Vienna - Kunsthistorisches Museum

I try only to do one Art Museum on a trip, as Tony is not a huge art fan. This trip it is the Kunsthirtorisches Museum. And what a beautiful museum it is.






It was built by the Hapsburgs to show off their amazing art collection. It is a truly diverse and fun collection. It has art that is both serious and entertaining.



The building is itself a work of art. It is by far the most beautiful art museum I've ever visited. Thank God it wasn't destroyed in WWII, for though all the art could be moved to secure locations, the building could not.



Even Tony enjoyed the collection at the museum. We followed Rick Steve's tour of this art museum. His museum tours have served us well over the years as they tend to hit the highlights while keeping the length of stay to a managable size.



We wandered through the beautiful galleries filled from floor to ceiling with stunning paintings representing some of the best of both Northern and Italian art.










There are fine examples of art both religeous and bawdy.








The museum also houses some fine Caravaggio paintings that I really like, and it was great to see them in person.





It was fun also to see some reappearances of versions of some of the paintings we had previously seen. We saw Velasquez's "Las Meninas" in Spain. Here they have a painting of Princess Margarita as an image simply to show how she is growing up also by Valasquez.








Tony was a good sport, but clearly not as impressed by the collection as me.



The collection is a manageable size and is a beautiful display of some awesome works of art. I highly recommend visiting this museum when in Vienna.

In fact, I might visit it again if ever I am in town again.

Vienna - The Hofburg Imperial Palace

With the Hofburg Imperial Palace, we complete visiting the 3 largest Palaces in Europe in order of size, Versailles in France, Hofburg Palace in Austria, and Palacio Real de Madrid in Spain. They have all been grand and imposing, and that is their purpose.

The Hofburg Palace, and in particular the most recent (turn of the century addition) is the most imposing. It also carries the dubious honor as having the balcony from which Hitler addressed the Austrians after he marched in and annexed their country.

Originally, there was to be a mirror of this crescent shaped structure built, but after the assassination of Franz Ferdinand bringing about the start of WWI, the Hapsburg Dynasty and the plans for its construction came to an end.

We toured the Royal Apartments as well as a special museum dedicated to Sisi (she is quite the thing in Austria it seems - people often call her the Austrian version of Princess Diana).

The tour begins with a massive display of all the silver and china used in the palace for royal events. These go back to the days of the Hapsburgs, and are still used to this day for very important State Dinners and Functions.

It is magnificent to see the opulence of the dining service. I don't think I'd know what to do if I were ever invited to such an affair. Not that I can image being summoned to something like that. . .

One unusual note is that the custom napkin fold at State functions is a closely guarded secret. Only a couple people on the staff know the secret fold. I guess this gives them "Job Security".

Tony and I followed the tour upstairs , but we weren't allowed to take any photographs. It was very much like most of the other palaces we've seen, with large meeting rooms and the imperial bedrooms for both the king and queen. The palace is decorated as it was during the reign of Franz Josef I and Elizabeth (Sisi) in the 1800's. There certainly seems to be an affinity for this period in regards to the Imperial regime.






Sisi, being a long suffering "victim" of monarchy was the first ruler to have a modern heated bathtub and flushing toilet facility installed in the palace. We saw the table where she would have her long hair combed for hours at a time by staff, and we saw her personal gymnasium where she would work out to maintain her figure. Sounds like a terrible life, huh. . .

We then visited the Royal Treasury to see the crown jewels. One interesting note was that the Orb symbol signifying the world power of the ruler is round. The sphere was a symbol of the earth long before it was known that the earth was round - let alone acknowledged by the church as such.

One fun item, that I'd never seen before was the tusk of a Narwhale. Throughout history, these have often been mistaken for Unicorn horns. The Narwhale is also mentioned in 20,000 leagues under the sea as the possible cause for the mysterious sinkings. It was really cool to see one in person.



The jewelry was amazing, but what impressed us most were the royal gowns. Many were over 1000 years old and in incredible condition! I asked an guide if the gowns were recreations, and he assured me they were the originals. Silk can really, really last a long time.









I'm not sure how these gowns were stored so well for so long. Unbelievable.









We exited the palace back into the city. Unfortunately, this side is undergoing restoration, but there are some pretty cool sculptures showing people being turned into sea monsters.






Sorry, monster geek, remember. . .

I'm easily entertained.










Thankfully, Tony is also easily entertained, and we went for some wonderful Gelato at Zanoni and Zanoni, one of the nicest Gelato shops I've ever been to, ever. . . Really really nice, and the weather was cooperating, so we were able to sit outside and enjoy it.




