Vienna: The Jewel of the Continent! Come soon: This Designation May Not Last

Frankly, I thought this designation – Jewel – was better befitting of Prague.  It had been about 50 years since I had last visited Vienna and I left that city as an impressionable adolescent/adult with the notion of historical stuffiness in an otherwise unfriendly city.  Certainly, beautiful and majestic, but not particularly inviting, or approachable.  Certainly not the one I now see as the total reverse of my prior impression that in addition is culturally beaming with music and dance and opera and grand balls scheduled way too often to distinguish one from the next except perhaps the spectacular Opera Ball. 

But as usual, opinions formed early in life have a way of resurfacing in later life with alternative impressions and renewed and revised interpretations.  Unfortunately, usually that means that one’s impressions of a city or place like Rhodes, Bergen, Copenhagen (from neglect), etc., turn south as the place becomes overrun by tourists and as developers take over to maximize profits by hurling up a bunch of structures to house, entertain and entice the growing herd of eager tourists invading their land including the growing number of Chinese that have infiltrated every hotel in every town in every country on the planet due to their newfound wealth – Hecha en China.  OK, Enough of this rambling.

Vienna is wonderful, inviting and everything that a visitor would want in a thoroughly enchanting city with something for everyone.  Truly!!!!  A mixture of old and new, and the secret formula is an even skyline where the maximum height of all buildings is fixed with the exception of those sitting in place for hundreds of years allows for a beautiful flow of movement and a sky that is visible from all vantage points in contrast to skyscrapers robbing the view of the sky with a blanket of concrete shooting through the clouds. 

I won’t bore you with an explanation of the monuments and sights to be seen.  You can catch that from a million other sources.  Rather, a few pictures are shown including St Stephens Cathedral to highlight what we encountered walking only a few hours on our first afternoon after arriving.  Have to rush this writing to allow time for another outing before relocating to the cruise terminal for our impending river cruise.

Note the picture of the walking street and the even skyline that you can see, typical of most if not all of the streets in Vienna.  They have done something that few cities have been able to do. Keep the scoundrels and developers away from ruining the city with their greedy enticement and bribes to city officials that have allowed them to destroy most of the cities of the world under the guise of community development and progress. 

I love Vienna.  Come and see for yourself. 

DAY 2:  Oh - OMG, I THINK I SPOKE TOO SOON!  Note the picture below.  It was taken from the hotel room from the 10^th floor.  No less than 33 cranes were seen on the horizon ostensibly indicating new construction and an obvious protrusion of taller buildings on the perimeter of the city indicating that Vienna is not immune from the blood sucking grip of the devil – lepers !!!!!!!  This was confirmed at the Hilton's concierge desk that a building program was underway in the city that reflected this truth.  Fortunately, the city’s infrastructure is already firmly rooted and it is inconceivable that the heart of Wien will be affected with new construction either now, or anytime in the near future.  Still, like Venice that we visited recently, its best to visit certain cities sooner than later rather than to wonder why anyone would or could be so enamored by such a city based on its past.  I have missed the opportunity to visit so many of these cities but I’m very happy to be in Vienna writing this composition.  Maybe the spirit will move me for an encore when I hit Budapest.