Viennese decoration

I'm sure by now you have all noticed how enamored I am with Vienna, here is just another example of why.

Because it deserves more pictures

A view of the Palace from in front of the Gloriette. This palace really was so beautiful, and the weather so conducive to great photos that I felt I needed to post some more!

There was a whole multitude of paths and trails like this spiraling out from the palace itself and it was such a beautiful day that runners and people out for a stroll were present in great abundance. There were quite a few runners in Vienna, which was nice to see since Tom seems to be the only individual who goes running in Brno, and we were so excited that every time we saw them we exclaimed to each other "Ohh, runners!"

The Gloriette just glowed, it was really amazingly beautiful. If Maria Theresa felt the need to build many monuments to her own splendor, I am at least glad that she made sure they were lovely.

On a windy day

So Tom and I greatly enjoyed strolling in the gardens around the Schonbrunn, although at points the wind was blowing so hard we could lean into it at 45 degrees and just be held there. With how beautiful the grounds were, it's hard to believe that it will be even more splendid in the spring and summer when the fountains are going, the flowers are in bloom and all the statues are uncovered.

Schonbrunn Splendor

The Schonbrunn is considered one of the few palaces in Eastern Europe that can rival the splendor of Versailles and it was truly amazing. There were extensive grounds all around the palace with gardens, sculptures and fountains. The inside was just as opulent but unfortunately I wasn't able to take any pictures to share with you!

"Yeeeeeeesss, but you are in the wrong place"

So during our trip to Vienna, Tom and I not only saw a lot of amazing buildings, monuments and art but we also had many funny encounters and were witness to what I have to believe is the standard in Austrian service.

First, we arrive in Vienna and manage to get oriented enough to find a tram to take us to the area of our hotel, however, I jumped the gun a little bit and had us get off about five stops early. So we walked quite a ways with our luggage, oh, and it was raining. Part way through the walk, I was confused as to where we were, so we stopped in to Wiener World (yes that really was the name, I would NOT make something like that up) and got food and dried off a little bit. Our waiter barked at us, laughed at us while we ordered, interrupted us or just walked away when we asked for something, but still, actually took rather good care of our dining needs (food arrived quickly and he did bring everything we wanted or needed).

We continued on our little walk and finally found the hotel, since we had 24-hour passes for the trams and metro, I asked which tram we should take to get to the Hofburg (since it was just raining and we had already walked quite a bit). Without looking up the man at the desk replied in a bored voice "you can walk." At that point I was thinking that wasn't really my question, but OK, so I tried a different route; "But we just walked all the way here." The helpful response he had for this statement as we continued to drip onto the carpet; "Oh good, then you know the way." At this point I really had to just laugh to myself and sure enough, we did walk to the Hofburg, and we did know the way, and we did get to see pretty sights like Rathaus and Parliament, but we did also get even wetter.

At the Hofburg, we were awed by the size of the palace complex. From reading one of the travel guides we had decided that we wanted to see the palace apartments and the treasury, so we entered a likely looking door and went to the information/ticket booth. The man behind the desk greeted me in both German and English (as most people did during our stay, everyone we met spoke at least three languages perfectly!). I respond with a "hello" and then told him that we wished to see the royal apartments. His face developed that expression that we came to see a lot of during the trip, bored arrogance and disdain for our ignorance, and he drawled "yeesssss, but you are in the wrong plaaaaaace." So he showed us where we were supposed to go, and when we got there we did indeed have a lovely tour of the museum and the treasury (and I feel I should mention that we met a number of other very helpful tour guides who did not take pleasure in our ignorance, nor remind us of our ineptitude).

