Yesterday we started the day with a walking tour of the city. It was a great way to get a feel of the city's history and to put into context some of the amazing buildings that we had seen the night before. It was a good tour and it did help to bring the city to life, especially the influence of the Hapsburgs, vienna's ruling emperial family until the first war when Vienna became a republic.After the tour, we decided to make it a holy day and visit two of the cities major churches, cause I'm soooo religious...hahaha. The first church on out stop was St. Karl's, built right after the plague hit Vienna in the early 1700s. From the outside, it is a huge Baroque church with massive spires. It's very overwhelming. Once we got inside, we were a little underwhelmed. The actual inside was a lot smalled than expected. The decor and paintings were all still impressive, but we expected a bit more. I'm always amazed by the frescoes on cielings though. Just beautiful.
The second church we visited is the most important church in Vienna and also right next door to our apartment. Our bedroom window balcony looks out onto St. Stephens and St. Stephens Square so we know it well. This was our first look inside though. The church was absolutly beautiful and just as impressive on the inside as on the out. My mom still wants to visit the church's catacombs but she might have to go alone. I had a bad experience in grade when a school field trip ended with a tour of the city's cathedral's catacombs. I couldn't sleep for a month and when I could sleep I had nightmares. I was probably around ten at the time but maybe that should of been a sign then for me to stay outta the church. :)
