Advertisement
Published: April 1st 2010
Edit Blog Post
My last morning in Vienna I was pinching pennies and wanted the taste of the Balkans in my mouth so I once again headed to Naschmarkt. A sheep's cheese börek was just what the doctor ordered - thankfully the market was actually open. I walked about the market for a bit before heading southeast for the morning's main event - the Belvedere Palace.
It was maybe a twenty or thirty minute walk from Naschmarket, since the palace lies southeast of the center. The main road I took was dotted with fun consulates like Albania and Turkey, so I was somewhat entertained, and the day was again gorgeous. I stupidly missed the fact that one could enter from the palace's rear, so I schlepped all the way to the main gates to enter. Luckily I had time to kill.
Another baroque-style complex, the Belvedere was built by Prince Eugene of Savoy in the early 18th Century. The palace is composed of two main parts, Upper and Lower, the latter which began as a garden villa and the former as just a "balancing" structure. This Prince certainly had an interesting idea of what it meant to be balanced, not to mention
what a small "garden villa" is, since obviously the structure is massive.
Eventually the Belvedere was sold to Empress Maria Theresa, who gave it the name "Belvedere", and then was expanded to become the Imperial Gallery and, currently, the Austrian Gallery. Given the artsy-fartsy nature of the two buildings I chose not to tour them. For some reason art museums just don't do it for me - I guess it's the art, lol. The last Habsburg to reside in the Belvedere was the infamous Archduke Franz Ferdinand, whom was later assassinated in Sarajevo, the event which is said to have catalyzed the start of the First World War.
The building grounds were a bit under construction, or rather, under "spring cleaning" with fountains being filled and whatnot, but they were still gorgeous. My favorite part was the "Egyptian flair" added by the many Sphinx statues flanking the garden entrances. Having had my fill of the Belvedere, I started my walk back toward the center for one last round of the main sights before heading back to pick up my bags and head to the airport.
The Soviet War memorial to the Red soldiers who died in the
battle for Vienna was among the stops on the way and is alongside a very lovely fountain that was making a nice rainbow in its mist across the plaza. Another was the Karlskirche, the 18th century Catholic Church famed for its its dome, two flanking columns of bas-reliefs, and Greco-Roman elements. Last but not least I stopped at the Café Schwarzenberg for one last Austrian beer. Oh Vienna...I'll miss thee...
By 12:30 it was time to hit the road, so I started my long-ass journey back to Andorra, which was part of my even longer journey back to America, Land of Dreams. Imagine all the opportunities for me to get screwed along the way on this itinerary! - 2 hour flight Vienna-Barcelona, 3-hour bus Barcelona-Andorra, 5 hours to pack/sleep, 3-hour bus Andorra-Barcelona, 9 hour flight Barcelona-New York, and 2-hour flight New York-Chicago! Yet by some divine miracle I made it home safe :-)
Advertisement
Tot: 0.071s; Tpl: 0.011s; cc: 8; qc: 24; dbt: 0.0505s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb