Tuesday, December 19, 2017

Prater - Vienna

Exactly 2 weeks ago I was in Vienna.
When Heidi sent me the 2nd of these card, seven years ago, Vienna was on my travel plans for that year but I didn't make it. I finally travel to Vienna, didn't spend a lot of money and could afford an entire card to send to myself. Karina, the friend I travelled with, chose this card for me because the Prater's ferris wheel was on my must do list and it was the last thing we did in the city.

smile GmbH, Wien
"The Wiener Prater is a large public park in Vienna's 2nd district Leopoldstadt. The Wurstelprater amusement park, often simply called "Prater", stands in one corner of the Prater and includes the Riesenrad.
The Riesenrad is a ferris wheel at the entrance of the Prater amusement park. It is now one of Vienna's most popular tourist attractions, and symbolizes the district as well as the city for many people.

The Riesenrad was one of the earliest Ferris wheels, erected in 1897 to celebrate Emperor Franz Josef I's golden Jubilee, and has an overall height of 64.75 meters(212.4 ft).
The wheel originally had 30 gondolas, but was severely damaged in the World War II, and when it was rebuilt, only 15 gondolas were replaced. The spokes are steel cables, in tension, and the wheel is driven by a circumferential cable which leaves the wheel and passes through the drive mechanism under the base." - in: wikipedia

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