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Published: September 29th 2009
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Belvedere's Palace
Palace given to an important Hapsburg general. We woke up very early today, around 8:30, got ready pretty fast, and went downstairs for our complimentary breakfast. It wasn't great, but hey this is a hostel not the holiday inn.. The first thing we did was go to the Belvedere Palace because it was far away from everything else. This palace belonged to a Hapsburg general. It was so beautiful.. the architecture, the gardens, the marble floors- I can't believe it was for a general! It was turned into an art museum... We spent about two hours looking at three floors of art. There were some old religious icons from the 1400's, there was a room full of sculptures of facial expressions during certain situations (e.g.: being hanged, smelling a bad odor), there were some impressionist paintings- even a few of Monet's, and a lot more.
After Belvedere, we got some "street meat," but it was delicious street meat because Vienna is known for their sausages. I never knew that the word weiner came from Vienna (because they spell their country Wein). It was very good and in a way cultural! We took the tram to the Kunsthistorisches Museum (an art history museum). This museum was breath taking.
Belvedere Garden
Me next to a statue in the garden.. All seven of us walked in and were immediately taken aback by the elaborate staircase, painted ceilings, and the statues in just the lobby area. This museum was the Hapsburg's collection of art. Dürer, Rubens, Rembrandt, Raphael, Vermeer, Titian, and Velasquez are featured, but it also had treasures from Oriental, Greek, Roman and Egyptian antiquity. We spent THREE hours here, just on two floors!
After our museums, we sat on the steps of the Kunsthistorisches planning our next activity. We decided to go to a Viennese coffee shop featured in the "top ten things to do in Vienna" book. This place apparently has been a popular cafe since the mid 1800's when the nobles would meet to have a cup of coffee with one another. It looked inside like it had not changed much since! I ordered the Milange,which sounded a lot like a latte to me, but it was very good- it was espresso with milk and foam. I also ordered the Sachertorte, Austria's favorite dessert- a chocolate cake with apricot jam in between layers. Delicious.
Next, we headed towards the Farris Wheel which overlooks Vienna. It was overpriced, but a good experience. There was a small
amusement park in the area, so we walked around and then headed for dinner. We decided to have a traditional Austrian meal. Our server had to translate for us.. I had beef with spinach and potatoes served with an apple and a sourcream sauce. It was simple, but good. Our server also showed us where a nice wine bar was. We all had a glass of wine and called it a night. Oh, and our new roommate was normal. She was a girl who just graduated college and was traveling Europe by herself after a summer in Greece.
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Mom
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What a wonderful entry! I love that you photographed the food! The art history museum sounds incredible!