Elegance of Vienna

 

                                       Picture taken by my brother Dan.

Vienna, Austria-The Elegant City 

Driving to Austria took only two hours from Budapest.  Along with Mira and my mother, we slept most of the drive.  My brother Dan drove, and the other two passengers were my dad and sister-in-law Dana.  Road trip!!  I woke up just as we were entering the city.  An awe inspiring river greeted us, The Danube, which also runs through Budapest.  We checked into our hotel, The Marriott, which was very nice and in the heart of downtown Vienna, also know to locals as Wien.  

{Apart from being regarded as the City of Music, because of its musical legacy, Vienna is also said to be "The City of Dreams" because it was home to the world's first psycho-analyst Sigmund Freud, a neurologist who is well known for being one of the greatest interpreters of dreams. } (Wikipedia)

Sigmund Freud was not the person I saw celebrated everywhere in Vienna.  Sorry Mr. Freud, but it was Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart who stole the show.  Candy stores, billboards, and men dressed from the era were clear signs that this city is proud of its musical heritage, and namely, Mozart.  

Above, you will see Mira getting silly with this image of Mozart, but I know it was most likely the Riesling wine that Austria is known for and not her lack of respect for the great composer which caused her to be so irreverent (blame it on the booze!).  

Having lived in Germany many moons ago, I was very much looking forward to being in a city that spoke German, which would be reminiscent of those days.  Not learning the language as well as I would have liked, I did not have hopes of conversing with any Viennese, but it certainly made me feel more comfortable to read familiar words and know the proper way to greet someone or say thank you.  Traveling in Budapest is very intimidating because the language is unlike any I have ever studied.  All I know is "koszonom", meaning "thank you."  

After freshening up for dinner, we headed out into the heart of the city for the "largest schnitzel in Vienna." 

 They weren't kidding.  We waited in line for 45 minutes to get a chance to experience this renowned restaurant, Figlmuller, and when our food came out in 1/10th of the time it took us to wait for the table, we were very pleased.   

As you can see above,  Mira's schnitzel is the shape and size of a medium American pizza pie! Some are made with chicken and some made with pork.

Schnitzel (German pronunciation: [ˈʃnɪtsəl]) is a traditional Austrian breaded cutlet dish made with boneless meat thinned with a hammer (escalope-style preparation), coated in bread crumbs and fried.

Our second day in Vienna started out at the farmer's market/flea market!  Wow! I was tantalized at every turn.  There seems to be a large middle eastern population in Vienna so there were fantastic booths with many varieties of hummus, stuffed olives and peppers, dried fruit, and then of course the specialty breads and pastries from traditional Austrian bakers.  Wine/Cafe's were spaced in between them so you could sit and have a melange (coffee with milk), a cold, refreshing spritzer (white wine with sparkling water), or of course a "bier" and watch the hundreds of interesting people as they walked by.  

 I enjoyed a cappuccino!(My mom and I are inside the green cafe, shown above.) When I finished salivating over the food vendors and spending almost $20 on dried mango, papaya, and chocolates, the market emptied out onto a great, European flea market! Some junk, some treasure. I found a beautiful, vintage bag for 12 Euros (aprox $15 American dollars). Mira bought some old postcards with letters written during WWII.  It would be interesting to interpret them someday.

   St. Stephen's Cathedral (German: Stephansdom) is the mother church of the Archdiocese of Vienna. 

St. Stephen Cathedral stands at the heart of Vienna in the stephansplatz ( a square at the geographical centre of Vienna).  Surrounded by pubs, boutiques, tourist shops, outdoor cafes, and crowds of locals and tourists, this cathedral is by far the focal point of this city center.  It is an excellent meeting spot as well! "St. Stephen at 5 o'clock!" 


Saint Stephen will remain, all he's lost he shall regain,
Seashore washed by the suds and foam,
Been here so long, he's got to calling it home. 
             -Robert Hunter (Grateful Dead lyricist)

Historical Note:  During World War II, St. Stephen's Cathedral was saved from intentional destruction at the hands of retreating German forces when Captain Gerhard Klinkicht disregarded orders from the city commandant, Sepp Dietrich, to "fire a hundred shells and leave it in just debris and ashes." (Wikipedia) 


Onwards....


 Cafe Central for lunch!  

Mind you, our hosts, Dan and Dana, had been to Vienna a few months ago when Dana's mom was here to visit so they had already scouted the good restaurants!   

The cafe was opened in 1876 and it was a meeting place for the Viennese intellectual scene.  It is not like the coffee houses in   California where you order a coffee and maybe a slice of Stanley Sugarbaker's cake (A'roma folks will get that reference) to enjoy for an hour or so while visiting with friends.  No, it was a restaurant with semi-formal waiters and a full menu (expensive!). As you can see in the picture below of my mom and me, it is a very beautiful restaurant. Our waiter was very nice, and it turned out he was German, not Austrian.  I shared that I had lived in Bad Windsheim, Germany, over 20 years ago and he exclaimed (ok, maybe that's a little exaggerated) that he went to school there to study! Bad Windsheim is a very small village in Bavaria so the chances of that were pretty slim.  

