On our last day in Vienna, we had a free day to spend as we liked. My friends and I knew we wanted to rent bikes in at least one city, and it seemed like the perfect opportunity so we went for it. It took awhile to figure out how to register and to find a place with enough bicycles for all of us, but by the time we had it all figured we were off! Looking back this probably worked in our favor since by that time it had cooled down a bit and we got to see the sunset!

We mostly stuck to biking along the river, since we decided upon two goals: to get some water shots for photography class, and also to get near the famous Ferris wheel so we could ride it!

Along the way I noticed a lot of graffiti, which was certainly starting to mark its presence along the course of my travels. A lot of it was pretty neat though, and admittedly it has to take some talent to paint all that! I liked a lot of it we passed but unfortunately my ability to hold a camera still while biking was not quite up to par..but I had to try (:

Alas, we made it to the carnival where the Wiener Riesenrad (Viennese Giant Ferris Wheel) stood! At 212 feet high, I was beginning to have second thoughts about getting on this thing. But I guess knowing how famous it was and how often I travel to Vienna (never) finally overrode any shred of vertigo that was trying to talk me out of it. The history spiel was practically ringing in my head: the Riesenrad was built in 1897 and was thus one of the first Ferris wheels to be built. The wheel itself is acclaimed for having achieved such an engineering feat, and its longevity ought to be acclaimed as well considering all the destruction and reconstruction it has undergone since 1897. It is a miracle it still exists today, and is a major marker of Vienna and even Austria. I had to do it.

So I suppose the next challenge was something that arose since not a single person in our group had enough foresight to recognize that we would eventually need to lock our bikes while going on the Riesenrad. I kind of laugh at this now since it seems so obvious, but yes, we biked around for quite some time looking for another bike stand where we could turn in our bikes, or even a good place to hide them. Heck, we nearly turned around when a nice German family showed us that there was actually a  key inside our bikes. Ha! This is something I definitely was not expecting to hear, but sure enough we took the keys out and voila--bikes locked!

 After buying our tickets, we followed the line to encounter a pretty sizable room full of Ferris wheel gondolas! I was pretty surprised to see this, and a closer look at them revealed a small showcase of the history of the Riesenrad in model form. One of the gondolas held a modern-day model of it, another an original model, one after it was bombed, etc. Clever idea, I thought.

 And then it was time for the dreaded ride. I was excited but also beating myself up. I was slightly relieved to find that the actual gondolas for the wheel were giant--I'm talking at least 10 of us in a single car! I definitely had never really heard of so many people occupying a single passenger car like that before. But this was good for me since it meant it would be hard for people to rock the gondola (: Also another cool thing about the spacious cars was that every other one was actually used for dining! Small tables were set up and people were actually being served every time their car returned back to the loading platform! Haha how cool is that?

  

  All said and done, it was a remarkable and I'm glad I convinced myself to do it! Biking through the city was also another amazing memory I have of Vienna and one I would definitely recommend to any traveler with the opportunity to rent a bike. Next up, I'll be sharing some more fun adventures from Bratislava, Slovakia and one of my most anticipated cities of my journey: Budapest, Hungary!

Happy Friday to you all, and enjoy the weekend!

So our second day in Vienna began with an optional walking tour, which I decided to go on since I wanted to see more of the beautiful city (and partly because I knew I'd sleep the day away otherwise). It was a smaller group, and I mostly sketched the whole time so my commentary may be brief this time around. However, I think most of the photographs suffice as justification for just how beautiful Vienna and the day turned out to be!

Definitely one of my most anticipated moments of the city was visiting the Secession building, which is a famous building I had studied out of textbooks my first year in architecture school. The building was built by Joseph Olbrich in a simplified geometric and linear style classic of the Secessionist movement. It became an icon for the group and housed exhibitions of supporting artists. Aside from that, it's golden leaf-like dome is one of a kind and the engravings and attention to detail on many of its parts are really neat as well.

The smaller scale architectural model was just as detailed! I can only imagine taking the many, many hours to build that.

