Our
first trip to Vienna left us very impressed! It's a lively city, open and
eye-catching, filled with art,
culture, green space, and history; sinfully seductive pastries and chocolates
beckon from shop windows and sidewalk cafes abound. Vienna, Austria May 8, 2005
Our
first trip to Vienna left us very impressed! It's a lively city, open and
eye-catching, filled with art,
culture, green space, and history; sinfully seductive pastries and chocolates
beckon from shop windows and sidewalk cafes abound.
The city is large, but if you're based anywhere near the center, most popular tourist sights are within walking distance. Alternatively, public transportation -- trams, buses and subways -- run frequently and go everywhere. We purchased the reasonably-priced Vienna Card, a pass for unlimited use of the transit system for 72 hours, which is also good for 10-20%discounts at most museums.
Vienna is a prosperous, great-looking town.
The historic district has been meticulously preserved. Many buildings have
been recently cleaned or painted and almost every block seems to have work in
progress on a museum, church, or other building facade.
Moreover, the Viennese
themselves look great; they dress well, especially "in town".
Spring had arrived and many
women wore colorful coordinated outfits in modern styles,
sporting fancy, richly decorated shoes
or boots, interesting sca
rves or shawls, and matching colored handbags. Dressed
in
my non-descript beiges and navy, and wearing comfortable walking/hiking shoes, I was clearly
marked "Tourist."
Our 4-day visit included stops at Schonbrunn Castle, the Albertina (art museum), an amusement park in the Prater area, the natural history museum and the Spanish Riding School. In between, we wandered the city streets and plazas with map in hand, looking at monuments, exploring churches, watching buskers and, of course, sampling Viennese cuisine. Dick reveled in his daily bowl of goulash soup.
Schonbrunn Castle, the lavish summer home of the Habsburgs (see photos) is a short ride on the U-bahn (subway) from the city center. We arrived early (good idea!) and walked a bit through the extensive park adjacent to the castle before taking an informative audio tour of the interior. As we wandered from one ornate room to another, we heard not only about the contents and function of the room, but got details about the history and personalities of the castle's occupants. (You would be well-advised to look at the family tree before starting the tour -- the cast of characters and their relative time lines is confusing.) There is a zoo and maze on the grounds, but we didn't check these out.
The Prater is home to a large amusement park with all the usual thrill rides plus an old-style Ferris wheel with closed carriages from which (we hear) excellent views of the city can be had. At the end of a long day, Dick sat watching adventurous souls being twisted and turned every which way on the rides, while I wandered taking photos of the colorful surroundings in the twilight. Two photos are included below.
The city center has too many
museums to possibly see in a short visit. For our dose of art, we bypassed
the major collections at the art history and modern art
museums in favor of a
visit to the Albertina, which was hosting two major international art
exhibitions; they
seem to have only a small a permanent
collection. Particularly interesting was an extensive showing of works
spanning the career of Mondrian from which you could see his style gradually
change, culminating in the creation of the simple, geometric paintings for which he is most recognized.
The Spanish Riding School is the home of the famed Lippizaner stallions. No regular performances were scheduled while we were in town, so we, along with several hundred others, paid $15 each to watch the horses go through their "morning exercises". In each of four 30-minute sessions, a group of five or six horses and riders entered the arena and were put through their paces to a background of classical music. Although a few of the better-trained horses did some cool dance steps (walking sideways, or prancing/ hopping along) and the very occasional jumping trick, most did surprisingly little of any interest to any but the most ardent horse-lover. Nothing was done in unison. Boring! I luckily had a book to read. We, alnog with many other spectators left before it was over. Recommendation: save your money.
We skipped taking a local cruise
on the Danube, but did take a subway trip to it's endpoint, the locally-popular island park in
the middle of the river. Among the sights was a view of
two young women drifting past in a paddle boat toplessly enjoying a bottle of
wine and the warm spring weather.
No
wonder Europeans have a bit of a giggle when Janet-Jackson-type stories create
an uproar on the States.
Mozart's legacy is everywhere. There are frequent concerts, some of which are done by small orchestras in period costumes. For an unusual treat for opera lovers, there are full length performances of several of his works done with marionettes. Tours of the opera house are also available.
If (like me) you love chocolates or pastries, Vienna is dangerous. Choices abound with shops at every corner. Of course it's mandatory to taste the real Sacher torte from the Hotel Sacher, where it was invented. This version was, like all Sacher tortes, coated in a berry marmalade overlaid with a smooth dark chocolate icing. Unexpectedly, the inside was a rather airy, light brown, not-too-sweet chocolate cake. It was different from the rich and heavy, ground-nut chocolate cakes I've had in the past, which I actually prefer.
On the subject of food, we stumbled onto a great restaurant, beer garden, the Salm Brau. They brew their own beers and the food and atmosphere are unique -- some outside seating in a tented area, a large, warmly-decorated room upstairs, or a arched brick grotto downstairs. The place was obviously popular with the locals. We liked it so well we went back for a second meal -- something we hardly ever do.
Really, Vienna seems to have only one problem as a place to live: it's WAY too easy to gain weight --I could put on a pound a week, or even more! Definitely time to move on.