An early start with a tour of the big Schonbrunn Palace and its huge gardens on another sweltering day in Vienna. I then picked up the rest of the attractions in the Vienna surrounds, including the large cathedral, two strange-looking houses, the Stadtpark and the Prater. Like Berlin, I managed to squeeze this all in with by boarding all forms of public transport in the city.

Background

Schonbrunn seemed the best place to start since the hostel was located fairly close to the palace. In the end, it only took 10 minutes by tram, so I arrived fairly early and did my best to explore most of the gardens before exploring the palace later in the morning. Unfortunately, this was a mistake since you have to take a number before entering the palace, even though I had spent about half and hour queueing for the tickets. In the end, I was a bit disappointed about the palace, so I probably should have saved the admission to see more of the palace gardens instead. All in all, the best part of Schonbrunn would have to be the Gloriette, since you can see Schonbrunn and parts of Vienna from the hilltop.

After a hop on the bus and a metro trip, Karlsplatz and Schwarzenbergplatz was my next stop. The Seccession and Karlskirche had to be the most notable buildings around the area. A few minutes walk later, the equestrian statue in Schwarzenbergplatz appeared. This long square is bounded by the Russian monument and Palais Schwarzenberg (which is actually a hotel) at the south and Kartner Strasse at the north.

A few more hops on a tram and a metro trip later, I found myself in Stadtpark and the most photographed statue in Vienna. The gold statue of Johann Strauss, with the white arch, was the only significant sight in the whole park and quite a crowd had gathered just to get a picture of it.

Finally I finished off the day in Vienna with a visit of the unusual KunstHausWien, Kalke Village and Hunderwasserhaus. The buildings were designed by Friedensreich Hundertwasser and really looked like something from Alice And Wonderland. Another 10 minutes of walking, I found myself in the Prater amusement park and its famous vintage ferris wheel. Although a major attraction, the area did feel a bit dodgy, with the busy and grubby Praterstern station and very confusing network of ring roads between the station and the Prater. After all, it's a big city.

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Technical

Canon EOS 300V with 28-90mm and 75-300mm USM. Fuji 100 Reala and NPH 400.