Up early and caught the train from Prague to Vienna. A very
scenic ride with lots of deep, fresh snow glistening on the tracks and across
the fields. We met some women from New
York who shared our compartment who were on a 2 week trip and trying to see as
much of Europe as they could.
Arrived in Vienna on an overcast afternoon and caught the
taxi to the Classic Austria Hotel. We were warmly greeted by Jorge the
concierge who assisted us with getting to know Vienna. There is nothing else to
really report here as we needed to do washing. The necessities of modern life
still require some attention even when on holidays. Time for bed early on a
Saturday for an early rise.
We did not receive our wake-up call so it was probably just
as well that I was awake anyway. The morning began with an organised bus tour
of the major sights of Vienna, then off to Schonbrunn Palace. We got a tour of
the major rooms of the palace to observe the magnificent, if a little
excessive, interiors and furnishings.
We decided to depart from the tour group to walk the around
the gardens. They still had a beauty to them despite the winter climate telling
its tale on the bare trees. The sun came out which made the palace glow. It was
now time to partake in the Christmas market out front of the Palace, the
highlight being the light, fluffy freshly made doughnuts with warm, rich and
soft chocolate sauce. Mmmmmmm, Schonbrunnlicious.
Back on the train to Karlsplatz and we casually meandered
around the city turning each corner to admire another beautiful building.
Highlights were the interior of St Stephans church, and the chance occurrence
of hearing a concert with organ and a sextet of strings in St Peter’s,
beautifully playing some pieces from Handel, Schubert and Mozart.
We ventured out for dinner at Cafe Ritter; one of the oldest
coffee houses in Vienna, a simple, old style café, with locals sharing their
days and thoughts over coffee and cigarettes. We fortunately got a seat in the
non-smoking section and ordered a Wienna Schnitzel and Apple Strudel which were
both delicious. It was then off to a couple of bars for a few “end of the day”
drinks. On the way we were fortunate to stumble upon a street art piece by Roa
which was grand in both its scale and detail.
The following day we ventured off in the rain and wind to
the Kunsthistoriches Museum. Our plans were washed away as we found out the
museum was closed on Monday. However, as we were in the museum quarter, it was
easy to find an alternative. This turned out to be the Natural History Museum
directly across the platz. This is one of Vienna’s special, little secrets as
it was full of rocks (not so interesting), meteorites and interactive displays
of the forming of the solar system, earth and the many different faces of our
planet from 1,000s of satellite images. This included the earth across the
different seasons and at night.
The dinosaur fossil exhibits were worth the visit in
themselves including the giant turtle and the animatronic T-Rex. The museum was
also a sobering reminder on human kind’s continual execution of species and our
cruel, barbaric treatment of endangered species for the purpose of trophies and
magic potions. As a species, we can achieve great things which seem to be outweighed
by our careless and pointless drive to destroy everything in our paths.
[Whilst the message was an important one, I think it fails
in being able to connect with the viewer due to the very graphic and
confronting nature of the footage and exhibit. This meant that instead of me
interacting and engaging with the message, I felt repulsed, disturbed,
confronted and ultimately disconnected.
The display failed to draw the viewer in and provide a comfortable
viewing space, therefore it was never going to be successful for me - The Bear].
We grabbed a simple lunch of cakes in the beautifully
decorated and designed café, and then meandered through the animal exhibits
which included a display of a Tasmanian Tiger.
It was now time to rest our weary feet and after a couple of
complimentary beers from the hotel, went across the road to Gasthause Hansy
where we enjoyed another delicious Austrian meal before
heading to bed for an
early train to Munich in the morning.
Our take away from Vienna; come back and stay longer, there
is just so much to do and see in this beautiful city.
"Let the mind be enlarged to the grandeur of the mysteries, and not the mysteries contracted to the narrowness of the mind." - Francis Bacon
No comments:
Post a Comment