                    Bad Windsheim, Germany

                    Cafe Central  

Dealing with jet lag and exhaustion, we decided to call it a day and go back to our rooms for some rest.  Once we arrived back to our beautiful lobby we changed our minds and sat for a couple rounds of drinks to discuss the next day's agenda. This could easily be a a foreshadowing moment in our book if we were in a novel, because as of this writing (many days later after our trip to Vienna)it has become a theme to muse over the day and plan for the next day over drinks! 

Sunday was our last day in Vienna. We started the day out with Frühstück(breakfast)at Cafe Schwarzenberg, another elegant restaurant. Every thing was a la carte, including the jam and butter. I had a soft boiled egg, croissant, apricot jam, butter, and coffee. Very nice!

 

I'm sure most of you have seen the image above, The Kiss, on postcards or posters at some time while perusing book stores, or card shops. I have see it a million times myself, but did not know of the  artist (gasp! from those of you art aficionados). Well, it turns out he is Austrian born, and his name is Gustav Klimt (1862–1918).   


In 2012 one of Austria's greatest painters would have celebrated his 150th birthday: Gustav Klimt (1862–1918). His paintings, in particular The Kiss – one of the world's best-known images – are rightly seen as epitomizing the spirit of optimism that heralded the dawn of the modernist era.

http://www.wien.info/en/sightseeing/museums-exhibitions/klimt2012/klimt-modernism


Over the course of two days, having seen this image on many billboards, we felt it would be important to see this exhibit.  How could we miss it right?! The exhibit is housed in The Belvedere. 

History Note: The Belvedere’s two magnificent palaces, the Upper and Lower Belvedere, were built in the 18th century as the summer residence for the important general Prince Eugene of Savoy (1663-1736). He chose one of the most outstanding Baroque architects Johann Lucas von Hildebrandt (1668-1745). The palaces with their extensive gardens are considered to be one of the world’s finest Baroque landmarks. Momentous events have taken place in the Upper Belvedere’s Marble Hall and from here there is a spectacular view of Vienna. 


http://www.belvedere.at/en/schloss-und-museum/geschichte


Wanting an overview of the city, we decided to join a Hop On, Hop Off bus tour of Vienna.  I've done this in both New York and Boston and felt it very worthwhile.  With limited time, it is a nice way to see a lot of sights and get the history of a city in a nutshell.  I've done them in Boston and New York, and I have to say this one was NOT good.  The sights were very hard to see from the bus, and they stopped for 10 or more minutes at many of the stops. Charlie and Marilyn (my parents) took advantage of those moments for a cat nap though! 

The best part of the bus tour though was getting off at the Ferris Wheel: Das Wiener Riesenrad!  

1897	The Giant Ferris Wheel was erected to celebrate the Golden Jubilee of Emperor Franz Josef I.
1898	To draw attention to the poverty of herself, her husband and others in the city, Viennese woman Marie Kindl hangs herself outside a cabin during a ride on a rope she held between her teeth. (Oh my!)
1914	As part of a film, Madame Solange d`Atalide, a successful circus director and horsewoman completes a revolution of the Giant Ferris Wheel sitting on a horse on the roof of one of the cabins. (Say what?!)
1916	A demolition permit was issued, but the Ferris Wheel was saved from destruction by a lack of money.
Ab 1920	More and more U.S. film producers discover the Ferris Wheel as a film motif.
1944	The Giant Ferris Wheel is burned down.
1945	The Wheel is rebuilt, at the same time as the reconstruction of St. Stephan's Cathedral, the State Opera House, and the Burgtheater.

 

The cabins could hold up to 30 people so we were in this hanging box with people from all over Europe for the ride.  Quite fun, and at times scary!

After our bus tour, we met up with Dana and Dan in the Vienna Square for some bratwurst and bier before hitting the road back to Hungary.

   
Goodbye, Vienna!
  

Fast Track to Vienna

It's only been a little over 24 hours and I've touched the earth of Germany, Hungary, and Austria already!   Aboard Lufthansa's Airbus, we left on time from San Francisco and arrived seamlessly to Frankfurt airport after 10 hours of flight.  Happily surprised, we were  fed meals despite my initial belief that we would only be served peanuts and soda.  I had loaded up on dried mango,  sandwiches, peanut butter cups, chips, apples, etc. to keep us alive while we made the arduous trip across the Atlantic Ocean, but instead we were served spicy pasta, rosemary rolls, salad, a Tillamook cheese wedge, and a brownie.  Wine was served for free at endless supply! Wow! Movies and TV shows were at our disposal.  I jumped right in and watched The Hunger Games having just read the first book.  Loved it and it killed almost 2 1/2 hours.  I watched an episode of Enlightened, Man vs Wild with Jake Gyllenhaal, a documentary with Alicia Keys and Ruby Dee (great!), and The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel.  Aside from my triggered sciatica, I had a relatively enjoyable flight although Mira and I slept minimally.  My visions of bratwurst and hefenwiezen bier in Frankfurt were not met however, as we had to walk almost a mile to our connecting flight, wait in line to show our passports again, and then get on a bus to drive to our plane for Hungary.  I slept the entire hour and 15 minutes.  Ahhh..... finally.  

