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Vienna
We arrived in Vienna on the 23rd. Sailed into town without too much trouble and w the help of the Frau at the front desk, were able to return the car just a couple of blocks from the hotel instead of way hell and gone.
It's been three days of walking and museums, really. The first afternoon we checked out the Christmas hours for the museums, and then wandered over to the main Xmas market in the
Rathausplatz. I can't imagine a more stunning setting. Well, just about anywhere in this town its going to have an elaborate backdrop, I suppose. I have been here 4-5X, but it never fails to impress! So much wealth for so many years, and then untouched by WWII. Just one massive edifice after another! Had another mug of gluhwine and for the third time did not get the deposit back on the souvenir mug. (The only type of souvenirs I like to buy are those that will get regular use and so remind me of the place I've been). They will get shipped home w our winter clothes from Frankfurt on Tuesday, before we fly to Joburg.
Comparatively mild weather on the 24th, 7 degrees. Went to the Kunsthistorisches museum in the morning. As impressive for the building as the comprehensive collection of Dutch and Italian masters. Just about everything closed down at 13:00 for Christmas eve. No chance of a schnitzel for dinner tonight! The Austrian joints were closed. Lots of Italian open, and that always does the trick.
To the Albertina museum on the 25th. A nice small collection in the impressive staterooms, and two great temporary exhibits, Picasso: War and Peace and Michelangelo: Sketches. A fantastic juxtaposition of two of the world's greatest artists!
Went for a walk to see the ferris wheel made famous in "The Third Man", but the wind was strong and cold, so as soon as we spotted it from a distance, we called it done and found our way to a cozy lunch in Vienna's oldest standing pub.
Took a cab to Schonbrunn Palace for a tasty dinner of traditional Austrian fare. The "Tafelspitz" (boiled beef) was surprisingly good. A lot better than we had imagined it might be. Tasted like gram's roast beef, but not as dry. For dessert, perhaps the best apple strudel I've ever had. You don't generally expect much from touristy restaurants, so we were both very happy with our Christmas dinner. Certainly the setting just couldn't have been better!
After dinner we walked from the main building to the Orangerie for a concert of Mozart and Strauss. A program chosen more for the likelihood of its keeping Gus awake than my love of Strauss. There is something about that music, however, that makes you want to twirl around a ballroom in an enormous gown! (Or at least that's what Gus always tells me!)
Boxing Day brought more frosty weather and another museum, this time the Leopold. A varied collection, largely Austrian and strong on expressionism. Much of it really, really good! Some seriously freaky s**t, too, by a guy named Otto Muehl. Google him if you want to see psychosis realized on canvas.
Now writing this from a laundromat near the Frankfurt bahnhof, and will hopefully attach it to the blog if I bump into some Wi-Fi.
Shuss!
(which is the German send-off, like ciao, that means "kiss" but the auto spell-check keeps trying to change, ironically, to "Abuser!")
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