Europe 2019 - Day 48 (Part 3)

23 June 2019, Sunday

Then we went to the Votive Church (also under renovation 🙄) which is built in neo-Gothic design. Following the attempted assassination of Emperor Franz Joseph in 1853, the Emperor's brother Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian inaugurated a campaign to create a church to thank God for saving the Emperor's life. Funds for construction were solicited from throughout the Empire. The church was dedicated in 1879 on the silver anniversary of Emperor Franz Joseph and his wife Empress Elisabeth.

Then we walked to the Sigmund Freud museum - because he’s Austrian and I read his book the Interpretation of Dreams which I didn’t like but still. His name is synonymous with psychology and psychology is one of my pet peeves so I had to go see the museum.

Then to the State Opera which was first constructed in 1869. The original Vienna State Opera House was almost totally destroyed – save for its Tea Salon, the Schwind Foyer, its main façade, and the grand staircase – by Allied bombing during WW II. It was then rebuilt in a Neo-Renaissance style and reopened in 1955 with a performance of Beethoven’s Fidelio. It looked like a palace, and is said to be one of the finest Opera Houses in the world. Opera is really a thing here in Vienna. (Un)fortunately it’s not my thing.

Then to St Charles’  Church, a baroque Roman Catholic church. It is widely considered as the most outstanding baroque church in Vienna, as well as one of the city's greatest buildings. The church is dedicated to Saint Charles Borromeo, one of the great counter-reformers of the 16th century. Constrction began in 1713 and the church was completed in 1737. The church originally possessed a direct line of sight to the Hofburg and was also, until 1918, the Imperial patron parish church.

Lastly, we saw the Mozart monument. As my piano teachers used to say, I play the piano like a bull or an elephant which makes me more of a Beethoven or Bach person but still! I played Mozart so I can relate and of course it’s exciting to be in the country he was born in.  

Then we decided to call it a day as it was quite late. We still had some interesting things to see so we decided to wake up early tomorrow and tackle the remaining places. 

On the train back to the hostel, there was a ticket collector asking to see tickets. I showed him my ticket and no problem. There was a boy who tried to exit the train at the next stop (I guess he didn’t have a ticket) but he was seen in time by the ticket collector who accosted him and took his photo with his handphone. They got down at the next stop and the boy casually tried to walk away but the ticket collector held on to his clothes. I don’t know what happened next but yikes! Luckily we always had tickets.