Photos Part 5

One of the (many) Maria Theresa monuments you can find scattered around Vienna.

The memorial to the victims of war and fascism.

St Stephen’s Basilica.

Inside St Stephen’s Basilica.

The new wing (built just before the outbreak of World War 1) of the Hofburg Palace.

The Austrian Parliament.

The entrance to the Schonbrunn Palace, which was the royal family’s summer estate.

Inside the Schonbrunn.

Looking back at the Schonbrunn from out in the gardens. Although the Schonbrunn gardens are not as vast as Versailles, they’re still pretty big.

Passing through part of the Schonbrunn gardens.

SALZBURG

A view of historic Salzburg from the river.

Salzburg Cathedral. During the Reformation, the bishop of Salzburg stayed loyal to the Vatican, and thus guaranteed that his building projects got well funded.

St Peter’s Cemetery. In Austria, people sometimes are buried in these garden graves and their friends and relatives tend to the flowers. However, if you run out of people to pay the rent for your grave, your body gets dug up and a new person goes in.

Inside St Peter’s Church, which is right next to the graveyard.

A view of Salzburg from the castle.

Another view of Salzburg, but this time with the castle in it.

HALSTATT (AUSTRIA)

Approaching Halstatt, a small town on a lake, up in the Austrian mountains.

The town is right on the side of the mountain, so all the buildings appear to be almost built on top of each other.

Walking around town.

Halstatt was a favorite retreat of the Austrian royal family.

A look back at town from farther along the lake.

MUNICH

One of the old gates of Munich.

At Munich’s main square.

Walking along the river.

Near the Residenz (the city estate of the Bavarian dukes) you can find a square with a large baroque church.

Inside the church.

In Munich’s massive city park you can find the famous river surfers.

The concrete under the water creates an artificial wave, and people take turns trying to surf it.

PRAGUE

Wenceslas Square, which really isn’t so much a square as a long boulevard. It was here at the end of the Cold War that the Czechs rallied to break away from the Soviet system.

Old Town Square. The Hyundai stuff was for the Euro Tournament, which was going on when I was there.

The old astronomical clock.

A view of part of Old Town Square from the tower with the astronomical clock.

The Charles Bridge and Prague Castle in the background.

The “Fred and Ginger” dance building.

Entrance to Prague Castle.

St Vitus Cathedral, inside Prague Castle.

On a hill not too far from Prague Castle you can find this mini Eiffel Tower. Although a fraction of the Eiffel Tower’s height, because of the elevation, the top is actually the same height as that of the Eiffel Tower in Paris.

From atop the tower, looking out at Prague.

KRAKOW

Wawel Castle, along the Wista River.

The royal cathedral.

Krakow’s old town square, with the Cloth Hall in the center. In the old days cloth merchants would fill the building (hence its name) but these days it is full of souvenir shops, restaurants and museums.

The cathedral on the square.