Wien

Two nights in Vienna, but I only had only one full day of sightseeing. That is because in Venice I was exposed to a menace. Both my grandmas always told me, “sleep tight, don’t let the bed bugs bite.” Well, even if your grandmother didn’t say this to you, by God you should take their advice. I usually do a cursory glance of the mattress and the headboard. Now I have added the electrical work to my list because that is where the little bastards were. I didn’t realize what the bites were at first. I thought it was heat rash from the incredibly hot weather and mosquito bites from the lagoon. After night number two there was no doubting what it was as I discovered some live ones. Strangely enough, it isn’t as bad once you discover the reason behind the bites. When you are just worrying it is far worse. When you know you have bed bugs you go to work. I went and did all my laundry at high heat and they sprayed and steamed my luggage and then they commenced with their genocide project. I wish them the best of luck in wiping the little bastards out; I lost count of the number of bites at 105.

Needless to say I wanted to be damn sure they aren’t coming with me. I spent my first afternoon in Vienna doing all my laundry again, using tape to clean every possible surface of my luggage, and I used spray and a large garbage bag to hopefully get anything I missed. Now I am just praying that I did a good job, that the little buggers aren’t at any of the remaining hostels I will be visiting, and that they aren’t still with me.

Enough of that. The rest of the evening I spent getting my bearings and noting the opening times of the places I wanted to visit the next day. Vienna has an awesome public transportation system and once you figure it out the city is yours for the taking. One thing I really loved about Europe north of the Alps is the food. These are people of my own heart. Fried potatoes, pork, and beer!! Wienerschnitzel is amazing by the way and the beers, I had many after my efforts to be rid of bed bugs, were also very tasty and cheap.

Now then, where to start with Vienna? Well, here is the so called Blue Danube…

This deep river was the northern border of Roman territory in Eastern Europe. In fact Vienna was one of the largest Roman frontier cities. Here is some Roman brickwork discovered right at the center of old Vienna…

Here is a little historical tidbit for those of you who watched the movie Gladiator. You may remember hearing the word “Vindobona.” That is the name of Vienna while it was under Roman rule.

That was actually the only exposure I had to Roman history while in Vienna. In fact, there wasn’t very much left from the period of the Romans all the way to the 18^th century. This is because in 1440 Vienna became the home of the Hapsburg dynasty. Between the Hapsburg efforts to extol their own virtues and legend, and the two Turkish sieges of the city in 1529 and 1683, very little of old medieval Vienna remained. Perhaps this is why the forty year reign of Maria Theresa is the first real bit of history that you see. In 1740 she came to power and instituted numerous civic and cultural reforms as well as innumerable building projects. It was for her that Mozart’s first concert was performed. Speaking of which, I was in the very room where the six year old prodigy leaped onto her lap and kissed her. It is in this building…

It is the Schonbrunn Palace, the hunting lodge. Actually that exaggerates slightly. It was just a hunting lodge for the Holy Roman Emperor in 1549, but extensive renovations and expansions eventually led to this being one of the primary summer residence of the Imperial Austrian family. By the way, most of the history I was told about was that of Maria Theresa’s Empire, and the Empire of Francis I, which was reconstituted in 1804 after the defeat of Napoleon. This last Austrian Empire lasted until 1867 when Emperor Franz Josef, largely due to his wife Elizabeth (Sisi), gave the Hungarians more recognition and became the Emperor of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Franz Josef died in 1916, and the Empire only lasted two more years until it was utterly obliterated by the victorious Allies of World War I. So, when I refer to those names later on in this post, you will know who I am talking about.

Back to the Schonbrunn; it is a fairly large complex…

It isn’t as big as Versailles and that is why I think I like it more. You are not as overwhelmed by the decorations, showmanship, and splendor as you are when at Versailles. Indeed, Franz Josef had a tiny little bed, Spartan decorations, and to hear them tell the story he was a very devoted and widely beloved leader of the Empire. Apparently he rose before 4:00 every morning, said his prayers, and worked until he was totally exhausted.

