September 7

Vienna: Day II

After breakfast at the hotel, we hopped back on the subway (which seems to run entirely on the honor system), and headed back to the city center. First we stopped at the Karlskirche, or the Church of Charles Borromeo. It's really Baroque. And really tall, as we were to discover.

There I am! As you might notice, I'm wet again, and it's not from the shower.

Once inside, we realized that the church is undergoing some serious refurbishing/repair. I guess they decided that while they were doing the work with all the scaffolding, they should go ahead and make it a tourist attraction. One can take the elevator up to an impossible height and then climb several flights of rickety stairs right up into the dome. Theoretically.

The elevator shaft is to the right. That scaffolding way up there is where the elevator stops. After that, you take the stairs up the middle. Ask Dad how much I enjoy glass elevators. Ah, the Holidome in Indianapolis...

The really comfort-inspiring sign at the base of the rickety stairs. "Running and Jumping are Life-Endangering! Screaming is Uncool!" Yes, it really says "uncool."

And, the rickety stairs. I made it about halfway up the second section or maybe not even that far. The sign about how only 10 people could be up there was freaking me out. So was the fat guy who was up there shaking the entire thing. Erik looked down and told me that we'd never make it to the top, at my pace. I decided that it would be just fine if we went back down. I didn't want to be "uncool," after all.

We couldn't find the imperial crypt, the other main thing Erik wanted to see in Vienna, before we ran out of time and had to go to catch our train. Maybe some other time. Auf Wiedersehen, Wien!