After a leisurely day in and around the Palais Hansen, the Ramblers decided to further explore Vienna, but how to do it? The Kempinski concierge suggested we ride the Bid Red Bus around the city which would give us an excellent overview of the surrounding area. We had never tried one of these bus tours although we had seen them in many cities. His glowing recommendation tipped the scales in its favor. Sadly, the Ramblers were no longer the intrepid walkers of even 5 years ago. A walking tour was out of the question, especially in the unseasonably hot weather. The temperature would climb to the mid-90’s later in the day.
Out of curiosity the Rambler checked the weather forecast for the same day in 2020; it called for a high of 71, with a good chance of rain. This was the Vienna weather we had expected but it was not to be. The only caveat to taking the Big Red Bus was the long walk (for us) to its closest stop. Although the Big Red Bus and its yellow competition stopped right next to a few of the 5 star hotels in Vienna, the closest stop to the Palais Hansen was in front of the Votiv Kirche, at least a half mile away. Yet the Ramblers did have the whole day and we could always call an Uber if we ran out of gas… On the plus side, it was a straight shot down the Shottenring, and the Church was visible from quite a distance. In fact, it was nearly impossible to get lost, and we didn’t!
Our slow progress eventually got us to the shady and pleasant park that surrounded the church. But…we had to walk through the park to get to the Bus stop as it was directly in front of the church. Since there were many places to sit down in the shade along the way, I left the senior Rambler to relax while I went to visit the Votiv Kirche. I didn’t think I would want to do this after our Bus ride, and I was right.
The Votiv Kirche is a relatively new church, built to look old It was designed in the Neo-Gothic style of the 19th century to commemorate Franz Joseph’s escape from assassination in 1853. A contest was held to chose its design and the winning architect was a young Austrian, Heinrich Ferstel, only 26 at the time. You can find his portrait bust under the pulpit of the Votiv Kirche. Ferstel supervised the entire construction of the cathedral which started in 1856 and was dedicated in 1879. Unlike all medieval cathedrals which often took centuries to build, the Votiv Kirche was completed in just 23 years under the supervision of just one man.
It somewhat resembles the Stephansdom or St. Stephens Cathedral, the seat of Vienna’s Cardinal, as both have distinctive tile roofs, St. Stephens opened in 1160 AD, and extends 449 ft upwards as opposed to the Votiv Kirche’s 325. Instead of a saint’s name, its unusual title means ” the thankful church,” as it was built in gratitude for the emperor’s survival.
It is well worth gong inside although the huge electronic billboard that blocks the view of the entrance until you get relatively close is somewhat jarring. I have never seen this kind of advertising in front of a cathedral anywhere else. However, it seems to be doing well, probably because you can’t possibly miss it!
When you enter, several things catch the eye, the beautiful stained glass and the reverent attitude of the people inside. I would have liked to spend more time inside, as not only is is beautiful, but it was also delightfully cool inside. I understand that it is also very chilly in winter as well. However, our goal was to ride the Big Red Bus around Vienna, and I didn’t want the senior Rambler to wait too long outside, so I didn’t stay too long inside..
The Red Bus stop was not too far away, and it was soon obvious that the bus arrived at regular intervals. We had bought our tickets at the hotel, so we were checked in, got our headsets and passes and climbed aboard. The Ramblers immediately noticed that the bus was not air-conditioned. Well, how could it be when the whole upper level was open to the sky. We would have enjoyed sitting up there on a cooler day, as it was a great spot for photography but we found seats on the first level instead. And so our journey began.
This is for the folks who have never taken a Big Red Bus tour, thinking the bus would be full of obnoxious tourists. This was not the case in Vienna, in fact, there were quite a few Austrians on board. As we found out, it is a great way to get around Vienna, and even the least expensive ticket costs less than 30 Euros discounted. For an additional fee, one can add a tour of the Schonbrunn Palace, a ride on the Risenrad, or in a fiaker (horse drawn carriage) and several others. In addition, although we didn’t realize this, besides the Hop-On, Hop-Off route that we took, it had two other routes; one which took in the Schoenbrunn Palace and one that took in the Hundredwasser complex. If I had know this, I would have been sorely tempted despite the heat, to ride the Schoenbrunn Palace route as the Ramblers never did get to see it. At this time, the Ramblers hadn’t heard about Hundredwasser, but would have enjoyed seeing it.
