It was dark and cloudy when we were looking out the window. We wanted to see the Danube river as soon as we woke up. Everything was gloomy. The riverwalk following the river ran wet from the intermittent rain overnight. The forecast for the day was not looking any better.

Still, we were up and ready. A quick breakfast was mandatory before heading to Vienna Old Town for a walk. We had the whole morning to explore the Old Town by ourselves before embarking on our ship for a river cruise of the Danube river.

Stephansdom (St. Stephen’s Cathedral)

A Roman Catholic Church with Romanesque and Gothic design was our first stop at the Old Town. It is the mother church and seat for the Archbishop of Vienna. It was captivating to read about the history of the cathedral after its founding in 1137. Limestone was the building material for the Cathedral. Time and exposure has turned the white stone dark.

It was too cold that day to be walking outdoors to appreciate the exterior of the cathedral. A situation that we regret since there was so much to see on the cathedral’s exterior. Instead, we opted to appreciate the beauty of the cathedral from inside.

Tall columns and pointed arches met our gaze as we entered the Cathedral. The nave was long leading to the altar. There were people milling around for either sight-seeing or worship. The left side of the nave was showing a famous sculpture called Pilgrim’s Pulpit. This sculpture was engaging since it featured the founding Fathers of the Cathedral and the sculpture.

Talking about luck! The choir was rehearsing while we were there. Angelic voices and the sound of exquisite musical instruments filled the air!

Haas Haus

A post-modernist building described as located at Stock-im-Eisen Platz. Haas House was included in our self-guided Vienna Old Town walk for one reason. The building was considered controversial due to its modern design in contrast to the fronting Stephansdom. We immediately saw the contrast in design as we were walking past it. Around the corner was Graben.

Graben, Vienna

Graben was fascinating! By definition, a graben is a depressed crust of a planet bordered by normal faults. So, a ditch! However, Graben in Vienna is now a famous square in the city center. The ditch was gradually developed over time to become a marketplace and a festival site. We walked through Graben and was particularly impressed by amount of foot traffic. There were high end shops and monuments all along Graben.

Sacher Cafe

We sat beside a young gentleman while on the plane to Vienna. He is a resident of London but goes to Vienna every so often. We talked about chocolate drink and chocolate cake. He swore and recommended Sacher Cafe as having the best chocolate drink and chocolate cake. So, off we went in search of the famous Sacher Cafe. It must be very famous indeed! All we were able to do was watch it from outside. There was a long line of customers waiting for their chance to enter.

Austrian Parliament Building

The Austrian Parliament Building is the seat of power for the Austrian government. The building was designed in the Greek Revival style. Supposedly, as an inspiration from the origin of democracy.

We did a free self-tour of the interior of the building. It was impressive with its display of the history of Austrian government after the monarchy. There was also an interactive digital presentation of candidates running for office for the Austrian government.

Rathausplatz

It was back to Rathausplatz after the long, tortuous walk around Vienna Old Town. Actually, it was not! We averaged a very slow walking pace and covered only a distance of around 3 kilometers (2 miles). We were glad that we were back to Rathausplatz. This was where we had our first experience of a Vienna Christmas Market.

Our walk was guided by an app – GPSMyCity. We found this app really useful because it was true to its motto, “Lose Yourself Without Getting Lost”.

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