June 5 - June 6
VIENNA, AUSTRIA
The morning we were set to leave Czech Republic,
Kamila made a delicious breakfast - as she had every morning - we loaded up our
bags into Petr's car, said tearful goodbyes to Kamila and Tomas, and Devin,
Petr, George, and I hit the road.
Our first task upon our arrival into Vienna was to
check into our guesthouse. From the outside, the building looked a bit
sketchy - George asked if we were sure this was the right place. But it
was fabulous! I'd stay there again!
Sweet dreams with Maria Theresia
Habsburg watching over us.
Our room at Pension Shermin in Vienna - we highly recommend it.
The
second task was to feed the boys. Third task: take Emily to a palace.
Last lunch with our buddies. Devin had wiener schnitzel for the first, and probably last, time.
(Because it's breaded veal.)
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- Schonbrunn Palace -
Schloss Schonbrunn and its adjoining garden are
second only to Versailles in a show of imperial wealth and might, but that
wasn't the idea; this baroque palace is a much-diminished version of the
grandiose imperial centerpiece that was originally planned.
The name comes from the Schoner Brunnen (Beautiful
Fountain), which was built around a spring that Emperor Matthias (1557-1619)
found while hunting. A pleasure palace was built here by Ferdinand II in
1637, but this was razed by Turks in 1683. Soon after, Leopold I
commissioned Fischer von Erlach to build a more luxurious summer palace.
[He] came up with hugely ambitious plans for a palace that would dwarf
Versailles.... The imperial purse felt the venture unworthy and a 'less
elaborate' building was constructed. It was finished in 1700. - Lonely
Planet
The 'less elaborate' palace...
The Habsburgs lived here, as well
as Napoleon, for a few years.
We took an audio-guided tour
through a section of the palace and I loved it!
Its fascinating to see the rooms
set up the way they had been hundreds of years ago.
No pictures allowed from inside the palace.
We were unable to check out the gardens due to rain.
-----
After the Schonbrunn, George and Petr headed back
to Olomouc after goodbyes and promises to see each other again soon.
Devin and I decided to do a little walking around our neighborhood...
Devin couldn't get enough of the
word einfahrt, which is entry in German.
He's such a boy.
Pub Klemo - our dinner consisted
of wine, cheese, and olives. Delicious!
After dinner we kept right on wandering...
I'm pretty sure this is the Opera
House. Or maybe a theatre?
Watch out for falling trees in
stormy weather??
-----
The next day we did more walking. A lot of
walking. Vienna is an AMAZING city! The architecture is just
incredible! I'd love to include a lot of what the LP has to say about
these buildings, but I'll spare you most of it. The history of this city
(and Europe in general) is tragic and inspiring - it's overwhelming to try to
keep the timelines straight in my head, but I love to learn about it!
Stephansdom, in central Vienna
A church has stood on this site
since the 12th century, but little remains of the original structure aside from
the Riesentor (Giant's Gate) and the Heidenturme (Towers of the Heathens).
- Lonely Planet
Devin and I had been inside more churches in the
past two weeks that we'd ever seen in our 30+ years, but we had to see what the
inside of this one looked like. We were in for a surprise...
Despite
what you may think, there was not a rave going on. For whatever reason,
the church decision-makers had decided to hang colored film over the windows to
give the place some crazy light. I doubt that their intention was 'crazy light'
but that's what they got. Regardless, we had a very distorted view of the
church's interior. I asked at an information desk about the film over the
windows and the man there told me it was an 'exhibition'. Huh.
After coming out into the sunlight, we did more
walking and riding.
the Danube River
-----
- The Ringstrasse -
Revolution in 1848 rocked the empire and set in
motion a building boom. Franz Josef I, the newly crowned emperor, was at
the peak of his power; when he took it into his head to overhaul the city, the
city was overhauled. His ambition to one-up Napoleon's makeover of Paris
led him to planning what would become one of Europe's most homogeneous
inner-city designs. In the mid-19th century, Vienna was still essentially
a medieval city in layout, with an inner area surrounded by fortifications.
Franz Josef's plan called for the fortifications to be demolished and
replaced with a ring road lined with magnificent imperial buildings....
Work on the Ringstrasse and associated buildings comprised on the biggest
building booms in the history of Europe. - Lonely
Planet
Parlament
Me, and the Athena Fountain
Archduke Karl
Me, and Archduke Karl (Charles of
Austria) on his horse.
the Hofburg
I love the trees on the roof!
-----
After a day spent walking around the city, we sat
and enjoyed Mozart in a charming little theatre not far from our pension.
I was expecting 'tachy tourist' but it was really quite nice and the
music was wonderful! Our seats were above and behind the orchestra - we
didn't see much but the point was to listen.
A closed cafe on our walk home
from the theatre.
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Vienna was fabulous! We only spent two full days there but had a
great time and we plan to return. Before we left for Paris we did a day
trip to Budapest, Hungary...
