St. Stephen's Cathedral, Vienna

St. Stephen's Cathedral, Vienna
Originally uploaded by Doc Tony

St. Stephen's Cathedral (German: Stephansdom) is the mother church of the Archdiocese of Vienna and the seat of the Archbishop of Vienna. In the middle of St. Stephen's square it is one of the oldest and highest cathedrals of the world!

Note that in this picture part of one of its spires is under renovation. nothing new here, as preservation and repair of the fabric of the medieval cathedral has been a continuous process at St. Stephen's Cathedral since its original construction in 1147!

cobblestoned streets, a medieval church and the da vinci's last supper

cobblestoned streets, a medieval church and the da vinci's last supper fresco: is that all worth walking all the way from the metro?
Originally uploaded by Doc Tony

you bet it was! the only thing is, i did not get to see the fresco. it turned out the waiting list to see it like 2 weeks! i could not believe how popular that place was ever since the "the vinci code" movie. lol! well, at least there is something to look forward to in my next visit! and you bet, i am going to walk all the back there again!

there was no one inside the church, but i felt a presence i could not

there was no one inside the church, but i felt a presence i could not describe...
Originally uploaded by Doc Tony

i never thought myself as having a sixth sense. i have always wondered how psychics and ghost whisperers felt, but that place just had the aura of spirits all around you. the interior just exuded of another time. i felt i was caught in a time warp and was just waiting for medieval characters of the past to pop out of the maze of pillars within.

"si venera il corpo di s. luciano" it says on the door of this church...

"si venera il corpo di s. luciano" it says on the door of this church...
Originally uploaded by Doc Tony

...which i bumped into while walking from the piazza san marco back to the train station. you cannot imagine the number of churches you will find in such a small area! this one just had those words on the door and would that mean this is st. luciano's church? i know the literal translation meant "here lies the body of st. luciano" - at least that is what i thought.

i actually went inside and took some photos (will post those later on). there was no one inside, saw some flowers with dedications for people (dead?). all in all the atmosphere was serene, almost haunting, like you can feel spirits or angels about to make an apparition! i felt a slight chill while shooting and darted back to the courtyard!

say a little prayer

say a little prayer
Originally uploaded by doctony

on sunday we went to notre dame hoping to hear mass, but we never got to. apparently we got the wrong information and got there 4 hours early for the english one, and the latin one was over. got a few nice pics though...

no tripods so i used a high ISO to do this shot.