Ice skating at the Rathaus

(Don't get too freaked out; this post and my day have NOTHING to do with rats!  "Rathaus" means "city hall" in German.)

The first place I wanted to go today was to the Rathaus, which is only 3 train stops away from me, to see the ice skating rink there that I'd been hearing about for the past few months.

This is the train stop to the Rathaus, which is on the right.  I had to walk in between these buildings to get to it.

I don't know what the pretty white building is on the left, but the ugly one in the middle is called MUSA, which is the contemporary art collection of the Cultural Department of the City of Vienna.  

(You can read more about it here.)

It was such a beautifully sunny day that I saw quite a few windows open.  However, don't be fooled by that sunlight, b/c it was SO COLD out!

Some pretty architecture on the Rathaus

No idea, but there are several in the area.

A statue for Friedrich Schmidt...whoever that was.

He must have been great b/c there's a street named after him.

 

A subtle and adorable reminder to clean up after your dog.  :)

This guy was under the arches at the MUSA.

He contains over 500,000 nails!

See?

At the MUSA

Back to the Rathaus

I stood up here to take some photos of everyone skating.

Isn't it just gorgeous?

There were a few rinks and several snack and beer stands set up here, which is also where the Christmas market booths were set up a few months ago.