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Published: February 20th 2006
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Why didn't I move to Vienna? Oh, that's right. I don't speak German and couldn't do my job there if I tried. It's a beautiful city. Or at least I think it is when it's not buried in snow. :-) I left Paris late on the Orient Express. We were supposed to leave at 5:15pm and instead we left at 6pm. It was probably because of the huge snowstorm taking Europe by storm (no pun intended). I was booked into an all female, six person compartment. Fortunately, there were only two of us. There were supposed to be an additional four people get on, I think, in Strasbourg, France. When we boarded, all six berths were already set up as beds. The problem with this is that the berths aren't far enough apart to actually be able to sit and at 6pm, no one was really ready to be asleep. The other lady (storytelling harpist) had worked on a train while in university. On the weekends, she went back and forth to the ski towns so she knew how to turn the berths back into seats so we could actually sit and read, chat, eat, etc. Eventually, she went to sleep
16th Century Tree Stump
It's full of nails. What else can I say?!?! since she was getting off in Salzburg and that stop was at about 4:30 in the morning.
The train got into Vienna about an hour late which was fine by me. (Amy, I said hello to Linz for you as we went through the station.) I went and dropped my bag off at my hostel, even though I was there too early to check in, and went out exploring. My first order of business was to purchase a ticket to use the Metro and tram system. Thank goodness I'd been to Austria before with my sister so that I kind of knew what to do. She even told me which ticket to get.
With my trusty ticket in hand, I headed off to Stephensplatz to see Stephensdom. This is
the landmark of Vienna. The church is huge. It was supposed to have two steeples, one north and one south, but due to a shortage of funds, the north tower was capped with a cupola. The tower now houses Austria's largest bell. Very exciting stuff, I know. The tiles on the roof were supposed to be quite unique and interesting, but the snow sort of interfered with my view.
On one of the corners of Stephensplatz, there is a tree stump with a LOT of nails driven in to it. Legend has it that each blacksmith would drive a nail into the stump for luck as they left town. It's now encased in a housing so that no harm can come to it. Yes, they protect a 16th century tree stump full of nails. Go figure.
The area around Stephensdom is filld with very posh shops. I did not buy anything, but I did quite a lot of window shopping. Then I came across a knobby statue dedicated to the almost 75,000 Austrian victims of the plague. Further along, the street opened into Michaelerplatz. Straight ahead of me was St. Michael's Gate--with excavated Roman ruins in between. The whole building was wonderfully built with interesting sculptures surrounding the whole thing. I decided that I was cold and was able to find one of the best institutions ever just across from the Gate: Starbucks.
With some hot chocolate to fortify me, I headed on through the Gate into Heldenplatz. The Hofburg (Imperial Palace) is off to the left and it's
Absolutely Huge. And to think, the Habsburg's
wanted two of these palaces. Too bad their reign ended before that could happen. All they have doubles of now are the horse statues in the courtyard. It was so cold standing there in the courtyard that I decided to walk over to the Rathaus just to keep my blood from freezing in my veins.
The Rathaus is the City Hall. Leading from the Ringstrasse (Ring Road) up to the Rathaus is a park where a fabulous Christmas Market took place. Unfortunately, the men were there taking down the stalls when I was there. No shopping for me. Just across from the Rathaus was the Burgtheater. The guidebook said that there were frescoes in the stairways painted by the Klimt brothers, but since I was there in between two major holidays, the normally scheduled tours were not taking place and I could not get inside to see them. Maybe next time....
My next order of business was to figure out which tram to take around the Ringstrasse in order to go find the British Bookshop. I finished one of the two books I brought with me while I was on the Orient Express and knew that I needed
Hofburg Wien
Such a huge building. And to think, there was supposed to be another one that mirrored it. to get another one for my Budapest-Thessaloniki journey. I got on the tram and followed my map (as only dorky tourists do) while I was en route so that I did not go past where I thought I needed to get off. I got off the tram at about the right place, but just headed in the wrong direction (away from the bookshop) so I had to turn around and walk all the distance back to where I started plus a little in the opposite direction. In the freezing cold. Argh. I wish I could read a map consistently well.
I found a book and then headed back to the tram. From there I took the Metro out to Schloss Schonbrunn, a "diminuitive" royal palace. The place is still huge even though it's not the size that was originally planned for the area. On the grounds, there is a zoo, numerous gardens, a maze, and a gloriette. The zoo is the oldest in the world and dates from 1752. I did not tour the zoo, but I did tour the palace.
Very interesting and grandiose palace. The palace was originally commissioned by Leopold I as a summer palace.
I think I've seen this before...
In Nashville, TN. That's where the Parthenon is, right? In 1740, Maria Theresa took the throne and chose Schonbrunn as the base for her court and as her family's home. She did some renovation work (or rather she made other people do her bidding) and as a finishing touch, she had the exterior of the building painted her favorite color--yellow. The interior was done in a rococco style which I must say was a little overdone. Lots of gold swirls and stucco with ceiling frescoes. There was also a Mirror Room where Mozart played his first royal concert at age six. One of the cool features was in the Round Chinese Room. Maria Theresa often held private meetings here and there was a way that a fully laden table could be drawn up through the floor so that anyone visiting there did not have to put up with servants during the meeting. How cool is that?!?! I think I definitely need one of those....
I finished my tour and decided it was time to head back to my hostel. It was also too dark for me to be able to go see the Schloss Belvedere, which was the only other structure I really wanted to see. I got
The top of the Rathaus
Isn't it pretty? Especially rising from the trees in the snow! back to my hostel and checked in and finally took the Best Shower Ever. I am not kidding or over-exaggerating at all. It was Glorious. And warm. And roomy. And I had the whole dorm room to my self after I took a shower and that almost never happens when you are sharing a room with 11 other people! During my walk during the day, I ran across an English language cinema that was showing Rumour Has It. I thought this would be a great way to spend my evening. So after I took my shower, I grabbed something to eat at McDonalds (You'd be surprised to know that Austria doesn't really have "restaurants" at all. My sister Amy sort of told me about this phenomenon when I visited her, but travelling on my own really cemented this theory. They have lots of random street vendors selling all sorts of schnitzel, but nothing else really.) and headed off to the cinema.
The movie was good and it was nice to see Shirley McClaine in a more suited role than when she was in In Her Shoes. She was too nice in that film. The movie had an interesting storyline--it
Hofburgtheatre
You can't quite see it, but all around the top are busts of famous playwrights. aligns this family with the family in The Graduate movie--and was funny, although not life changing. Just what I wanted out of a film while I was on holiday.
My time in Vienna ended with snowy trodding to the train station to catch my train to Budapest.
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Carolyn Kanoy
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I'm not sure I could FIT in that car!!!!!!!