Vienna: 19th - 22nd

We arrived at Vienna in the early afternoon leaving enough time to explore and gather our bearings. Our hostel was very modern, and our room the size of a matchbox. They had managed to fit six people in what was clearly a four bedroom dorm, nevertheless it was cheap, clean and they served a nice continental breakfast which was a good way to kick start the day. The centre of Vienna was absolutely beautiful, the buildings were grand and at floor level housed the designer label shops. As we walked down an alleyway off the main street you could smell horses and straw, little did we realize we were wandering right behind the stables of the famous Spanish riding school. That afternoon we purchased tickets to the performance of the Spanish riding horses and had a late lunch at Mozart’s Café. We then went for a long walk and found most of the major sites and attractions.

(Leopold’s Museum)

(Equestrian Statue)

The following day did not host the best weather so indoor activities were our best option. We started off viewing the Imperial Burial Vault, which was a little bit depressing as it really was a just a underground building full of coffins that dated back 500 years. None of us knew of these famous ghost’s of the past and were relieved to exit the building. In the afternoon we decided to join a tour of the stables of the Spanish Riding School. The stables were built in the 1550s and housed 72 grey stallions and 1 brown stallion (they called him their lucky black sheep). The stallions are purpose bred at the famous stud 'Piber’ apparently out of the 60 foals born only 4 will make it to the riding school. They are picked by their conformation, personality and rank in the herd as these traits are necessary to perform the strenuous movements requested of them during performances. Initially they were bred for battle, and the famous ‘Capriole’, ‘Courbette’ were used to fight off the opposition. Because the horses are boxed most of the day the Spanish Riding School possesses the biggest horse walker in the world. The undercover walker is designed to fit 20 stallions in it and is build around a 20 x 60 outdoor dressage arena that can be used in the warmer months. We then got a tour of the indoor arena, the most exquisite school in the world (It is not often you see two massive chandeliers hanging from the ceiling). It really was amazing which made us even more excited for the following day’s performance.

After our tour we went for a walk to the ice skating ring which we saw the previous day. It was Sarah’s dream come true, as it took up the entire park, and at night time was a spectacular light show. Around the ice skating ring were lots of little stalls selling all sorts of delicious goodies and beverages, the setting was simply perfect.

Our last day in Vienna was the highlight as we saw the special Spanish Riding School performance. The first presentation was of the young horses that were between the ages of 4 and 6, it was nice to see how the green horse was allowed to go through the basic paces in a simple snaffle bridle. We then go to see a series of performances from the educated stallions who have been training for 8 years with the same rider. You could tell the level of the rider by the number of gold stripes around the saddle cloth. We were told in our tour that it can take up to 12 years to become a fully fledged ‘School Master’, and you are only given a horse after 4 years of training. Their tack was interesting as well with the bridles laced in brass and the saddles hand made out of Deer skin. The rider’s jodhpurs were also made out of Deer skin as it gave them more grip, especially in the jumping movements where they have no stirrups. Overall my favorite part was the quadrille where the stallions performed in perfect unison.

In the afternoon we went to see the big Ferris wheel that survived the war, we would have gone up if it had not been so expensive.

We then toured to the most beautiful Palace that was just as amazing as Versailles. The gardens were huge and lead up a hill to a huge monument that was the same pastel yellow color as the Palace. Because it is warming up all the snow was melting and we could see this thing called ‘grass’ which has been covered for the entire trip. The design made a very picturesque view, hopefully my photos do it some justice.

Overall Vienna was a fantastic place to stop at and the Spanish Riding School really was a treat. I would recommend anyone looking for classical performances and infrastructure to head there. The information centre offered numerous packages to see symphonies and ballet if that takes your fancy, and there were many museums that we did not get the time to see. Loved it!