Day 6 October 13th Vienna



St Stephensdom

inside St Stephensdom

Today was a free day to spend as we please in Vienna.  From yesterday’s tour there were places that we wanted to visit more extensively.  But time was our own and so we arose and breakfasted at a leisurely pace.  We decided to go into the city centre by underground and start at St Stephensdom the large cathedral in the middle.  We wanted to go up a tower but as it was Sunday there was a service 

looking down!

taking place.  We initially walked 

the roof of the dom from the tower

round the building and spoke to someone who told us it was possible to go inside and along a wall to a tower where a lift was operating.  We did this and found good although slightly misty views from around the tower.  The roof of the cathedral was unique

Orhtodox Church domes

 and splendid in its tiling.   We could also make out the gold domes of the Orthodox church near our hotel.  We went back inside the cathedral and they were singing a hymn with a familiar tune.





St Peters church

We then went outside and 

carriage entrance to Hofburg

inside St Peters church which had a truly spectacular interior.  A small church but well worth the visit.  We carried on to the other carriage entrance of the Hofburg palace which was befitting the splendour of the rest of the palace. Excavations have taken place outside the palace entrance which showed foundations of buildings going back to Roman times.



excavations





Upper Belvedere

We used the tube again to progress to the Belvedere Palaces and Gardens.  Between the tube and the palaces we found a good Italian restaurant that spoke English and produced good pizzas.

  

Lower Belvedere



Suitably refreshed we carried on to our next port of call.  Our first impression of the Upper Belvedere palace was to be amazed at how good it looked and to think it was as brilliant as anything we had seen in Vienna.  We carried on through the gardens (allegedly modelled on Versailles) and fountains and came to the Lower Belvedere palace which was excellent to view as well.  Having spent some time here, we made our way back to the hotel for a rest and to do some reading.

After a time we wandered out again and went to the Russian Orthodox church where again a service was taking place.  We were invited in and stayed a little while before returning to the hotel.  Time for tea and an evening of relaxation.