Austria 5 - Klosterneuburg/Imperial Austria where the heavens meet the earth /Confucius he say .....

---

Confucious he say " Everything has beauty but not everyone sees it"

Sometimes I think that describes us when we see something Baroque. It goes over our heads. The over egging of the decoration. Heavy and dark. Not to our tastes. Sometimes though we have to bite the bullet and accept it for what it is.

We left Budapest early and found our route going out to be less fraught than the way coming in. None of the heavy traffic, none of the trams just a quiet walk in the park sort of journey. We were heading to Austria and home. I guess in the end we had had enough of the lousy weather and made the decision not to waste precious holiday time just prattling about doing nothing. There was a five day journey home in front of us and we could stop if we felt like it . There was Vienna on the way. After Budapest though I wasnt sure whether to go in or not. More Baroque. Glenn had never been nor was that fussed if the truth be known. I went there way back around 1999/2000 on a bus tour entitled Snowtime in Austria . It was February and it was bitterly cold as I remember. The bus trip was awful. A long journey from Whitchurch where we lived at the time down to the ferry picking up folk along the way. We hit Calais in darkness and drove through the night. I can recall Munich airport along the way as I watched the silver pricks of light from the landing gear showing up the aircraft landing. I vaguely remember eating bacon and eggs in Switzerland - a strange bacon and egg breakfast and arriving at St Georgen at teatime. A pleasant hotel , the beds comfortable and the food edible but boring. Trips out to Saltzburg, the Saltzkammergut region and one to Vienna. What I recall of Vienna was trams, the Ringstrasse, the Spanish Riding School although we did not see a performance. Chocolate cake and coffee in a cafe. Baroque statues , a fantastic art gallery and the dom. The crypt contained the bodies of the Austrian royal family and coptic jars full of their innards. Could I justify a visit again? It was 50/50 at the moment.

We headed for the motorway hoping to pick up a vignette on the way. The fines on the motorways for failing to display a current vignette are eyewateringly high. We came to a checkpoint . Over the last couple of years more of these are reappearing across Europe as Schengen gets pulled apart. The Hungarians dont want migrants and the Austrians are not that keen so the border posts are being manned again. We were slowed down, some cars were pulled over and checked but luckily the guards gave us the once over and let us through.

With no vignette we crawled off the motorway in search of a garage. We saw what we thought was a village or small town. With our hopes raised we entered what can only be described as McArthur Glen designer village crossed with Cheshire Oaks, the Trafford Centre and Meadowhall. It was huge and the only petrol service stations were self service. Eventually we found a garage , I went in and parted with 8 euros 90 to become legal again on Austrian motorways . I cannot tell you how relieved that made me feel.

Ever onward Suzy ate up the miles. A plan was formulating. Glenn contacted a motorhome dealer in Cheshire to ask for a price for selling Suzy. This was not necessarily for us to sell her to them but to try to ge some kind of idea of what she was now worth. They came up with a price which was a little lower than we would have hoped far but it wasnt far off what we wanted. They did say this was a best guestimate without seeing Suzy. It was putting ideas in our head.

Our destination for the night was to be Camping Donaupark a large site 14 km from Vienna , close to the station and to the building known as the Stift Klosterneuburg or the Abbey to you and me. An ACSI site it was well set out and clean. A large and welcoming reception area was manned by a friendly girl who mentioned she had heard something about Chesterfield recently but she could not remember what it was. I tried crooked spire , a dreadful football team, the road out of the place and then gave up. Glenn reminded me later it was probably the dreadful well dressing picture made to celebrate Diana Princess of Wales life made by the local women from flower petals and eggshells. It hit the national news as it was so dreadful. I a paid 19 euros plus the tourist tax and was given a helpful leaflet showing where the trains went from , how much they cost and which station to get off. It also told us which underground train to use U4. Ok we will go tomorrow unless something else takes our fancy.

In the meantime it was time to visit the abbey. It was a cold and miserable walk and we could not find the way in. Heaven was proving a touch difficult as all the back entrances were barred . Eventually after walking through the town we came across the front entrance and climbed up to the abbey courtyard. How can I describe it ? Well the Augustinian monks still live here and make wine which they sell from the shop. It is large and it is impressive. Cream coloured with a huge copper domed roof turned green with age. On top the dome a crown showing the imperial connections.

First stop the cafe . Now you know us by now . If things go wrong they follow us like a bad smell. I went to the counter. Behind it was one man who was running about back and to like a fiddlers elbow. The poor man was busy taking out food, clearing tables, taking money. The other guy was at the coffee machine . I got ready to ask for two coffees and he shooed me off . Sit down he said . He will come to you. Well you dont mind waiting five minutes . Conversation turned to the folks all round us who were finishing dinner off. It turned to calling in on the way home to the dealer we bought Suzy from and finding out how much they would give us for her. By ten minutes we had perused the internet and found a local Globecar dealer near us who had some fantastic deals . By 15 minutes the thought of coffee had worn off and we got up and headed for the shop and the ticket office.

