Vibrant Vienna!

As we got off the train from Salzburg and stepped out side the train station in Vienna, we could feel the heat. We thought we are going to get roasted during the day, just like Salzburg.

Once again, Sheila had selected an outstanding apartment - "The Pension Sacher" - for us to stay. The apartment is right in Stephansplatz, managed by a very sweet & nice family and we were given a warm and hearty welcome. To visit Stephansplatz, all we need to do is just step out of the apartment building!

Stephansplatz is the name of the square at the center of Vienna and is named after the famous Stephansdom
( aka St. Stephens Cathedral ). The Stephansplatz was alive with people until late night and it was almost like living in an apartment right in the middle of Time Square, NY :))

St. Stephen's Cathedral, the tallest in Austria and ranked as the 14th tallest in the world.
What struck me most is the beautiful tile patterns on the roof. 
I don't remember seeing a tile-roofed church anywhere else!

Stephansdom - St. Stephan's Cathedral

Views of St. Stephan's Cathedral and Stephansplatz from our apartment - The Pension Sacher.

Sculptures on the outer walls of St. Stephens' Cathedral.

Vienna Opera House, walking distance from Stephansplatz.

During our many walks around the city, we found fountains with sculptures reminding us of our 2006  trip to Italy.

Karlskirche (aka St. Charles's Church). The two tall pillars are modeled after the "Trajan's Column" in Rome.
I checked our 2006 Italy trip fotos and found a foto of the Trajan's column (refer next foto).

 

Trajan's Column in Rome (foto from our 2006 trip). The Karlskirche's columns are modeled after this.

Karlskirche

Golden piece above the altar of Karlskirche

@ The Belvedere Palace Gardens

Taking a break at a fountain during one of our city walks on a hot day.

As we crossed a park and rounded a corner, heard nice music and enjoyed watching these couples dancing.

Perfect sync!

Entertainers @ Stephansplatz.

As we were leaving for Prague the following morning, we enjoyed 
Stephansplatz at night,  one last time - on this trip; who knows we may be back here again :))

Salzburg, the Salt Castle!

Before the EU trip, when discussing the trip details with my colleague, he mentioned that Salzburg means "Salt Castle" and  1000s of years ago, Salzburg produced a large amount of Salt. "Salz" is salt in German. Since Austria is land-locked and assuming salt can only be produced from sea water, I was wondering how come Salzburg produced salt. After digging up further, I learned that the salt was from the mines near Salzburg and the city was built by the rich folks who owned these salt mines.

Among many other things, Salzburg is famous for Mozart (who was born in Salzbrug) and the backdrop for the musical,  "The Sound of Music".

We took the train from Luzerne to Salzburg. As I checked out the dining car menu, I was really surprised to see the entree "Chicken Curry with Jasmine Rice". The 7-feet tall German waitress explained that they have this entree in almost all of the the train routes :))

Waiting in Luzerne train station. We have whittled down our luggage to one carry on item and one backpack each.
It really helps to travel light :))

Though not spicy, Chicken Curry with Jasmine Rice was tasty and enjoyable.

The nice and spacious pent-house apartment we stayed - "Wolf Dietrich" - is walking distance from the old town, the Mirabell Gardens, many restaurants and is conveniently closer to the bus stops.  

Construction of the the "Hohensalzburg Castle" was started in 1077 and it continued expanding until 1519.
It is one of the biggest in Europe.  While you can climb the steps, we took the easy - lazy way, a Funicular :)  

The Golden Bed Chamber was impressive. We opened a door on the wall and saw an
elevated sitting place with a hole - an attached Toilet in the bed room, supposed to be most modern in those days :)

View of the Salzburg Old Town (forground) and New Town (background) from the top of the fort.
The Salzach River separates the old and new towns. The Salzburg Cathedral is prominent in this foto.

Mirabell Gardens is where we spent time every evening, enjoying the flowers, fountains and watching people.
Many scenes for the song "Do Re Mi" from "The Sound Of Music" were shot in these gardens.

View of the Salzburg Castle from Mirabell Gardens.

Salzburg Cathedral

Inside the Dome of the Salzburg Cathedral

Salzburg Cathedral

Outside Mozart's house. The birth place museum has his entire life history on display.
Of course, the girls are Piano wizards and knew much more about Mozart - like his elder sister was
more talented than Mozart but was never given or got the opportunity to shine.

During travels, while I enjoy the history, culture, local food and local beer, there is nothing to match the simple joy of
watching  people - locals and from all over the world ;)

One Small Step ...

"That's one small step for a man, a giant leap for mankind"

I was in 3rd grade. Appa bought the first transistor radio at our house so that we can listen to the live radio broadcast of an American stepping on the Moon. I remember listening to the radio broadcast sitting around the table under the கீற்று கொட்டாய். That is the beginning of my interest in Space and Astronomy.
As a kid, I used to day dream about joining NASA and going on inter-galactic missions :))

Link:  Neil Armstrong

 

Dedicating this picture I took to Neil Armstrong.