But, we settled ourselves in fairly good seats, tried to think cool thoughts and prepared to see Vienna. There were 15 stops on the Red route, at three, passengers could hop off and hop onto the Blue route instead. The Blue route had only 9 stops, but for the most part, traveled an entirely different part of the city. The headsets provided narration in numerous languages including English English. En route, we would cross the Danube(Donau) twice quite near where the River Princess, and many other river cruisers were docked.
One of the most interesting stops was the Prater; part Aging Amusement Park, part green space and recreation area for city dwellers, it includes a lake and swimming pool which were quite crowded on such a hot day. We got a good look at the famous Riesenrod or travel wheel, better known to the Ramblers as a Ferris wheel. It was constructed for Franz Joseph’s Golden Jubilee, and is one of the earliest ever built. From 1920 to 1985, it was the world’s tallest. Today it sports 15 gondolas which look like wooden cabins but are called waggons, and a 15 – 20 minute ride costs 12 Euros. However, one of the cabins is fitted out as a dining room where you can order lunch or even a 3 course meal, which is fairly expensive, almost 300 Euros, though you do get a longer ride.
The Amusement Part rides in the Prater are somewhat faded, but they were still doing a brisk business and many people were strolling in the part. From there we headed across the Danube past the river cruisers, and then past the Donau Tower, Vienna’s tallest building. Cities like Vienna don’t have many tall structures as yet, except for church steeples, but some want to build more while others are strongly opposed to their construction. Fortunately the modern buildings are clustered together near the Donau Tower, leaving the inner city to the glorious historic buildings that line the streets of the inner city.
The Ramblers did not take advantage of the Hop Off option during our ride although the temperature both inside and outside was rising. We were not sure just how long we were on the bus, but we did learn from one of our fellow passengers, that the temperature inside was over 90 degrees. Thus by the time we got back to the Votiv Kirche we were happy to Hop Off. It had been alot of fun but we still had the long walk back to the Palais Hansen.Even more important, we hoped to find a nearby air-conditioned cafe where we could have something to eat and drink.
After we again crossed the ultra-wide Schottenring, we scanned the buildings for a suitable place but no cafes were open, tho they probably wouldn’t have been air-conditioned. Yet there was one place on the corner across from the church that seemed to be open.
Yes! Not only was it open but it was air-conditioned. We had lucked upon one of the famous Aida Konditorei, coffee, ice cream and pastry shops. We slid our sweaty selves into one of the open booths and found just what we needed, along with several glasses of water. This Rambler does love ice cream and the dish I savored at Aida was excellent.
Later I found that the Aida shops had been established in Vienna by the Prousek family before WWII, but all were destroyed during the war. However, the family owned business rebuilt and eventually expanded the chain into more than 20 stores. They were first rebuilt in 50s style and colors, pastel pink being the prominent hue, with lots of chrome accents.
The Prouseks have refused to change the look of the Aida stores so they are easily recognizable throughout the city. We found our Aida a life-saver, and one with a sparking interior, friendly service and fair prices, not to mention excellent ice cream. If you see one when you are in Vienna, drop in for excellent ice cream. The Ramblers can’t vouch for the pastries but they also looked very good.
Refreshed, we headed out into the hot summer afternoon and walked slowly back to the Palais Hansen. It was not a fun stroll and we were glad to get back to our hotel where we could change our sweaty clothes and relax. Tomorrow we would leave the Palais Hansen and embark on the River Princess for our 15 day cruise to Amsterdam. There seemed to be a few people staying at the Hansen who were also bound for the Princess, and later on that evening we met others who had just left the ship. They gave it a good review, so at least one Rambler was looking forward to an enjoyable time…the senior Rambler was not terribly enthusiastic, I will admit. Hopefully he would enjoy the cruising and I was pretty sure we would meet some pleasant and interesting folks on board. One of the main attractions of river cruising for both the Ramblers, is the ability to enjoy the company of a variety of people from different places. This cruise would not disappoint.