View on Vienna's City Hall from Stephansdom

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Climbing the tower of Stephansdom cathedral is a pain in the butt, however, once you are up in the Stürmerstube, you will be rewarded with a remarkable view - see the picture above for evidence. I took it looking towards the Rathaus or city hall, which is the pointy, very high building in the right part of the picture. A few more words of what you can see: Right in front of the Rathaus, a small part of the Burgtheater′s roof shows.

That′s the triangular thing that looks a bit like a part of a Greek temple. Further down from the Burgtheater you can see a modern building; this is a 1930ies house that became the first "skyscraper" of Vienna, a big deal for the struggle between progressive social democrats and conservative Christian democrats back in the days. It can be found in Herrengasse right next to Palais Ferstel, a small exhibition in the ground floor tells the story of the construction.

Left of this modern building, you can see a dark church; this is the Gothic Minoritenkirche, a church that I like very much. It is surrounded by Baroque palais and worth seeing. In the background, there is a white church with playful twin-towers. This is the Piaristenkirche, which you will see on the next picture in this gallery. Climbing the tower of Stephansdom is exhausting, but very rewarding; there is no lift and the steps are very narrow, so a certain degree of fitness is required. Chubby Americans usually prefer coffee at the skybar, a café on a roof in Kärnterstraße nearby the Stephansdom.