Days 32 & 33 - Vienna's 1st District

Over the last 2 days I have explored Vienna's 1st district while Simon has been at work.  This district is home to most of the tourist attractions in Vienna and is widely considered to be the nicest district. 

The district is outlined by the ring streets and the water.  These streets are the large boulevards on the map above.  In medieval times the ring streets were the city walls and when the walls were torn down the streets were created.  Therefore the oldest buildings of Vienna are in the heart of the 1st district while the newer ones surround it. 

The Opera House

Part of Hofburg Palace

The Hofburg Palace began as a medieval castle and has been expanded numerous times since the 13th century.  The President's office is now in the palace as well as the Royal Treasury.  While I was visiting the palace there was a state guest who was greeted by a marching band. 

Stephansdom

It was hard to get a good picture of Vienna's central landmark because it is sandwiched by other buildings.

Stephansdom is situated on top of the Ducal Crypt.  I toured this crypt but unfortunately there were no pictures allowed.  What I found was the graves of 11,000 people, a good deal of whom were plague victims.  The dead were originally buried in wood boxes but when space became limited their bones were removed, cleaned and stacked.  Seeing femurs stacked with skulls is always extremely eerie, especially in a 700 year old crypt.

Below is the Ankeruhr, which was built in 1914.  Every hour one historical figure appears and the clock plays a tune from when they lived.  I wasn't there close to the end of the hour and definitely was not going to wait to hear a tune.

All told the 1st distict was one of the nicest places I have been in Europe.  It is very clean, full of history and great people. 

Tomorrow is my last day in Austria (at least for now) as I head to Budapest on Thursday.  I chose to stay one more day so I could watch the first NFL game of the season on ESPN America.  Unfortunately I'll have to stay up as it doesn't start until 2:30 am in Austria.  The good news is that the Vikings vs. Saints game overlaps with the Giants vs. Padres game so I can kill two birds with one stone. 

Scott