Real Life Disney World

Vienna's Imperial Palace 

The only way I can describe the architecture and grandeur of the city so far is a real-life Disney World. Each building is ornately decorated in delicate gargoyles, paintings and marble. The historic monarch buildings especially extravagant, yet the marble, ivory, jade and statues are real. Perhaps it’s because I am used to replicas of such things in the US, but I often have to remind myself the marble staircase I am walking on is real. It feels wrong to walk on it sometimes and I dare not touch anything, but I couldn’t resist touching the perfectly polished staircase as we walked through the Art museum today. The building screamed wealth and elegance which absolutely served the purpose of portraying the power of the ruling Habsburg family and all of Austria to the rest of the world.

The intimidation factor certainly worked on me, and I can imagine why the Austria-Hungary empire was so strong. Things in the US tend to be large like the cars and skyscrapers, but those things parish compared to a nearly 1,500 room palace. I particularly enjoyed learning how important the national library was to the empire because knowledge equals power and the larger the library the more power.

St. Stephen's Cathedral glowing in the evening light

View from the top of the spire 

By far my favorite attraction of Vienna has been the St. Stephens Cathedral in the heart of the city. I found myself using the 350 feet spire to find my bearings in the city and I even climbed the 343 steps to the top to get a beautiful view of Vienna on a sunny day. The city extended in every direction which was far different than anything I was used to in Colorado or Washington. It’s hard to imagine what the city looked like one hundred years ago and I appreciate the history that lives in every building and cathedral.