Our next encounter with "Austrian service" was at tea the next day. Again it was cold and very windy with intermittent rain, so we stopped into a cafe to have some refreshments and write out our postcards. The waiter came and Tom asked if he can have a beer. The waiter looked at him with a sad yet also disdainful look on his face and goes "no, no no no" while slightly shaking his head. Since we were in a little cafe we assumed they just didn't have beer but instead stock up on pastries, tea and coffee, so Tom ordered a glass of Sherry that he saw on the menu. I ordered tea and asked if they have any sachertorte cake (it's an Austrian specialty we were told) and again I got a sad little look. "No torte, it's finished, come back tomorrow." Now the really amusing part of this whole story is that after five minutes of sitting there, a couple came in and sat at a table near ours. They ordered, in German, and after several minutes, the waiter brought their order: a cappuccino and a BEER! During the course of our little meal, there were in fact several other tables where the waiter had decided that those good people were deserving of beer, whereas Tom apparently was not. This whole story kept us amused for the rest of the afternoon and we still enjoy recreating the little look and shaking our heads while going "No. No, no no no."

I know it's wrong, but we HAD to!

Yes, Vienna has a wonderful cafe culture full of charm and ambiance. And Yes, travel should be about experiencing new and different things. And Yes, globalization is bad and harmful on many, many levels. And finally Yes, we did go and drink coffee in a Starbucks while we were in Vienna, twice in fact, and it was gooooooooood!

St. Stephen's Cathedral

We ended up going up both towers at St. Stephen's, first the South Tower which is shorter and which you can take an elevator up. Then we climbed the North Tower, all 334 winding steps up, and then all 334 down.
A view of St. Stephen's when it was neither raining nor night time. The tiles on the roof are purely decorative, according to one of the many guidebooks in our apartment St. Stephen's managed to avoid serious damage for most of WWII, however near the end of the war the roof did catch fire causing it to collapse. Due to an outpouring of civic pride however, the roof was soon rebuilt and each individual who donated "owns" one of the colored tiles that form both the zig-zag pattern and the Hapsburg crest.
We walked into Stephenplatz (the square around St. Stephen's) on our first night in Vienna. It was raining that whole day so not only were we soaked but it made it rather difficult to take pictures. I actually like how this "failed picture attempt" turned out though.

Because Mom and Ali told me to...

There were multiple requests for pictures of the public transportation that I have come to know and love. However, these are from Vienna so if you had your heart set on seeing a Prague Metro, you will just have to make do with a Viennese one for now!

Springtime in Vienna

There were so many flower stalls just bursting with beautiful flowers. More amazing though was that there were actually some trees that were blooming and flowers planted in the ground already, it's the beginning of March!!
So the windows of every candy store we passed in Vienna were full of the most amazing Easter displays ever. Little marzipan sheep and chicks, some even popping out of real shells!
Like I said, the Easter displays are just too amazing. Whole crowds of people will crowd around a window to see all the delicate spring-themed confections!!

Beautiful chocolate Easter eggs. These eggs were blown out and then filled with solid chocolate and then decorated. Viennese Easter candy far surpasses the jelly beans and robins eggs sold in the United States.

Vienna

The Secession Building where the Secession movement first began (not familiar with the movement? think of the highly decorative, art noveau style of Klimt) and the building reflects the aesthetics of the movement.

The entrance to the Hofburg from Michaelerplatz. Pretty fancy, huh? But apparently not splendid enough since they had a second summer palace, Schonbrunn, just outside of the center of Vienna.
This statue of Maria Theresa sits between the Kunsthistorisches Museum and the Natural History Museum. This empress was a pretty amazing lady (and she must have thought so too since there are statues and buildings dedicated to her all over Vienna) but she had sixteen children, eleven of whom survived, and she ensured peace between nations by marrying off her children strategically and creating alliances with rival nations. What is most amazing though is this woman was one of the most powerful women of her time, ruling a vast empire, and she was either pregnant or caring for small children during most of her reign.
This is the Charles Church which we were not able to go in but the outside was pretty amazing. The huge columns (only one is shown) had a series of images from Charles Borromeo's life spiraling up the side.
Here is Tom and I (while I'm not in the picture I am taking the picture, so it counts) at Naschmarkt which the Rick Steves Guide said translates roughly to Snack Market. To Tom and I it was heaven (we are both major foodies and call Whole Foods a food museum, and also Whole Paycheck). There were fish swimming in tanks, pork roasting with the most delicious aroma, gorgeous selections of produce, and beautiful cheeses, ahhh how I love open air markets!