Joyful Journey

The weather was cold and windy. Not the best day to visit Schloß Schönbrunn (The Castle Schönbrunn), but as that was the forecast for the remainder of our time in Vienna, I went ahead and visited, not entirely sure my umbrella was going to hold up until I reached the castle nor if I would be able to view the gardens because of the rain, but all the heavy rain ended by the time my tour finished. (Photo is from the back of the castle, facing out toward the gardens and the Gloriette as seen below) The imperial Palace of Schönbrunn originally began as an estate in the 14th century and belonged to a monastery, however in the mid 1500's it come into the imperial possession through Emperor Maximilian II, who used it primarily as pleasure gardens and a game preserve. Legend has it that the discovery of the "Fair Spring," or Schöner Brunnen, is how it received its name. But it was in the early 16oo's before a palace was built. In the late 1600's a new palace, primaril...

I took most of one day to visit The Museum of Fine Arts. This photo is actually of the identical building across the courtyard from the Museum, both built as a memorial to the Habsburg patronage of the arts. This late 1800's structure built in Italian Renaissance architectural style is home to the art collections assembled by the Habsburgs for centuries and includes Ancient Egyptian, Greek, Roman collections as well as Medieval, Renissance and Baroque art. I especially enjoyed the opportunity to view several paintings by Rembrandt, including the Large Self-Portrait , as well as Vermeer's The Artist Studio , and Bruegel's The Tower of Babel . The interior of the museum was also quite magnificient and I enjoyed sitting and viewing a portion of it while taking an espresso break. Talk about an opulent cafe!! Surprisingly the espresso was no more than at Starbucks.

Before going to Vienna, I checked for a classical concert to attend. You can't go to Vienna without hearing some Mozart and Strauss, at least! I found what appeared to be a good concert by the Vienna Residence Orchestra which plays at a number of different locations during the year and would be performing at the Palais Auersperg while we were in town. The Palais was named for Prince Auersperg who had initially purchased it. At one time it was the center of high society and the location of many parties and gala events. The photo is looking from the front entryway up the stairs to the ballroom. The ballroom was beautiful, the music wonderfully executed, however the musicians appeared to be very bored! I think they play the same repertoire over and over! Their apparent lack of enthusiasm for the music greatly reduce my ability to enjoy the concert! Isn't it amazing that another person's passion for what they do can be contagious, and in the same way a disinterested individ...

Wienerwald, or the Vienna Woods is a 1,000 square kilometre area the includes part of the Alpine chain of mountains, although at this point, they are rather low hills (highest elevation 893 meters) bounded by the Triesting, Golsen, Traisen and Danube Rivers. Since the rest of our time in Vienna was spent in the old part of town, we needed to include at least some hiking. Unfortunately the entire time we were in Vienna the weather was overcast. We did have a very interesting time hiking. We managed to hike a trail to nowhere, as well as hike three different trails all to the same destination, even though that was not our intent! The trails do not appear to be as clearly marked as Swiss trails or we were sorely confused. (No comment to be made by our children at this point!!) It was obviously not as pictureque as Innsbruck, but we enjoyed the opportunity to get out of the city for awhile. There is one very clear advantage of hiking in this part of Europe. It seems that eventually, n...

Another Gothic church, the Votivkirche, located on the Ringstrasse (a road which encircles the Old Town of Vienna), was commissioned by Emperor Franz Joseph after a failed assassination attempt on his life by a mentally ill tailor. He ordered the church built on the spot where the attack happened. The tomb of Niklas Salm, leader of the Austrian army during the mid-fifteen hundreds is inside this church. As this church is make out of white sandstone, it has to be constantly renovated to protect it from air pollutants which tend to color and erode the stone. The church was completely closed up while we were there and did not appear to have been open for some time.

The Rathaus, or City Hall is another beautiful building of Gothic architecture. At first we thought we were coming to a different church or cathedral, but then looked more closely at the map and realized where we were. In the large park in front of this hall they were beginning to set up for what must be a Christmas market of some kind. The entire time we were in Vienna they were hanging lights and other decorations downtown. It would be fun to go some time and see the city as decorated for Christmas. We are hoping that Zurich does the same! Across the street from the Rathaus is the Burgtheater, considered by some to be the most prestigious stage in the German-speaking world. It was built in 1888 in Italian Renaissance style, however during World War II a bomb devastated a large portion of the Theater, but it was so carefully rebuilt that it is said it is hard to tell the old from the new.

It was off see the buildings that were the seat of Austrian power for more than 6 centuries. The vast grounds include what now houses a church, a number of museums, the Winter Riding School for the Lippizzaner horses, gardens and memorial to Mozart. As the performance (Sundays only) of the Lippizzaner stallions was standing room only, we purchased tickets for Saturday's morning exercises. As Bob was not interested in visiting the various museums housed here (something to keep me busy while he conferences!!), we simply enjoyed walking around the grounds. In walking through the Michaelertor (or the gate that allows you access to the older parts of the palace), you walk along a road that is beautifully covered (see next photo). Talk about an driveway for guests!! The tour books all suggest that the horse drawn carriage is an interesting way to see the Old portions of Vienna, but extremely expensive! We decided we were just as content to use our pups.

Bob had a conference scheduled for the first full week of November and he planned for us to go a few days early for some R&R and then for me to stay and play while he stayed and worked! Good deal; can't complain! We began our time in Vienna by visiting Stephansdom, or St. Stephen's Cathedral. This Gothic cathedral was first built in 1147 with the diamond-patterned tile roof being added in 1952. Amazingly it has survived many wars, but is scared from a fire that swept through Vienna in the ending days of World War II. The exterior still has soot, accumulated through the years on various areas, which is in the process of being removed, changing the color from back to a light gray. The high altar at the front of the church depicts the martyrdom of St. Stephen and was built in the 1640's as part of the refurbishing of the cathedral. It is interesting to see the differing styles of the Gothic and Baroque period, although so typical of European cathedrals. The stone carve...