What a place to work. There was one young lady whose job it was to sell tat from magnets to scarves, from tea towels to guide books. She issued tickets 11 euros each with a reduction for oldies . We gave her the 10 euros and marvelled at the huge Baroque figures that lined the walls of her workplace. It made my little desk space at work seem like hell.

We were guided first to a small museum on the ground floor. It housed the most elaborate and beautifully worked chasubles you could ever wish to see . Embroidered in 1759 the colours were as fresh as the day the needleworker stitched them. The silver work sparkled and shined as if it were new. Birds, flowers and christian symbols were all fashioned in silk thread. Display case after display case was filled with these exquisite things. The congregations must have been in awe at the beauty. The remaining cases held communion cups of silver and precious stones, a crozier worked in elaborate silverwork, ivory boxes so fine they made you stand back in amazement and finally monstrances where bits of a saints bones lay encrusted in jewels . In the middle of the room was an imperial crown. Silver, gilt and gold , encrusted in jewels, ermine around the rim. The funniest part for me were the stoats tails sticking out through the ermine. Little tails of brown. I guess from a distance they looked impressive but close up all I could think of was how many stoats are inside and how did they get them to shove their tails through the ermine . I know silly but it made me laugh.

Upstairs we came to the imperial appartments . Four rooms, all impressive. Less furnished than those we are used to back home but they felt warm and used rooms. Carpets on the floor of the first room, paintings on the walls, cabinets of mahogany filled with treasures and in the corner the Austrian version of Central heating. A huge porcelain boiler. I have always been fascinated by these after seeing my first in the fort in Saltzburg all those years ago. How they never cracked I shall never know? How warm did they keep the rooms? How were they heated? The second room had a huge dining table set out for a feast . On the table what looked like candles covered with ribbons of red and white. The ribbons were not material but the whole thing was porcelain . I wonder how many got broken when the wine came out?

The third and fourth rooms were much of a muchness . We headed out for the church . From the outside a more gothic affair and it was tempting to think it would be gothic as I entered the entrance porch. The ceiling was painted in a gothic style and shouted "Come on in - there is more inside". There was not . The church itself was full of baroque altarpieces, small chapels and was not what we enjoy . The wrought iron gates were locked shut . Out the corner of our eye we saw the door opening. A matronly figure dressed severely and from her belt produced a key. She looked like a chatelain with her keys hanging from her belt. She looked round , opened the doors and led in a party of four or five people. A lone man tried to join the party and was shooed away. He may not enter this House of God she seemed to say. Only those who paid shall come in. We went out and saw the wedding party. The white laced and fancy bride must have just been married in the church and now the reception was being held in what looked like an old fashioned church hall. I guess if we had been able to go through those locked gates we might have seen an older building and a wonderful gothic copper plated altar piece but sadly we did not and had to head home without that pleasure .

At 6 we wandered over to the restuarant if it can be called that. It was small with a lot of tables packed in. The menu slightly limited was in German. The couple across from leaned over and tried to translate . In the end we chose what he had which turned out to be some kind of dish of chips with sausages. Great big thick things with minced meat similar to burger meat. A hint of herbs and a sauce of unknown ingredients. It was not brilliant food but conversation turned out to be the best thing of the night. Our neigbour was Dutch and spoke excellent English. Her husband (second marriage she told us) was German from near Dusseldorf. She had two children one boy and one girl and he had one child . They had been to visit one of her children and were now like us heading home. They talked about Slovenia and stories of tents being slit open and contents stolen of men raping women. They were not fond of the economic migrants coming over to Europe. Brexit wasnt mentioned astonishingly.

After leaving them we had an early night . Do you want to know which way we went? Vienna or Not ? Well the not won and we decided the best thing to do was head for Germany and see how far we get . The call of a new van is getting stronger by the day.

---

Photos

Ivory relic
All these figures were people carved out of ivory. The details were amazing from the cadavers with their rib cages finely defined to the depictions of the devil

Comments

[Ake Och Emma]

Austria is still on the to do list
I still haven't had time to see much of Austria. I have seen bits and pieces of Vienna when we have had time between flights. 30 years ago I also spent a few days in Sell Am See. But that was a group tour and I didn't set the agenda so some of the things we saw just weren't what I was interested in. I'd like to go back there again and travel around a bit more. I am sure there is lots to discover. /Ake

[JenGog]

Austria
Sadly Ake we tend to drive through and not stop. I think we have it on the radar now and will end up htere at some point. Today though we are planning where to go in our new motorhome - its hard thinking on a cold grey Autumn british day . We have just had my next years holidays agreed and it looks like we might just do France again in May and September Spain . Although that might change . Jen