You get this view from the south tower of St. Stephen’s Cathedral in Vienna, Austria. With every step up, I felt like I was going back in time — and with 343 steps, you have a lot of time to think about time.
As I started the ascent, I wondered about who had climbed these stairs over the centuries. A little thrill always goes through me when I can use the word ‘centuries’ to describe a building. Why were they climbing? Was it their job? A lifelong dream?
I climbed the stairs because the tower is iconic. I had the time to spend the time. And most importantly, it was open on the day I wanted to visit.
If you’ve never been in a tower staircase, you might be surprised at just how narrow it is. How dizzy you can get going around and around. How you squoosh against the wall when you hear someone coming, because someone’s going to need to squoosh. It’s cold. You see names etched in the stone. Occasionally there’s a tiny window so you get a sense of how high you’re getting. Then suddenly there’s a big wooden door. Behind it is a warm room with an attendant at an information desk, a little vending machine for photos, a telescope, and Vienna in every direction.
You sense a bit of triumph threading through the room. We’re all proud that we made it up here. And now we’ll politely wait our turn at each set of windows. It took me a minute to realize why one window was so clean and clear – it was open! That’s the window from which I took this photo. Looking out toward the Danube. Looking out over centuries of stories.
Even though it’s magical, you can’t stay in the tower forever. Even Rapunzel got tired of tower life. But that view is now a part of my history. Every step was worth it.
View from St. Stephen’s Cathedral, Vienna, Austria 2023