Saturday 14 January 2012

Getting around in Vienna

The most romantic way to get around in Vienna is wrapped up cosily under a warm blanket, in a horse and carriage ...


they're called fiakers, as are their drivers, after Saint Fiacre, the patron saint of taxi drivers.


With their hats and greatcoats, aren't these fiakers straight out of Amadeus?


Fiakers chatting while their horses take a breather, in Albertinaplatz

Hey, could this be the same bloke from above, now whipping along the Burgring, chatting to his colourfully-wrapped elderly passenger?


Of course the carriage horses' aristocratic relations, the Lippizaners, have their home in Vienna, at the Spanish Riding School at the Hofburg Palace ... 


We didn't do the tour of their stables, but were lucky to get a glimpse of a courtyard exercise trot ...


and a close-up of one of these gorgeous creatures (doesn't he look as though he knows it?) looking over a stable door ...


while two neighbouring beauties nuzzled each other from adjacent quarters ...


The jolly red trams are a cheaper and efficient way to get around and see the sights ...


... but this is the man I'd like to get a ride with if only I could ... can you spot his dog perched behind?




5 comments:

  1. Vienna has been for years on my list " to go " and more "because of thanks of you " . THis city looks so magic and desserts and coffees are to die for . I admire Merisi Vienna for beginners for years.
    Thank you for this trip.
    Sorry for my silence , and thank you for your best wishes, I wish you asparkly and fantastic year.

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  2. Such splendid photos!
    The horses delight ( and I don't even like horses really).
    I've just read Tim Bonyhady's "Good Living Street" (non fiction) set in Vienna about an absurdly rich
    family who were patrons of Klimt.
    Do you know Merisi's Vienna for Beginners blog?
    She has been writing it for 6 or 7 years and it's lovely.

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  3. Everything you have shown of Vienna (beautiful as it is) looks so high-end and persuades me that I could never afford to go there. In my world, my preferred mode of transport would be the tram. If I was in a particularly bold mood - like you - I wouldn't mind hitching a ride with the cool guy and his dog.

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  4. Karen - Further to your post on coffee shops in Vienna, by coincidence, I came across this interesting link http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-16538189 on the BBC website today. The coffee shops visited look sooo inviting - I can see why they are so popular! Bella B!

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  5. Superb pictures Karen!
    And a whole other side of Vienna I haven't seen at Merisi's...
    You must be a rider..your horses!

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