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!