“Coffee is the answer, but I don’t know the question.” Unknown
Carol writes: Some of the most fascinating travel sites abroad are found in the “great cities of Europe.” Austria was one of those countries we ran out of time to visit when we did our grand European year abroad in 2013-2014. Ever since then, Vienna has always risen way to the top of the overlooked cities, so we decided to correct that oversight. Eleven days in Vienna and eight days in Salzburg seemed just about the right amount of time to immerse ourselves into the culture, food, history, art and scenery of Austria. Easy train travel between the two cities finalized the plan.
We packed light—just a carry-on bag and a backpack for each of us. We were excited to leave the familiarity of our home country and head off to the land of “danke schön.” Including “thank you” among the first words learned in any foreign land seems to smooth the transition.
After a 3-hour flight from Jacksonville to Boston, it was a brief stop at Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport, then on to Vienna, which did make for a mighty long day of travel across 6 time zones…
Our home for the next 11 days in Vienna was an AirBnB only 5 minutes from a tram station, which would prove to be very convenient. Our accommodations were exactly as advertised—roomy with separate bedroom and living areas, along with just the right amount of old-time ambience. Having access to a washer and dryer was invaluable.
Where to start in a city of 2 million as we pushed through the first day of jet lag? As the “capital of classical music,” Vienna’s famous Opera House
has been a part of Vienna’s rich musical tradition. Opera House was only a few tram stops away, an easy start in the task of mastering Vienna’s transportation system with its very, very long German names for many stops.
Admittedly, we are not opera aficionados, so an inside tour of the Opera House was sufficient for us. The decor overflowed with Neo-Renaissance grandeur and charm.
Just a short walk from Opera House was the Spanish Riding School of Vienna, the home of the world-famous Lipizzaner Stallions. We didn’t feel like we really needed to see a performance, so a peek at these amazing iconic white horses in their stalls satisfied us.
By the second day, we were ready to jump into the fascinating Austrian history of the Habsburg royal family. The Habsburg dynasty ruled Austria for over 600 years. The monarchy collapsed in the autumn of 1918 at the end of the First World War. The last Habsburg royal family consisted of Emperor Franz Joseph and his wife Empress Elizabeth (known as “Sisi”), parents to 4 children. Hofburg Palace served as their winter home.
Throughout history the color red has been used as a symbol of royalty. Hofburg Palace was no exception.
Red walls and furnishings with a generous amount of gold trim, along with large magnificent ceramic stoves for heating was the decorative scheme.
Interestingly, Emperor Franz Joseph was very modest in his demands. His bedroom was grand, but he slept on a humble, narrow iron bed and used a portable wash stand.
On the other hand, Empress Elizabeth (Sisi) was very vain and exercised excessively to maintain her notorious thin waist. Her wooden royal exercise equipment was interesting…
The narcissistic Sisi had legendary long hair which required her servants to spend many hours each day grooming her hair.
Al did some great restaurant googling and discovered a restaurant called the “Green Door” located very near the exit from the Hofburg Palace. We were delighted with healthy vegetarian and vegan options—
to balance out numerous treats of apple strudel. Of course, beer is always a winner.
The Austrian National Library sure had a certain wow factor. The Grand Hall was a glittering Baroque beauty.
More than 200,000 old books were shelved in bookcases that evoked an era centuries into the past.
An Anton Bruckner exhibit educated us on one of Austria’s most renowned composers and teachers. Several facsimiles of Bruckner’s original musical work product provided an eye into his creative process.
For us, the most essential elements of a visit to any European city are its palaces, cathedrals, art museums, restaurants, beer, history and culture—not ranked in any particular order of importance. In the cathedral category, Vienna’s St. Stephen’s Cathedral was a Gothic masterpiece.
Attempting to capture soaring Gothic architecture inside
or outside was challenging, even for the savvy younger generation of generous strangers who agreed to take one of our rare twosomes.
As in previous trips to Europe, we used a Rick Steves book as our travel bible. We have found his recommendations and ratings to be almost always spot-on. Vienna is known for its café coffee culture. We were looking forward to some great Viennese coffee, especially at Café Central, which was highly recommended by Rick Steves. One day while we were in the neighborhood, we made it a point to check it out.
What?…the line at Café Central looked like it was hours long, so we settled for a photo instead. Maybe a little disappointing…but not really.
Happily, Cafe Sacher had a very short line. We were nicely rewarded with excellent coffee and delicious apple strudel in a pleasant more formal setting.
So far, we had enjoyed the history, coffee, palaces, beer and cultural introduction to Vienna. The location of our AirBnB rental apartment was ideal, and we felt very confident using the tram and U-Bahn subway system. Vienna’s top tourist attraction, along with more culture and history, would be the themes in the next few days ahead.
"Coffee is a morning hug in a mug." - Unknown
Carol Galus
Photo-Blogger
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