Viena - Day 2

Yesterday was our last day in Vienna. We have really enjoyed our stay here. The city reminds us of Paris. It’s full of quaint side streets, beautiful artwork and contemporary architecture, as well as a full and turbulent past and brimming cultural scene.

Being that the city (along with Budapest and Prague) was under authoritarian rule until 1989 and was declared part of the Third Reich by Hitler during WW2, many of the beautiful buildings constructed during the Austro-Hungarian Empire were destroyed. However, over time Vienna has restored the buildings back to their original structures. The history behind each building, museum, palace, make the city that much more interesting, even if the history is as turbulent as Vienna’s, especially because restoration marked the new era for many Eastern Europeans. If you can remember, it wasn’t even until 2004 that Austria joined the European Union.

Vienna itself, the city of music, is home to many famous writers and composers – Mozart, Beethoven, Johann Strauss, Franz Schubert, Johannes Brahms, etc. Mozart, being Vienna’s most beloved, lived here until his death and created some of his most famous compositions here, as well as helping to fund Beethoven’s schooling.

Because of the rich history and musical culture, you can’t help to be taken in by both the charm and the atmosphere. Everywhere you turn is a different moment in history. With that said, since our time was brief in Vienna, we tried to take in as much as possible.

We started off walking through Central Vienna towards the Stephansdom. This Gothic cathedral is one of Vienna’s most prominent landmarks, dominating the city’s centre. The foundations of the original Romanesque church date back to 1147, but the earliest surviving features today are the 13th century Giant’s Door and the Heathen Towers on the west front. The church suffered severe damage from WWII bombings, but like I said earlier, its rebuilding was a symbol of hope as the country emerged from the ashes of conflict. This church was quite possible one of my favorite churches I have seen thus far in all of Europe. It is absolutely breathtaking. From the High Altar, which is done in Baroque style to the famous Giant Organ built in 1886, you could spend a few hours here taking in the detailed stone work and the colorful medieval windows
depicting Biblical stories.



















From the Stephansdom, we walked Northwest towards Hofburg Palace. This is Vienna’s former Imperial Palace, which spreads over a considerable area within the city center. The Palace, once home to Emperor’s, kept expanding under different rulers until 1918. As the power of the Habsburgs grew, successive emperors kept adding buildings in the contemporary style. Today it is home to the Austrian President. We did not go into the Palace, but we walked the grounds. I thought it was especially interesting that the Burggarten and the Volksgarten, which are both parks, owe their origins to Napolean’s troops, who blew up parts of the palace in 1809 to make way for the greenery, which is now a park!









The entire west end of the Palace is housed with museums and the Museums Quartier. There are over 6 museums in this area with exhibits of Fine Art, Natural History, the Spanish Riding School (which explains the history of the stables from the 16th century to the present), Applied Arts, and Technology. Due to limited time, we did not go to any Museums, but enjoyed taking pictures of the outsides of them. Some of them built as early as 1891.









Once we walked the Palace grounds, we decided to venture North towards the Schottenring and Alsergrung districts. Sigmund Freud lived and worked here in the early 20th century, he also frequented the Votivkirche, which dominates the skyline in this region. The Votivkirche is a magnificent sandstone, Neo Gothic church that was built in 1853 to express gratitude that Franz Joseph survived an assassination attempt in 1853. The inside of this church was ornately decorated, with high columns and vaulted ceilings, but the elements on the ground level were very simple and well done.


















After leaving the church, we stayed in the Ringstrasse area, but walked back towards our hotel. In front of one of the many museums, we came upon an ice skating rink in the middle of the city. It was fun to watch the locals enjoy the rink and listen to the Beatles Yellow Submarine and various Elvis hits!!! We also stopped to grab a quick pastry and a coffee at Vienna’s famous “Café Central,” housed in the historical Palais Ferstel (which was the original stock exchange for the National Bank in 1856). The café was the meeting place for Vienna’s intellectuals at the turn of the 19th century – the poet Peter Altenberg gathered a literary circle and even had his mail delivered here. Getting a table here was quite a feat, but we eventually were able to sit down and enjoy an espresso!










We saw a lot and took in a lot today, so we headed back to the hotel to get ready for our night at the Staatsoper – Vienna’s premier Renaissance State Opera House. It was an amazing experience to be there. The Opera House was built in 1861 and interestingly enough when it was built Emperor Franz Joseph did not like it and the architect committed suicide over this! We couldn’t imagine why, we thought it was beautiful! Too bad the architect couldn’t be alive to see it today, as it is considered to be one of the best, if not the most beautiful Opera houses in the world! From the Grand Staircase to the Schwind Foyer and Tea Salon, no detail was missed. We took our seats promptly at 8PM and had a beautiful box that was almost dead center of the stage. The seats could not have been better! We watched the story of Gisselle, which is a beautiful ballet about love, anger and forgiveness. I highly recommend it! We had such an amazing time. The music and the dancing were great. I was laughing and telling Jeff that I felt like Julia Roberts from Pretty Woman, well besides the whole prostitute thing. It is definitely a memory that I will cherish forever!!!


































After the Opera, we had a few glasses of champagne at the hotel bar, which is quite quaint, featuring live piano music, and then called it a night. Our last night in Vienna was so great, not sure if we could ever top it! We are off to Budapest tomorrow morning via an 11:50 train!

Cheers.