Strolling Through Vienna
We went to our favorite place again for breakfast…a little bakery on the street. But a croissant and orange juice isn’t a terrible way to start the day. We spent the entire day walking around Vienna and I still can’t believe how many palaces, museums, churches, parks, and statues there are. I was actually probably most surprised by the number of salesmen in Mozart outfits trying to get us to go to random concerts. One of the interesting finds was a huge monument to Soviet soldiers thanking them for liberating Austria from Nazi control. Our main attraction for the morning was the Hofburg Palace which has since been turned into a museum. We rented the audio tour devices and walked through the first area. This was entirely dedicated to thousands of pieces of silverware, dishes, and centerpieces for the various feasts throughout the dynasty of this family as rulers of Austria. I wonder at the great opulence of these meals and how the peasants would view this.
The main part of the tour though was through Franz Josef and Elisabeth’s living quarters. Hearing about the life of Sisi, seeing the way they lived, walking through what was once their home was an eye opening experience. I didn’t know that they would have running water and electricity during their life times. It was not expected to see an empress with a pull-up bar in her room or hear that it took two hours every day to do her hair. Royalty are a fascinating group of people.
We followed this up with a couple of cathedrals. One had Tuesday afternoon mass going on. I wonder what it would be like to try and have a spiritual experience and commune with God while dozens of people are walking in and out taking photos the whole time. We had lunch at a very large market (Naschmarkt) in the middle of the city. There were a lot of Egyptians selling hummus and olives and falafel, which is what I ended up having. Meghan and I had an interesting run in with one of the vendors. He joked about her being his girlfriend and asked if I would give her to him for a couple of thousand Euros. Then his friend was saying things about Afghanistan attacking America and how he hated me because I had been there with the Marines. I ignored him and left at that point.
The afternoon was spent at the Belvedere Palace looking at some famous pieces of artwork such as The Kiss by Klimt. There were also some works by Monet and Picasso. In the lower part of the palace we saw some modern “art” and toys. I wasn’t super impressed and breezed through that part somewhat quickly. Looking at the various pieces of art I think I prefer bright painting of nature or gardens especially for something I would hang in my house.
Our final activity was to see an opera. We went to the last act of Wagner’s Lohengrin in the standing room section. It was my first opera and I was very impressed with the performances. I find it amazing that someone would be able to compose for instruments and voices while also telling a story. It was also neat to think that - although this building was rebuilt after a bombing in World War II - was where royalty and maybe Sigmund Freud went to see operas. We finished up the evening with some famous chocolate cake (Sachertorte) and hot chocolate. All in all one of the best days of the trip. Vienna is an amazing city.
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