Update: We are back in Gyula...finally. First, we had a terrific time at home seeing all our family and friends! It was exhausting and we have already decided that next summer we must come home for a bit longer and space things out.
Meanwhile, since our return, we went to Lake Balaton in Hungary (the largest freshwater lake in Europe? maybe just the largest in Central Europe?) Either way, it's big.
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| Sunrise at Balaton...yes, Melissa was up for this! |
After that, it was on to Krakow for a few days...
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| Main Square in Krakow |
then back to Balaton because A) we enjoyed it and B) we found out that we did, in fact, get paid over the summer!!
All of that plus a few random days back in Budapest made for a pretty nice summer break. Oh, except that we still don't have any furniture in our flat -- but we did pick up a second chair so I am actually sitting as I type this.
We have this and one more Vienna blog (we spent 6 days there) and then on to new(er) things...
Onto the blog --
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So, on our fourth day the plan was to hit the Naschmarkt and St. Stephen's Basilica. The Naschtmarkt is the largest and/or most popular marketplace in Vienna. It was basically a big square with huts and restaurants lining the middle. Lots of neat stuff there...
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Olives for Larry -- it was also nice that we could understand "Oliven Mit Chile"
In Hungarian, olive is "olajbogyó" |
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| Mmmm... |
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| Double Mmmmm... |
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| Xander fish is quite expensive... |
We walked around the market for most of the morning and stopped in at one of the restaurants for lunch. Pretty sure this was a bad idea, very touristy. But, Meliss and I split a sampler platter which I think was Turkish? Not entirely sure -- it hit the spot though.
After lunch, we headed back to the center of town to St. Stephen's. There had been a church structure on this site since the 12th century but the current cathedral had been built off/on from the 14th century. Along with everything else we saw in Vienna, it was under construction during our visit.
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St. Stephen's Cathedral -- Vienna
Ok, it's gigantic and in the middle of a big square with loads of other buildings around, so it's near impossible to get far enough away from it to get the whole thing in one picture. |
More from the outside of the cathedral...
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| With construction on either side |
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We read that the black color is from pollution and soot and that the
construction in progress is to return it to it's original white color.
I'm sure that will look brilliant but there is something about this dirty black/grey that's pretty impressive. |
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| Bell Tower |
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| Bell Tower from other side |
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Pulpit of St. John Capistrano -- used to be inside in the 15th century.
Used to spur on a crusade to save Christian lands from the Muslims. |
Alright, after about a half hour of walking around the outside we headed in to tour the church itself. At this point, we had really only seen St. Stephen's in Budapest (not the same guy) and so this was our second major Euro church. Just incredible inside -- hard to explain how huge these churches are indoors but...
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| From main entrance towards main altar (orb) |
and...
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| this is the center corridor (knave?) looking back towards the entrance |
and...
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| Looking towards the main altar |
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| Close up of the main altar |
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| Again, main corridor -- in the front left is the most famous pulpit (pics later below) |
Now, on either side of this main corridor there were two other big, long segments -- each with several off-shoots and little specialty altars.
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| One of the side corridors |
The rest of the inside pics didn't turn out great because it was dark inside but here's some of the better ones...
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| Baptismal Fountain |
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| And one of the many smaller chapels inside the church -- there are also 18 separate altars inside. |
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| Another altar |
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| Random stuff just about everywhere we looked... |
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| Tomb of one of the Hapsburg's -- probably someone really important!! |
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| Organ |
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| And pipes |
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| Close up of main altar above but the stupid computer won't let me move it now |
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| Pretty gigantic triptych |
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| It was cloudy so not a good day for stained glass but still...creepy |
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| Every column was adorned with something ornate and probably saintly |
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Main altar again, and it's beautiful no doubt...but it's also a jumbled mess -- there is no open space anywhere.
Just cram packed with stuff.
All nice to look at -- but everywhere. |
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| One of the many pulpits -- the artist sculpted himself into this one |
And the crown jewel, if you will, is the pulpit below
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| This is set pretty much in the middle of the church |
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| And another artist portrait at the base |
One of the neat things about the pulpit is the spiral staircase leading up to it...
On the top of those two pics, you can barely make it what look like little bumps on the railing.
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Turns out the "bumps" are all little animals...ok, but they are sculpted in order of their (for lack of a better term) holy rankings. Meaning the most "evil" animals are at the base of the railing and the most holy are at the top.
I can only imagine spiders, scorpions, and sharks are near the bottom. Meliss just thinks the whole lower half should be mosquitos. |
After about an hour inside we made our way out to climb the tower to get a view of Vienna's center.
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| Another long winding climb... |
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| Again, we were only allowed up to the first arrow (we were not upset) |
Here are the views from the lookout point...
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| The giant ferris wheel through the pretty foggy haze |
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| We weren't kidding about Vienna being under construction...all of Vienna. |
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| St. Stephen's Basilica Bell -- it only rings on a few days a year -- and not when people are up here. |
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| Us at St. Stephen's |
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| On the way back down... |
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| On the way back down part 2 -- this time with gargoyles! |
When we got to the bottom we had some time to waste before our tour of the catacombs underneath the basilica. During our tour of the church itself the audio guide talked about a famous statue of Jesus on the outside of the cathedral that is known as "Jesus with a Toothache."
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| Found it! |
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| Yeah, it kind of fits. |
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| Although, this one was inside and it kind of fit too, no? |
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| If anything, I think he looks more toothachy. |
Ok, finally time for our tour of the catacombs. Holding the remains of over 11,000 people (commoners and royalty alike), the catacombs were used to hold emperors, saints, and artists, as well as victims of the plague. Also, our tour guide was a bilingual Austrian guy that looked like one of the bad guys in every movie I've ever seen and sounded like Arnold Schwarajskdksdkenegger.
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| Door leading to catacombs |
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| And looking back up |
Now, pictures were not allowed within the catacombs.
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Here are our pictures from within the catacombs...
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| Tombs of some of the bishops previously in charge |
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| And a few empty ones for future bishops |
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Long, dark hallway -- also blurry because Meliss had to snap picks quickly whenever Schultz turned his back.
Plus, I had to cough every time because her Ipod makes a picture taking sound that we can't figure out how to turn off |
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| Those are bones |
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| These are a lot of bones...the chances of this place being haunted are about 150,000%. |
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| Another long spooky hallway (all of them were) |
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| And finally...our way out |
Afte that tour we headed out and caught some pics of St. Stephen's at night...
And one of the other days...with Oilerman
Ok, this was a long one (and it was a long day too). Up next, some of our nights out in Vienna and other random fun stuff.
