The Hills are Alive with the Sound of Music

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We finally made a break from the Mediterrean countries and headed to the first of our Germanic countries - Austria. Our first stop was Vienna. We arrived and were quickly whisked off to a wine hall in a quaint part of the city. It was also the start of many days of schnitzel, potatoes and beer - I swear no one in Europe has heard of vegetables! It was quite the experience - a lot of singing and there was even some dancing, and our group was the only patrons!

Vienna is a beautiful city. The central part of the city is situated in the middle of a ring-road of sorts. At the middle is the St. Stephens Cathedral. Along the ring road you will find many of the historic buildings, including Parliament, the Opera House, and many of the museums. Now, I took in a lot of historical information in my 32 days, but I'll do my best not to screw it up. The Hapsburg Empire played a large role in the history of the Germanic countries. The family had two homes in Vienna, the summer and winter palace. The winter palace is situated in the ring, with the summer palace west of the centre of the city, called Schonbrunn Palace. I didn't get to visit this, but definitely will make a stop when I return later.

Anyway, after a quick orientation of the city by bus, I decided to vere off from the group and do a tour of the city on my own. I was interested in visiting a house called the Hundertwasserhaus, which was designed by architect and artist Friedensreich Hundertwasser. His architecture is simialar to Gaudi's in Barcelona, which I was really taken with. Unfortunately the house cannot be toured at people actually reside there. Across from the complex, the architect created a "village" which exhibits the same abstract architecture, including in the loos! I enjoyed it - it was worth the trip.

On the way to the house, I took a stroll through Stadt Park, in central Vienna. Austria is famous for such things as Arnold Shwarzenegger and Maria and the Von Trapps in "The Sound of Music" (which shame on me, I still haven't seen). Austria is also the birthplace of many of the famous classical musicians, such as Mozart, Schubert, and Strauss to name a few. This park housed quite a few statues of these famous musicians, however Mozart's statue was located down the road in the park near the Hofburg palace (winter residence).

I could go on about Vienna forever, but I am coming back, so expect a deja vous a few blogs down the road! After leaving Vienna, we made a quick stop in Salzburg on our way to Germany. Salzburg is the birthplace of Mozart and the sight of the Sound of Music. The town was pretty busy when we were there as there was a cyclist event happening and some festival - forgive that I cannot remember. I do know that it is the year of Mozart - what year I can't remember. Maybe I should have done this travelling thing when I was younger and had a better memory (I have had to cheat a few times and google things!).

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Photos

Artsy Loos
These are the public loos in Hunderwasserhaus Village, as designed by the architect.

Statue of Strauss
Housed in Stadt Park.

Mozart's Birthplace
His birthplace now houses a museum for his benefit in Salzburg.