Gustav Klimt is a famous artist who was also a part of the Secession. His artwork is also well known, so it was really neat to see his artwork exhibited inside. The above is a replication of one of his paintings, the process of which was filmed and completely interesting to watch as the replicator used chalk, pinholes, graphite, and a few other methods in order to make the painting above. Klimt's Beethoven Frieze was shown in the next room, but unfortunately security was enforcing a strict no photography rule so I couldn't get any shots. It was by far my favorite piece of art I have seen on the trip though, so I encourage you to check it out here.

Here's another installation that was being featured. I don't know much about it at all, except that it was comprised of a lot of strange items over a raised platform that was faced with a mirror to reflect the objects.

Another beautiful cathedral, with a man doing tai chi in front of it. This is precisely why I love parks in Europe: beautiful architecture, free entertainment, as well as free reign to do whatever exercise you want without judgement!

The Dalai Llama was also visiting Vienna apparently! 

This was so cuteI had to post a photo of it.

Even though classical Greek or Roman architecture has a tendency to be predictable, I still can't help but like it:

Especially all the sculptural details!

Sometimes, it's all in the details. This was taken of just any old building we quickly passed along one of the main streets. It's unreal to think that this passes as ordinary ornament for a European building.

This place wins an award in my book for best manicured greenery..and these hedges were huge!

More amazing sculptures in the park.

These are a few photos from Naschmarkt, which is what I mentioned in my last post! It was crowded in a different way at this time though: there were a lot more street vendors with temporary-looking shops up, with lots of different food for sale. It was absolutely packed too, lots of people moving around and buying strange foods!

This is what a water fountain looks like, which is actually a rare occurrence in Europe we've found (or at least we don't recognize them!)

This was my lunch from naschmarkt: a falafel sandwich! If only I had known there are doner kebabs all over Europe, I might have found something a little more bizarre (: Also, if you've never had falafel, I recommend it-it was pretty tasty!

Our next few visits actually required a bus, but we knocked out quite a bit in a day! We had the opportunity to see a handful more of architecturally significant buildings, such as the Karl-Marx-Hof, the Werkbund Siedlung, and also St. Leopold's Church.

The need for the Karl-Marx-Hof came about after WWI when Austria became separated from its partnering territory. Many did not have a place to live, or resided in cramped areas that made for poor living situations. When Red Vienna took reign in the 30's, it called for social reform measures which specifically addressed housing. The Karl-Marx-Hof then came into play, creating over 1,000 places of residence and additionally transforming the idea of an apartment complex in the process. Its architects and designers essentially created more of a mini city, where there were daycares, gardens, laundry rooms, and small stores, so that residents had most of what they needed nearby. Large open courtyards were placed centrally, to provide places of play and repose and also so that neighbors would be encouraged to interact. This entire approach to residential life was unprecedented at the time-it was a revolutionary way of thinking.

After many mega-residences like the Karl-Marx-Hof began taking Vienna by storm, the city council began seeking other alternatives in a more modest and reasonable sized. The council pursued this idea by inviting modern architects to construct affordable housing only in a smaller scale. The results are places like the werkbund siedlung, which is an architectuarl experiment that provided housing for members of the working class of vienna.

Sorry for the random photos here, just a bit of Europe from my bus window (:

The last stop on the bus tour is also quite remarkable: it was Otto Wagner's St. Leopold am Steinhof, a gorgeous church located prominently at the top of a hill.

You can start to see the rivets & caps in this photo, typical of Wagner's late architecture that I discussed in my previous post!

I had seen my share of churches at this point, but this altar surely takes some sort of cake! It's not quite as bold as some I have shared on my blog, but it is certainly well ornamented and beautiful in a less overpowering way.

We weren;t the only ones having fun.. (:

And last but not least, a few photos from our night in Vienna, which included seeing the famous ferris wheel at night and lots of fun at a laser-lit diskothek!

This is pretty much what my whole night looked like: lights worthy of the Trans-Siberian Orchestra.

Hopefully that explains why this photo we tried to take has such strange colors!

Tschüss!