I Love Vienna - Day 2

Our second day in Vienna, Saturday, September 21, was very special. We toured the Spanish Riding School, which is located in the Hofburg. Can you imagine a magnificent structure like this housing animals?

But, then, these aren't "just" animals. These are the Lipizzaner Stallions - equally magnificent as their home.

Of course, I had seen these beautiful horses performing, on TV. But I didn't really know much about them. Our tour guide filled us in on the history of the Lipizzaners, and the customs of the Spanish Riding School.

We were allowed to take photos of the horses, from outside the stables, with their heads looking through. But when we actually walked through the stables, we were prohibited from taking pictures or touching the horses. You can't imagine how difficult it was to restrain my hands! They slooked at me and seemed to be begging me to pet their soft muzzles. But I complied with the rules. (I did speak softly to a couple of them.)

One of the stallions - full-blooded Lipizzaner - was brown, instead of white. Our guide explained that the horses are all born black, gray or brown, and turn white as they age. This particular one, along with two others that the Spanish Riding School has, will stay dark. He told us that having a dark Lipizzaner in the stables is considered good luck. The stallion, despite his different color, participates and performs in everything the others do.

We also learned about the riders and the training. The horses are trained according to their personality, therefore a more high-spirited stallion would be trained in jumping, rather than the more disciplined dressage.

We also got to view the tack room, which was beautiful in itself! Every horse and rider has a saddle that is custom fitted to them. As you can see, each saddle and each bridle is identified, by a plaque on the wall, with the horse's name. Each horse is given two names - the first being the line of the sire, and the second being the name of the dam.

This is a picture of the Winter Riding School, where exercise sessions and performances take place.

And this is the Summer Riding School, with one of the world's largest oval horse walkers.

We still had a little time, after our tour of the stables. While I visited a few more shops, Dan sat on a bench, outside the Hofburg, and struck up a conversation with a local Viennese man, who could speak some English.

Dan and Norbert

When I returned, this man named Norbert, told us the story of this modern bank building, the Raiffeisenbank, which stands across from the Hofburg, with all of its glorious Baroque architecture. Apparently there was a lot of controversy when this building, known as Looshaus, was built - such a modern, plain structure, right in the heart of the old, historic city. Norbert told us the people called it a house without eyebrows! I just looked it up on Wikipedia, and enjoyed this quote: "It was said that Emperor Franz Joseph had not only avoided passing next to Looshaus for the rest of his life by using the exit at Michaelerplatz, but also had to leave the windows of the Hofburg nailed so that he did not have to see the "hideous" house anymore." (I thought it was quite charming, in its more modern way.)

Looshaus

Back aboard ship, later in the afternoon, we enjoyed an on-board dance performance of the two dancers who had been part of last night's performance at the Palace Lichtenstein. They danced for us and persuaded a number of people to come forward and take some waltz lessons. 

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