Yearly Archives: 2012

There is nothing more beautiful…… than a beautiful city……. lit BEAUTIFULLY at night. New York, Paris, London and Rome are all such cities……after seeing Vienna….It rightfully has been added  to my list. The buildings by day are so wonderful that it was a pleasure and a relief to see that such care was taken to properly display them to their best after the sun had long set. Our hotel, The Imperial, is the photo in the upper right. One evening we went to the Prater, which is a huge amusement park, and the lights were magical. You can see in the lower right a GIGANTIC cat about to devour some revelers in a swirling cup. The three photos on the extreme left were taken at the DO & CO restaurant at the Albertina. I loved the way the interiors of many restaurants and hotels still maintain the “old world charm” of what appears to be gas lit lamps. Well, we had a wonderful time in Vienna and we have lots and lots of pictures to keep all of the wonderful memories alive…………….Auf Weidersehen!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If ever the word “genius” applied to a person, it certainly applied to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. From the late 18th to mid 19th centuries Vienna was the music capital of Europe, and Mozart could not have been born at a better time. He lived in many different apartments in Vienna, depending on his finances at the time, but the one we visited was his last. The rooms were empty, but there were stories you could read about him and what took place in each room…….where he sat and wrote his incredible music, where he dined, where he and his wife slept and where he played with his children. This is the house where he died, a very young many. To this day exactly what he died from is not certain…..some think he was poisoned by a  rival. If you have never seen the movie “Armadeus” I highly recommend it. It is one of Jac and my favorites. The photo at the bottom left shows the outside of the building he lived in. The photo next to it of the street scene is the view he saw every day. It’s amazing that so little has changed.

Another genius of his day was Sigmund Freud. The upper left photo is the house he and his family lived in from 1891 until 1938 until they were forced to leave for London to escape from the Nazi. Again, all but one room was empty….the waiting room. In some rooms there were photos of the rooms from the past so you could get a feeling of how it was.

Last but not least, we visited the “Spanish Riding School”, where you can see the famous Lipizzaner stallions. The horses are trained from the age of three. The horses had just come back from their “vacation”, so we were able to buy a ticket to see them. There are timed tours and many are sold out quickly. We were unable to see them preform as the first show took place after we had left Vienna, but we were able to visit with them in their stables. You are not allowed to photograph the stallions in the stables…..I guess they are afraid the flashes will spook them. We were able to take photos of the interior of the “Winter Riding School”. In one of the photos you can see red seats under the arch…..that is wear the “royals” sat. The place is immaculate, and you can buy DVDs of the shows in the gift shop……standing in this great arena, you can easily imagine what it all looks like. I was wondering how and who is responsible for cleaning those gigantic chandeliers! Vienna is a magnificent city steeped in history, and there is always something to see and discover………………………………

It was 99 degrees and humid the day we went to the Schonbrunn Palace! This was the summer palace of Empress Maria Theresa and all those that followed her. The inspiration for this palace was the magnificent Versailles in France, but in MHO as beautiful as Schonbrunn is….nothing compares to Versailles. I think what surprised me most was how formal the “summer” residence was. I guess when you are corseted within an inch of your life and the fashion of the day required layers of crinolines and yards of fabric…..relaxed doesn’t have the same meaning it has today……it must have been torture. The men didn’t have it much easier….with their high button shirts and their leather boots and long frock coats. Unfortunately, photos of the interiors are not allowed in any of the palaces. Like the others, Schonbrunn was very ornate, with lots of damask covered walls, and white and gold furniture. The photos above show the front of the palace and the rear gardens. The small photo, just below the water buffaloes, is a small building at the top of the gardens where Maria Theresa would sometimes have breakfast or lunch. The palace is only a 15 to 20 minute cab ride from down town Vienna, but I guess in the 1800s it took a lot longer by horse and carriage, and I’m sure there must have been much more forest surrounding the palace. You can see in one of the photos just how close Vienna is in the background. On the property of Shonbrunn is located the oldest and largest zoo in Europe. There is a trolley car, which for a small fee, you can take around the acres and acres of property. The good thing is you can get off where ever you like, and when you are ready catch the next trolley. It is a beautiful zoo with many exhibits, but for Jac and myself, zoos are always a little sad. Many of the animals were standing in, sitting in, or lying in what ever water was avail. I have to say I was very jealous of the water buffalo in their deep pool. There were many many tourists and locals at the zoo, and everyone was in T-shirts, tanks, tube tops, shorts and sandals…..all except the Arab women. They were covered from head to toe in Black, while their husbands walked next to them in T-shirts, shorts and sandals. I don’t know how the women didn’t faint. All in all, even with the heat, it was a fun day at the palace.

Anyone who goes to Vienna must stop at…… at least two places. One is the home of the Habsburgs…..The Imperial apartments at the Hofburg. The second is Demels, the “sweetest” little candy shop I have ever been in.

Visiting the Hofburg, you will see the rooms of Empress Elizabeth, “Sisi”, and her husband, Emperor Franz Joseph. Theirs is quite a story. They had one son, Prince Rudolf, who killed himself along with a women at Mayerling……one of the royal country homes. Elizabeth, who loved her husband, contracted an STD from him that changed their lives forever. A true life soap opera.  Elizabeth had a 16 or 18 inch waist. She was know as a great beauty who’s hair grew down to her ankles. It took two hours each day for her hair to be dressed. I think she would have been a happier women if it had been cut to shoulder length! As you walk though the ornately decorated rooms you can start to realize how suffocating court life must have been. She hated it and would leave Vienna for years at a time……leaving her children to her domineering MIL and her husband. She had good reason. Her life ended tragically when she was in her early 40s. She was stabbed to death by an Italian anarchist while she was on one of her many trips. There are many books written about this family who ruled much of Europe for centuries…….a very interesting read………………We saw the Imperial silver and gold gilt collection comprising all types of objects and dinner wear, plus the humongous china collection. In the photo above you can see the floral desert plates…..there were 8 cases filled with just these dishes….each one different. There must have been 20 complete dinner sets for 100 to 200 guests…..the mind boggles. They had a staff of hundreds just to maintain the place, and this was where they stayed just in the winter. There were many hunting lodges and of course, Schonbrunn…..the summer place……..photos to come.

Demel’s was founded in 1785, but moved to it’s present location in1888. It is a jewel. The pastry counters and displays of candies and chocolates is truly magical. I don’t think I have ever seen candies and chocolates displayed so beautifully. Of course the ornate interior is just the right setting for all of these marvelous treats. We sat in the back room where you can look through the glass wall and watch them making all of the products. Only one problem…..we found very few places in Vienna to be air conditioned…..so we did not have hot coffee with out sweets.

As you can see from the photos above….around every corner is a statue or marvelous building………. the whole city really is “eye candy”!……next stop Schonbrunn.

On our very first day in Vienna, after our carriage ride we strolled and toured, just to get our bearings. We went to St Stephans [above], which is truly the “soul” of the city. Just out side they were selling tickets for the Mozart concert to take place that evening…..I told you the “ticket story in my first post]. As you can see from the photos, it is a magnificent ornate cathedral…..and the photos do not do it any justice. The upper left photo was taken that evening during the concert, and the picture below of Jac was taken in one of the sitting rooms of the Sacher Hotel after the concert. The hotel is known for the “Sacher Torte”……delicious! You can see from that room the Viennese style….very elaborate…..very ornate…..very beautiful. The picture below that is of Jac standing in front of the cathedral before we discovered we didn’t have the tickets! All ended well….the concert was lovely and the Sacher Torte….well, nothing needs to be said about that…..just thinking about it makes me want to go back to Vienna.