Nathan's Insights

Tuesday 16 April 2024
Highlights: St Stephen’s Cathedral, Franciscan Church, Augustinian Church, Hofbug Palace, Vienna’s many buildings, laneways and sculptures

We woke to very fresh and cold weather which definitely wakes you up. Today I used warmer clothes to help with the colder weather. Just on 9 am we set off for Austria and Vienna. It took just over 3 hours to get to Vienna as we watch the beautiful countryside.

On arrival at our hotel it was too early to check in so we dropped our bags and went to lunch at a local restaurant where I had a local special a wiener schnitzels which were nice. From here our CEO Christin provide a 24 hour travel ticket and we headed off to city centre for an included walking tour.

The walking tour started in the Stephansplatz which is dominated by the St Stephen’s Cathedral with the current Gothic style structure built between 1368 to 1433 but a church has existed in this location since 1147.

The next major highlight was a visit to the Franciscan Church which was completed in 1607. Inside it is a very beautiful church.

Next up we visited the site Mozart died at. While the building has been replaced Mozart’s death is still acknowledged at this site. We viewed the oldest cafe in Vienna, Cafe Frauenhuber, which has operated since 1746.

The walk also highlight many structures like the Donnerbrunnen (Water Well), and Monument of Emperor Francis I.

The beautiful buildings really highlights how Vienna was the centre of significant empires; Holy Roman Empire (900s to 1806) Austria Empire (1804 to 1867), Austria-Hungary Empire (1867 to 1918).

The power of Vienna is demonstrated in its buildings and Churches.