Hopefully you saw the post about skiing in downtown Munich! Siemens built a mini slope for skiing and sledding right in front of their world headquarters and it was a lot of fun. We were in for another surprise on our weekend getaway to Vienna.
In Vienna we found something similar. It was built by the city (rather than a corporate sponsor) and sat in front of the Rathaus (City Hall). It's called the Wiener Eistraum (Vienna Ice Dream).
Instead of sledding and skiing, this is for ice skating. When you think of ice skating, you might think of an oval rink, but Vienna added a twist -- skating routes. They feel a bit like a lazy river at a water park. Check out the map below and you'll see the ice skating paths on the left side.
Here's a view from the front, taken from the sidewalk. You see the giant Rathaus looming in the background and notice lights that ensure people can skate until 20:00 in the evening. It looks like a typical ice skating rink...
...but now in this photo, we zoomed out a bit and you can just barely see the entrance to the skiing route on the front left. The guy with the backpack is just starting onto the path, and the guy in the green jacket looks like he will follow.
Now we panned left so you can see the path. It's wide enough for maybe four across, and the skating pace was quite leisurely. A couple teen guys were moving pretty fast (as usual), but in general it looked like a relaxed way to go. It's hard to see in the photo, but if you look at the ice skates of the woman with the blue jeans and hat (foreground, right side) on top they look almost like ski boots. I think the child behind her has the same thing. That's because the rental skates that were available had ski-boot like buckles on them! Those quick-lock mechanisms work fast, are familiar, and much more convenient than long laces. Very cool. They should have those in the U.S..
Now we're moving further left in the scene, and the photo below (shot from the sidewalk again) shows the people skating by on the ice path. With the Rathaus in the background it was a really pleasant atmosphere. The had music playing...
... and of course tents with food and drink available. Frau and I had some glühwein and it really warms you up on a cold day.
Now we're even further left and looking back down the sidewalk to where we started. You get a better feel for how long the path is -- you can't see the entrance from the rink anymore. And this is just the first leg of the path going across the front (check the map again)! We thought about renting skates and giving it a whirl, but had other things to see. Just another reason to go back to Vienna.