Another thing I recommend to anyone who is traveling in Europe during the summer. If you are going to a big palace or some other grand location, set aside time to visit the gardens. I have never been disappointed with a stroll through the gardens and these had some unique and particularly breathtaking views…

I also needed to make up for the fact that my picture taking in this city was very limited as to what I could take pictures of. Neither the Schonbrunn, nor the Hofberg allowed pictures inside. The only place that really did was the Cathedral of St. Stephan…

They are busy cleaning the out façade, you can see the difference it is making. Still it is somewhat irritating to have to look at scaffolds and in this case, “billboard” replacement views. Inside was pretty though…

The building itself was completed in 1511 after 250 years of work. During World War II, a Wermacht captain was ordered to destroy the Cathedral. He disregarded them, but as Russian troops entered the city, looters caused a fire elsewhere in the city. It was carried to the cathedral by the wind and caused the roof to collapse.

Right around the corner is Mozart’s largest set of apartments…

Again, I was not to take any pictures inside the building. In this case the policy was particularly stupid because there wasn’t anything to take a picture of anyways. The whole apartment was an empty shell and only a few artifacts and papers were inside. Thank goodness for the audioguide or I would have been really at a loss.

Next I was off to the Hofburg to see the Imperial Silver collection, the Sisi Museum, and the Imperial apartments…

The Hofburg has several sections that were built at various times. The earliest was in the mid-1400’s and the latest was in the 20^th century. It was the primary residence of the Imperial family.

It was a shame to not take pictures this time because the silver collection was huge, and extraordinarily elaborate. Several tons of gold and silverware were housed inside the museum. Next it was upstairs to the Imperial apartments and the Sisi museum.

Remember that Sisi is the nickname given to Franz Josef’s wife Elizabeth. The Sisi museum tells the tragic story of Franz Josef’s wife Elizabeth. The two were cousins married at the ages of 23 and 16 respectively. There is no question that Franz Josef had fallen head over heels in love with “[his] angel Sisi.” He worshipped her, and she was at least very fond of him, and probably loved him dearly as well. She was never truly happy with the life she was forced to lead as the Empress. She hated crowds, she hated ceremony, and she hated the feeling of being on display. Her life was an up-and-down ride of reclusiveness, bold assertiveness, and finally depression. They lost two children, one to suicide, and an Italian anarchist assassinated her in 1898. The museum exhibition was designed to associate the person attending with the complexities and mysteries of her life, not to provide answers.

Next I went to a museum. I went to the cultural history museum instead of the natural history museum. Guess which one is which…

That is Maria Theresa in the second picture. Not much to share about the inside of the museum really, just another museum with stuff for me to enjoy. I strolled down past the Parliament building…

I especially like that last picture. It really captures Vienna; a city of beautiful buildings and hideous metropolitan vehicles and trams. Oh well, one can’t have everything…

Another little tidbit, the Austrian flag has a story behind it that is particularly heroic and gruesome. Duke Leopold V was fighting in the Crusades. After a terrible battle in which he fought for his very life his white tunic was covered with the blood of the fallen. When he removed his belt the pattern was red-white-red. He made this his new coat of arms. It was adopted by Austria in 1240 by an ambitious Duke who wished to gain independence from the Holy Roman Empire.

It was a further stroll to my next and final sightseeing destination of the day. It was actually very small and only took me about five minutes to walk around inside…

It is the apartment where Beethoven stayed when he wrote Fur Elise. I just couldn’t go to Vienna and not stop here to take a picture for Grandma Dial…

That was a full day. I got back to the hostel, dropped off my things, then walked a block and a half to arestaurant for some wienerschnitzel and beer. it was a good day in the heart of the Osterreich. Now I am on a train,writing this for later posting. I am watching the Austrian countryside and the Bohemian hills go by, marveling at the beauty and enjoying the mashed potatoes in the dining car.