Vienna

This is my third trip to Vienna.  The first time we came with Nick and Lauren.  Rick had a conference (surprise, surprise) and we tagged along.  Although it was our second trip to Europe it was the first time we had brought the family.  Nick was 19 and had just finished his first year of college so Lauren must have been 12;  that should make it summer of 2000.  A few things will be forever etched in my brain.  Going to a welcome bbq at the home of a professor and Nick getting very "happy" from the endless flow of beer.  Getting on the train (metro) for the first time and Nick not getting on in time, so I  watched him on the platform as we disappeared.  I couldn't understand a lick of German and was not sure we ever see him again, but we did at the planned stop...see he was listening.  Meeting Geoff and Linda (our Australian friends for the first time) and of course the "the soccer shorts" story.  Lauren kept saying she wanted to try a Sacher Torte, we were having a long day of sightseeing and everyone was starting to melt down.  She kept on an on about the Sacher Torte!  Finally, Rick, being very exasperated, said to Lauren, "what is the big deal about getting soccer shorts, you can buy them at home"? It was perfect, we all cracked up, the tension melted away and poor Rick is still being teased about the "soccer shorts".  Such a dad thing.
The second time we visited Vienna was in 2003. After a 5 week trip through Europe, we arrived Vienna to help Rick get settled in his apartment for his teaching gig.  Lauren and I would have a few days here before heading back to states.  That was the trip, where we spent probably half a day looking for a shower curtain for his bathroom and discovering Demel for pastries and coffee.
This time, we are in Vienna for a few days and will return in mid October for another 4 days.  Rick and I were able to spend one day together getting reacquainted with the city, getting lost a few times, having coffee and cake at The Demel and walking along the Prater.  While he worked the last two days, I was able to explore a few museums and churches on my own.  It has been cool and somewhat rainy, but overall fairly pleasant.  We spent one evening with the conference attendees at a heuriger  or wine tavern drinking local wine and eating traditional heurigerian food. Last night we found another heuriger restaurant and stopped by after our extra long walk for dinner, wine, and music.  It was a fun evening.

Later this evening we will take the night train to Milan, Italy and then on to Cinque Terra for a few days,  before heading to Tuscany.  We have spent the day walking, looking at coffee makers and pillows...a story for a different post and now we are sitting at a traditional coffee house, Cafe Leopold Hawelka,  drinking wine and beer, reading, catching up on email etc before heading to the bahnhof to catch our train.  I just read in my guide book that Warhol and Arthur Miller use to frequent here when in Vienna.

 Volksgarten in Vienna.  I love this park, it is so pretty, but don't walk on the grass!

 I asked Rick to stand in front of the fountain and he started to stand on the grass!  I stopped him before he was yelled at by the  nearby groundskeeper.

 Hmm, I think the yoga pants are looking a little snug...must do more walking and less eating.

This is one of the statues outside the Hofburg, the winter palace for the Hapsburg.  I like the pigeons resting on various parts of the statue

Not statues, but confections or cakes on display at Demel.  Demel was a coffee shop favored by the king and kaiser in the 1800's.  You go in and pick your cake from a display, they hand you a piece of paper with a number on it, you go back to your table and hand the waitress your ticket and order drinks etc with her.

 Rick waiting for the cake and coffee.

 This is a side view of St Stephens.  The tile roof is beautiful

The Inner Stadt area of Vienna. Mix of old and new, the city was bombed in WWII

Inside St Stephens, it is pretty dark and gloomy compared to some churches. I am hoping to take a tour in October to learn more about it.

 Rick wanted a photo of the Demel sign.  See the K. U. K under it's name; favored by the King and Kaiser.

 We took a walk through the Prater, tried to capture this photo of the horse and carriage, but I was a little slow.  But you get the idea of the park...Vienna's equivalent to NYC Central Park

 Went to the Leopold Museum.  Interesting collection, but not really my cup of tea. The museum houses many Egon Schiele's paintings.  I did like some of his early landscapes.

This is Death by Gustav Klimt.
The Leopold had a few of his paintings and drawings, but most are at the Belvedere, which I hope to get to on our next visit.  I did go there in 2000 and it was impressive.

View from the top floor, it was a rainy day and I am not sure which building I am looking at.


On Friday,  I visited the Albertina Museum.  They were having a special exhibit of Miro.  I have seen a few of his paintings over the years, but never an entire exhibit and a range of his work over so many decades.

The one above is from his early years, a landscape of his parent's farm near Barcelona

I thought both of these painting were amusing.  The one above is earlier when he started painting more as a surrealist and the bottom one was much later.

The Albertina museum is housed in one of the palaces.  Here are a few photos of some of the rooms. I liked the story about how this room or perhaps the room above went up in flames because the daughter was a secret smoker and had the habit of hiding her cigarettes behind her back, which resulted in her dress catching on fire.  Sadly, she died from her burns and the room was completely destroyed.

This was the music or ball room.  Before electricity the chandaleirs were lit by candles, plus along the walls.

After the museum I started walking toward the center of town and walked through an archway of the Hofburg Palace.  The Spanish Riding School is housed here and I just happened to walk by as they were returning some of the horses from morning practice.  We actually went to a morning practice session on our last trip in Vienna with Lauren.  The horses are beautiful.

There are hundreds of horses and carriages in the city

Dome on the Hofburg

I read about this church called St Peters.  Oldest church in Vienna.  The church is very ornate and they have free organ recitals each day at 3.  I stayed and listen for about 15 minutes, but the pews were so hard and uncomfortable that my poor old back was moaning in pain.