Saturday, March 22, 2008

Churches and things....Vienna woods, etc.

A visit to Karl's Church rounded out architectual styles with Baroque; Stephan's Cathederal and Votiv Church were Gothic and St. St. Peter's was Rococo. There is a metal scaffold in Karl's which houses a lift that goes the first 200 ft and 50 ft of steps from there lead to the very cupola offering a close up of the art work and a panoramic view of the city.
We used our week's pass on the tram to ride out to the Vienna Woods for a hike. It is a lovely sunny day and the Woods are grand. I thought I should compose some music after that hike but nothing came to mind.
Franz Joseph just got his marvelous palace constructed and along came the first world war and ended his reign. There are many Hapsburg large building here and we saw them. Some where there is a story about a wealthy farmer who had a great crop, decided to build bigger granaries and then he died. Maybe someone wants to preach about this sometime.
Reflections on continental differences in public transit: In America you can't get on a subway, etc., without paying. In Europe you can get on or off without paying but if you get caught riding without a ticket the fine is very steep. In Bangkok you have to pay a minimum to get on but if you ride past the zone for which you've paid you can't exit the station.

1 comment:

Traveling Curmudgeon said...

Paul reports 10 inches of snow in Milwaukee,,,,seems a bit excessive. I've been hoping the snow will be gone in Minnesota before I return!