It is just down the street from St. Stephens Cathedral, and we decided that now was a good time to go inside at last and check it out. We tried earlier, but there was a service going on. I don't like to play tourist when people are trying to worship.










It was later in the afternoon, and the sun was just right so that the stainglass windows were bathing everything in beautiful colors.






We saw the small chapel inside the cathedral where the funeral for Mozart was held. Sadly, his remains were placed in a mass grave as was the custom at that exact time, and so there is no burial marker. There is a small plaque for him in St. Stephens.

That evening, Tony and I went for a traditional Viennese dinner.









I tried the Tafelspitz, a beef and broth with vegetables and pureed spinach. All of it was delicious. I also tried a light Austrian wine.




For dessert, it was a lovely sultry evening, so we decided to hit one of the small ice cream carts and have a cone while we wandered through the lovely nighttime Viennese Squares.

Vienna - Day 1

We awoke after our previous incredibly busy day, and made our way down to breakfast. From our hotel, it was an easy walk to the center of town and its beautiful main square.









It was a quiet morning, so we wandered around it looking at all the fun sculptures and beautiful buildings. Vienna is definitely the "big city" compared to the more country Salzburg.



We decided to take Rick Steve's Ring Tour that follows the Ring Road around the History district. It is a wide boulevard lined with many of the important government buildings, and gives a good initial orientation to the city.







The tour begins at the National Opera House, which is a beautiful building. I'm not sure why it was held in such low esteem that its original architect committed suicide.






We rode the streetcar around the ring enjoying what sites we made. It isn't a bad way to see the city, but unfortunately, the streetcar isn't made to be a touring vehicle and as such the tour is only so good. We eventually went back and walked much of the Ringstrasse to see the beautiful buildings better.




One interesting building that we saw was a beautiful barrack building that is being redeveloped now with a subterranean parking lot to be a large office complex.

After the ring road, we decided also to take Rick Steves' walking tour of Vienna, which also starts at the Opera House.

We walked past the Sacher Hotel, birthplace of the famous Sacher Torte. Unfortunately, it was being renovated, so it wasn't much to see.

Vienna was the seat of the Hapsburg Dynasty, and the presence of the various Hapsburg leaders are everywhere - particularly Franz Josef I, who is held in very high regard.

We stopped along the way to visit the crypt of the Hapsburg royalty, and pay our respects.








It is amazing to see the extensive ornamentation that went into making the amazing sarcophagi.







One royal of particular note was Queen Elisabeth of Austria also known as Sisi. She was a long suffering emotionally disturbed royal. Her "tragic" life has been immortalized in movies and sensationalized in literature.







While in Austria, I saw a book called "Sisi: Vampire Hunter". I did have to wonder why it is that the more wealthy you are the bigger your "problems". . .




We made our way back to the main square, and arrived at St Stephen's Cathedral. It is undergoing a major restoration, and will be absolutely amazing when it is complete.




The tile roof is beautiful. They recently did a fund raising scheme where people could buy a tile for the roof to restore it to its original prewar glory. It was well worth the effort.











We stopped for lunch at this Viennese culinary institution - The Trzesniewski Deli.





They serve these cute little sandwiches of all different flavors, and the tiniest beer that I have ever seen.








Very fun. And the beer was, well , beer. . .









There is a really cool monument in the middle of the square in honor of surviving the Black Plague. It was built as part of a bargain with God to stop the plague. It stands nearly 40 feet tall.

An inset shows King Leopold I praying to God promising to build this monument and a nearby church if God will send his angels to cast out the plague demon. Just below him there is a vignette showing the angel casting out the demon in the form of a wrinkly old woman.

Not your standard Urban Shopping Center art piece.





And just next door is St. Peter's Church, the Church Leopold I promised to build. It is a beautiful baroque church.










It doesn't look like much from the outside, but it is a jewelbox on the inside. I actually liked it better than the more famous St. Stephens.





Absolutely stunning.

Next to the Hapsburg Palace is a creepy memorial to WWII. Strange intertwined bodies give way to a future child being born into a wierd world where another man reaches into the chest of a victim to tear his innards out.




While nearby, an old man crawls across the floor covered in barbed wire.

I do believe that it is the stark contrast of the beautiful churches and these austere images that give Europe its depth and interest. It's a history scarred with horrid deprivation, and yet filled with amazing examples of humanity at its best.