Wiener Prater
"To travel is to discover that everyone is wrong about other countries."
~ Aldous Huxley
In Vienna, "Prater" refers both to a large park east of the Old City, and to the amusement park within it. The park itself is free, but you pay by the ride. Even though we had a bit of rain, it was certainly a fun way to spend an afternoon.
Of course, Jeff being who he is, we had to hit up as many roller coasters as we could. Thankfully for me, they were all relatively small (but still fun!). No 200-foot drops or brain-scrambling turns - just charming smaller attractions that could be enjoyed by both thrill-seekers like him and wimps like me.
You didn't have to go fast to get a thrill. Prater had several "dark rides", the sort where you board a car and are taken through a themed setting. The most impressive of these was Hotel Psycho, a haunted house theme with some legit jump scares and excellent use of effects.
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We have never bought a ride photo in our lives... until now.
After all the adrenaline, I forced Jeff to take me on the Grottenbahn, effectively taking us from "G forces" to "G-rated". It's another "dark ride," but this time the car just takes you through a hallway of cheerful little fairy tale dioramas. The four-year-old in my soul was happy.
The crown jewel of Prater is the Wiener Riesenrad, a huge Ferris wheel built in 1897 which was, for many years, the tallest in the world. It was almost magical to float above the city and see both the hubbub of the amusement park and the peace of wooded expanse beyond.
