Day 7 - Part 1

We woke up at 8. Mbak Icha decided that she would not be able to go to Praterstern today because she has not made her German homework, so we postpone the plan to go with the kids until the next day.

This is the colourful apartment complex where they live.

We arrived at Stephanplatz and Kartnerstrasse at 9.30am, and decided to follow Lonely Planet walking tour route.

First we went to the tourist information office and found a lot of interesting concert and opera, incuding a marionette opera. Nearby, a lady was caught by a policeman for entering a one-way road in a wrong direction.

We also saw a beggar, who was pretty young and able not to be a beggar.

All the shops along Kartnerstrasse are really expensive! As a cheap snack, we had 'Kasekrainer' fried sausage filled with cheese together with bread and mustard (Sold by Turkish people).

We then filled out our water bottle at the fountain, cheaper and healthier than buying soft drink.

We passed by Malteserkirche on Kartnerstrasse where they have a very nice pipe organ. There is an organ concert together with trumpet every evening here. www.trumpet.at

We entered a church at a small Capuccino church www.kapuziner.at at the Neuer Markt. If we want to light the worship candle we had to pay EUR1. That's a bit steep.

In the Neuer Market we saw this guy who loved his dogs so much, he took them in a ride on his bike. He dressed them with biker's accessories as well.

For the first time we saw the Smart car. Indeed smart people are buying this car for the ease of parking in the European cities, where narrow streets are everywhere.

We passed by the Caviar house near the Neuer Market, where we saw 'Ahmad Tea' being sold there. It's funny when you know that your dad's name can also be a name for a beverage.

Then we arrived at Stephanplatz, just outside Stephandom Church. Facing the church was Haas House, a modern architecture piece which is disliked by the Viennese people. This is Haas House being contrasted with Stephandom Cathedral Facade.

Then there were a lot of 'living statues' who were trying to make a living. This is the 'living statue' getting prepared to work.

Then, the Mozart-dressed people in this area were really annoying; they kept offering us tickets for concert but they refused if we wanted to take photo with them. And they constantly nag us. This is the cheesy and annoying part of our Viennese visit, kind of like Singapore credit card marketer along Orchard Road.

The magnificent church was also being renovated! How come every major landmark is being renovated in autumn, everywhere we go? This was also annoying. Too bad, because it is really a magnificent church, where Mozart got married to Constanze Weber.

We continued to walk towards Graben, the most lavish shopping district in old Vienna. We now already saw two beggars, and both were young in age. I wondered why they need to beg, because even unemployed people will get money from government.

We turned to Kohlmarket, which used to be the place to trade Coals. There we found public toilet from early 20th century, but is still kept clean and retains its original ornaments.

We passed by Demel shop which has various kinds of finely made candy and chocolate, but it was really damn expensive. When we continued to Michaelerplatz, we passed by a woollen clothes shop that sells all kind of hand made woollen wardrobe. Again it is really expensive, but the craftsmanship was really excellent.

We continued to Hofburg, but again, it was being renovated. A lot of construction equipment that disturbed the view. We passed by the Treasury, which stores all the treasures and artefacts from the empire, but we had to pay expensive ticket to enter. It is funny that they exhibit expensive artefacts and treasures, and asked us to pay to view it? They should pay us if they want us to see it! Anyway, when we reached Burgring, we decided to take a photo of ourselves among autumn trees in the city.

When we continued to walk towards Opernring we saw some Austrian riding BMX bike and did stunt on it.

Then we entered the Burggarten, where we saw Mozart Statue playing violin and Goethe Statue. We passed by Steinway House (How Rani wants to buy those pianos!). This is Rani with Mozart.

We had lunch of Durum and Doner Kebab at the same place we bought the Kasekrainer. It was indeed a healthy lunch. Again, we saw a hungry beggar, seen in this picture, he took leftover pizza from the trash bin and ate it.