My dad and brother greeted us at the airport and whisked us away into the countryside toward Budapest.  The green fields looked very similar to fields at home in Sonoma.  Our first stop: the studio where Dan is building sets for Die Hard 5.  I don't often get to see the sets my brother designs because so often they are far away like this one.  Impressive is an understatement! Wow.  There was no filming that day, but along with my dad and Mira we got to take pictures sitting on the sets, but I can't post them until the film comes out. 

We met his crew and watched him in action for a few minutes.  I'm proud of my brother and it was great to see that those years of drawing cars and building car models paid off!

Next stop was Budapest for like 30 minutes because we were off to Vienna for the weekend! 

Croatia turned out to be too far a drive for my brother who hadn't had a day off in 20 days.  We decided the 2 hour drive to Austria was a better idea.  So that is where I'll end today's blog since it's 1:30 am and everyone just went to sleep.  Jet lag has us up late and up early.  Ugh.

No complaints though.  Loving every second of this trip.   Will post more pics of Vienna tomorrow.

Auf Wiedersehen

Tracy

Blog Test

I am leaving today for Hungary. Three and a half hours from now I will be boarding the Sonoma Airport Express in Petaluma. I'm not yet fully packed and still need to buy supplies for the plane. No food will be provided! Whoa. $1500 ticket and no food. I woke early this morning at 6am feeling exhausted. Not a great way to start a trip, but maybe it will serve me later when I try to sleep on the plane. I decided I would try a blog from my phone this morning to see if all goes well. Let's see if it works!

Budapesht

Budapest (play /ˈbuːdəpɛst/, /ˈbuːdəpɛʃt/ or /ˈbʊdəpɛst/; Hungarian pronunciation: [ˈbudɒpɛʃt] ( listen); names in other languages) is the capital and the largest city of Hungary,[1] the largest in East-Central Europe and the eighth largest in the European Union.

I'll be heading to Budapest in just 5 days.  My traveling companion will be my recent college graduated daughter, Mira.  Upon arrival in Hungary, I will be met by my parents (who will have flown in from Palm Springs a day earlier) and my sister-in-law Dana.  Dan, my brother, will be at work and will join us when he is done for the day.  I have never been to Eastern Europe, but have images of ancient buildings and architecture, cobblestone streets, women wearing aprons while baking bread and sweeping their sidewalks, and warm potato stews for dinner.   I think many of these images come from when I lived in Bavaria, Germany almost 30 years ago.  Replace the potato stew with bratwurst and it is Germany.  Aside from a  trip to see The Grateful Dead in Europe, 1991, I have not been back.  


Why Budapest you might ask?  Or not, if you have been there and know it's charms.  Well, I can't take credit for any personal quest to journey there. but rather my brother is in Budapest and it got my parent's attention as they often like to visit him when he is working on location in other countries.  When my dad said he wanted to take Mira there for her graduation present, I jumped on board! 


I want to record my trip and make note of special experiences by posting them in a blog.  Not having done a blog before, I thought I should get a handle on it before I leave on Thursday.  If you are reading this, you are reading the very first one! Lucky you! : ) 


Two suitcases are sitting on my bedroom floor waiting to be packed and readied for the journey.  I'm thinking simple, simple, simple.  This does not come easy for someone like me.  I love things! I like choices! I like to be prepared for any occasion! The weather will be similar to how it is here in Sebastopol, and perhaps a little warmer even.  Today was 85 degrees fahrenheit, which gave me a taste of what I might be comfortable wearing.  It's hard to imagine discomfort when the weather is so cool so I'm thankful for the bit of "suffering" today (quotes are because I know there are those who are dealing with serious 3 digit heat).  Skirts, tasteful tanks, and walking shoes are going to be my go-to outfit, but I'm bringing many accessories!  


Last word from Dana was that Dan wanted to drive to Croatia (about a 6 hour drive from Budapest) the weekend we arrive! Wow! Again, not on my bucket list, but super excited to explore a new territory I've only read about in the news.  I know very little about that country.  Planning to do a lot of reading from my two travel books on the plane!  We will be landing in Frankfurt, Germany, for two hours before switching planes to Budapest.   I am very excited to be going to Germany again, if only to be in the airport! "Eine Bratwurst und ein bier bitte." Painful as it may be to be so close and yet so far away, I will be happy to eat some German food and smell the familiar aroma of the country (Am I imagining things, because maybe there will be the same ol' Starbucks and McDonalds as there is here? Please no!).


So, there you have it.  I'm off on an adventure.  How I'll update this blog, I'm not sure.  Maybe from my phone! They might be short and sweet, but full of pics.  : )  


Thanks for joining me. 
Venusrises 

(Tracy)