town is very compact and actually had a lot of tourists.
- Not quite a clean as Vienna and saw some graffiti, etc. but did not be a problem.
- Transit was also kind of honor system. Though I did get stopped at a platform by a security man asking to see my ticket, so I guess that is how the make sure people are buying tickets.
- Food was good.
- People were nice and friendly also
And now picture dump time! 555
First set is from Vienna
Had tickets to see a mini orchestra (3 violin/3 viola/2 cello/harpischord) perform Vivaldi Four Seasons in a historic church. As you can see, I paid for the cheap seats. LOL
Schronbrunn Palace. Summer Palace of the Hapsburg clan
Spanish Riding School, home of the famous white stallions. Arena was built in early 1700's. (Sorry, they did not allow pictures during the horse performance.
)
St. Stephens cathedral.
Outside picture of the cathedral. The tower in the back, I climbed 343 steps to get (almost) to the top.
Tobacco vending machine!!
National Library
Belvedere Palace
Vienna Opera House.
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Cesky Krumlov. A historic city surrounded by a moat, with a giant monastery overlooking it. (A history note is that when Adolf Hitler was given Sudatenland, he gave a speech in the town square of Cesky Krumlov!
Typical Street scenes in historic Cesky
Cesky seen from the giant monastery on the hill overlooking the town
Monastery in the backtroun
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Praha
Overview of Praha from Praha castle
Scene of Praha from river
From Praha Old Town looking up to Praha castle and St. Vilus Cathedral
US Embassy on left side. LOL
Tesla was a Czech radio maker (and still in business). This picture is of a stained glass in a department store from the 1930's. I guess there is some dispute over the name vs. Tesla the electric car maker.
And for @George-K , a couple of train pictures. The first is the train that I took from Vienna to Praha (4 hour train ride, though it did stop in the middle for no reason and we sat for one hour, so it was a five hour ride after all!). The second picture is of one of the trams in Praha. This tram is from the Soviet times. They have many modern trams, but some old ones are still in use, and they look quit interesting.
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I visited both cities. Spent several weeks in Prague although it was November - cold and wet the whole time. Wished I could have spent more time in Vienna. Loved the history and feel of both places. Would go back at any opportunity.
Great photos TG
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Both great cities. Czech is great for beer if that’s your thing.
Vienna for me is always a Mozart pilgrimage. And one of the under visited but absolutely fascinating places in Vienna is the central cemetery (interestingly abit out of the center) which is big on classical music and medical history VIPs interred there.
Apropos that, a visit to sigmund Freud house was also a must for me, if only to see the famous couch where all secrets about one’s infancy and dreams would be interpreted. -
Also tycho Brahe is buried in a church in Prague which I also made a pilgrimage to. I guess I’m hung up on dead people?
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Great cities, great pictures. Thanks for sharing!
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I loved Vienna. Next trip I want to get to Prague…
I’m curious though, when I was in Vienna in 2015, migrant homelessness was rampant. Some of the main shopping and tourist areas became tent cities at night. Far worse than anything I have seen in DC or LA. (Oddly, they completely disappeared during the day).
Is that still the case?
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@bachophile said in Vienna and the Czech Republic:
Vienna for me is always a Mozart pilgrimage.
Did visit the Mozart House museum. Quite interesting.
@bachophile said in Vienna and the Czech Republic:
And one of the under visited but absolutely fascinating places in Vienna is the central cemetery (interestingly abit out of the center) which is big on classical music and medical history VIPs interred there.
Did not know about that, but did visit the Jewish cemetery in Praha. You may be able to agree, but I read that once a Jewish person is buried, they cannot be moved, so in this Jewish cemetery over the 100's of years, there are actually many layers of people, because that was the only allowable burial place for Jewish people in Praha for a long time.
@bachophile said in Vienna and the Czech Republic:
a visit to sigmund Freud house was also a must for me, if only to see the famous couch where all secrets about one’s infancy and dreams would be interpreted.
That would be cool, but did not know about that. Did visit the birthplace of Franz Kafka. (Having said that, I have never read anything by him or really know too much about him. LOL)
@LuFins-Dad said in Vienna and the Czech Republic:
I’m curious though, when I was in Vienna in 2015, migrant homelessness was rampant. Some of the main shopping and tourist areas became tent cities at night. Far worse than anything I have seen in DC or LA. (Oddly, they completely disappeared during the day).
Is that still the case?
Not at all. Did not see any signs. I was mostly in the tourist areas, but probably covered an area 5 km x 5 km. Was not an issue.
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"Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08
The saying, "Lite is just one damn thing after another," is a gross understatement. The damn things overlap.
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@George-K Which one are you?
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@taiwan_girl said in Vienna and the Czech Republic:
The young one....
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You all look too young to drink, which makes Munich kinda sad…
Me/rry/Christmas
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@LuFins-Dad said in Vienna and the Czech Republic:
You all look too young to drink, which makes Munich kinda sad…
I was 17. We were told that, "If you're old enough to put your money on the bar, you're old enough to enjoy a beer."
"Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08
The saying, "Lite is just one damn thing after another," is a gross understatement. The damn things overlap.
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@George-K said in Vienna and the Czech Republic:
@LuFins-Dad said in Vienna and the Czech Republic:
You all look too young to drink, which makes Munich kinda sad…
I was 17. We were told that, "If you're old enough to put your money on the bar, you're old enough to enjoy a beer."
The girl on the bottom right looks like she is on her 3rd stein.
