The Embla docked at 5 am after crossing the border from Austria to the Slovakian capital of Bratislava. So far we were safe to eat breakfast and then make way for a morning walking tour of the old (and current) downtown. One of our first sights was this lovely building, the Reduta, Now a concert and multi-purpose hall that was originally a granary.
Continue readingStrauss and A. Mozart…You and old Me.
As graceful as a waltz, St. Francis of Assisi Church, also known as the Emperor’s Jubilee Church and the Mexico Church greets us as we start a morning coach overview of Vienna. It’s a Basilica-style Catholic church built between 1898 and 1910. It was consecrated in 1913, and located on the Mexikoplatz in Vienna’s Second District, Leopoldstadt. Too bad that photos are difficult from the bus, but we’ll do our best.
The rest of the morning coach tour took us by (clockwise from upper left) the Karlskirche, a Baroque church dedicated to Saint Charles Borromeo, a leading figure of the Counter-Reformation.
The Vienna State Opera house and opera company. The 1,709-seat Renaissance Revival venue was the first major building on the Vienna Ring Road. It was built from 1861 to 1869 and was inaugurated as the “Vienna Court Opera” in the presence of Emperor Franz Joseph I and Empress Elisabeth.
Maria-Theresien-Platz that joins the Ringstrasse with the Museumsquartier, a museum of modern arts located in the former Imperial Stables. Also the Naturhistorisches Museum and the Kunsthistorisches Museum.
The Pallas Athene Fountain in front of the Austrian Parliament Building.
The Maria Theresa Memorial is one of the most important monuments of the Habsburg monarchy in Vienna. It commemorates Empress Maria Theresa, who ruled the Habsburg monarchy from 1740 to 1780.
Another view of the Maria-Theresien-Platz.
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As we cruised the early morning overcast toward Krems we passed the
Schloss Schönbühel, a castle in the Lower Austrian town of Schönbühel-Aggsbach, below Melk on the right bank of the Danube. The origins of the castle date from the early twelfth century.
And then the Monastery of Augustinian Canons, the Herzogenbury Monastery in the town of the same name. The Priory was founded in 1112 and refurbushed in the baroque style in 1714.
The day deteriorated a bit, but cleared up (just enough) in time for our ride through the lower Austrian hills around Krems with spectacular views on our way to Goettweig Abbey.
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