2006 The Long NOT Winding Road - More From Prater Park

Here are a few photos to finish our visits to Prater Park.
The first set are of the oldest ride in the park. Sadly it is in need of some repair.


This group of characters look like they have had a mixture of too many rides and too much falling down water.


I'm not sure if this gentleman is being sucked into an abyss or escaping from it. I'll let you decide.

Punch and Judy manage to climb to new heights.

There are different types of horse carousels within the park. The first is a classic design dating from 1895.


The other uses horses to pull carriages. Guzzisue was not too sure of the ethics of this particular ride, however the horses are taken away from the ride at quiet intervals for a little exercise.



This little scene was something we stumbled across. Beauty and the Beast or both talking about their Bad Hair Day. Just out of shot was a film crew, so this could have been a college class at work.
These chair-o-planes are not for this Ted! The thought of loosing my grip and being slung off at a tangent does not "bear" thinking about. Terra firma for me.


Finally two more pictures of the Riesenrad, followed by another short film of Prater Park.

2006 The Long NOT Winding Road - In Search Of Harry

Having left the Kunsthaus behind us it was all eyes skywards to find our next destination. Vienna has a funfair at Prater Park and in its grounds is a very famous landmark, the Riesenrad.
The Riesenrad was erected by Walter B Basset, a British engineer, in 1897 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the reign of Emperor Franz Joseph I. The wheel itself spans 200 feet and rotates at 0.65 m/sec. The wheel has featured in several films, The Third Man being one of the most, if not the most famous. In 1914 the wheel was used for a film stunt in which Madame Solange d'Atalide managed to complete one round on horseback on top of one of the cabins.
In 1944, at the height of WWII, the Giant Ferris Wheel burnt down, but was rebuilt in 1945. The Riesenrad is the only giant ferris wheel of its time which is still in use today.
We thought the charge of 7.50 euros was quite expensive until we walked into a room with showcases resembling the cabins on the wheel with models inside each one. The models give a brief history of Vienna over the last two thousand years, from Roman Times, through the Middle Ages and up to the Second World War.

Once inside the cabin we slowly rose above the nearby tree line to view the surrounding area.
We did not expect Prater Park to be the size it is, so a walk round will be necessary.

Here is the view from the top of the wheel.

Disembarking from the wheel we declined the tourist photo of us on the Riesenrad. Well it was a pretty poor mock-up of a cabin with Ian having an arm around Guzzisue and pointing to something in the distance (sic).
Two other things we got with our entry ticket were discount vouchers to be used in the gift shop, 40 cents and 30 cents for the restaurant. These stayed in our pockets.
During our stay in Vienna we had more than one visit to the park. Below are some shots of the wheel at different times of the day, finishing off with a small film clip I've edited.





Harry was nowhere to be seen so I assume he had already been on the wheel and was now hiding in the sewers.