Vienna: Karlskirche & Back to Rinda

It was drizzling again when we left Lower Belvedere around 3:45p. Planning to hop on the metro from the Karlsplatz Station, we headed in that direction … figuring that we could also stop in at Karlskirche if it was open.

As we neared the church, we came upon Schwarzenbergplatz with a fountain at its center. Named Hochstrahlbrunnen, the fountain was built to celebrate the opening of Vienna’s water pipeline. Not far from the fountain we noticed a monument consisting of a half circle colonnade and a tall column. There was no sign in English to explain what it was. I later found it on Google Maps, marked as “an offensive monument!” As it turns out, it was installed to “… honor the Soldiers of the Soviet Army.” I still need to figure out who ordered its installation.

It was still drizzling when we arrived at Karlskirche … aka the Church of St Charles. Paying the admission, we went inside for a wander. I had read that there was a construction elevator that visitors could ride for a closer look at the frescoes painted inside the immense dome. We asked about it and were told that there was no elevator anymore. Bummer. Especially since a neon light art installation — named “Forms Through Folds” — blocks a clear view of the interior of the dome.

Karlskirche is an 18th century Baroque church commissioned by Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI, who ruled from 1711 until his death in 1740. The church was not named for him, however. Its namesake is Saint Charles Borromeo. In addition to the great dome, the church boasts two gigantic columns that are decorated with bas relief scenes depicting the plague-related history of the church. The interior, as one might expect of a Baroque church, is highly decorated … plenty of marble stonework, paintings, states, gold gilding … and more.

After wandering around the nave and altars, we took the spiral stone staircase to check out the views from the panorama terrace and see, up close, the bas relief plague history depictions on the giant columns. On the way up, we made a couple of detours. First, we went to the balcony that fronts the impressively large organ and affords views down the nave to the altar. Also on this floor, we found a cutaway model of the church and drawings dating back to the construction of the church. Then we peeked into the Treasury. The display of ecclesiastical items here included a pair of brilliant red Pontifical shoes.

It was getting on towards 5:00p when we left the church for the short walk to Karlsplatz Station for the return metro ride to the river cruise docks in Handelskai. At the other end, we found the shorter route to the river ship dock via stairs near the bridge. During our absence, Rinda had shifted from its morning location dockside to be the outermost of three longships rafting at pier 2.

With the cabins ready for occupation, we picked up our key cards and went to settle into the tiny space that we will be calling home through the end of our river cruise.

We were done with our chores by the time 6:00p rolled around and it was time to go to the “Toast to Our Guests” and the follow-on briefing for tomorrow. One thing is for sure … if we want to see any of the screens used during the briefing, we will have to make a point of going to the lounge earlier. An in-person muster briefing wrapped up the official events for the day.

Dinner is over … the journal write-up is done … bedtime awaits.Baca selengkapnya