A Posh Palace, a Cemetery, and The Third Man
Trip Start
Apr 03, 2007
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64
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Trip End
Jun 16, 2007
Vienna, Austria
Monday, June 11, 2007
I woke up this morning, and was not the first one up. Three of the guys in the room are from Ireland, and the two girls are from China. I didn't get to talk much, though, since I wanted to head out and see the palace.
Schonbrunn Shloss (Palace) was the summer palace of the Habsburgs, who ruled Austria for quite a long time. They were also some of the richest people of all time, and of course spared no expense in creating their summer palace (their other palace is the Hofburg Palace in central Vienna). To get to Schonbrunn, I took the U-bahn a few kilometers to the southwest of the city
Church in center of Zentralfriedhof
. Back when it was used as a palace, it was probably out away from the city a good distance, but today, the palace ground are surrounded by city. It reminded me instantly of Versailles. The palace is gigantic, with 1400 rooms inside. But most impressive is the gardens. I spent quite awhile strolling through the gardens, admiring the fountains and baroque gardens. I had seen paintings in the museum yesterday of the palace (including people dressed up in their fineries strolling the gardens), and it looked much the same (except the clothes today are much more casual). I climbed up the hill to the Gloriette at the top that was built in 1775 (according to the inscription) by Maria Theresa. From there are the best views looking back down at the palace with the city of Vienna off in the distance behind it.After grabbing a sandwich at the café there, I took the U-bahn back into the city, then caught the #71 tram southwards to the Zentralfriedhof (Central Cemetery). This cemetery is huge. I spent well over an hour there and probably saw maybe 2% of it. It's that big. After getting a map from the information office, I found my way to section 32A, where most of the famous people are buried. Within a small area are the graves of Beethoven, Brahms, Schubert, Strauss (4 of them, Johann I and II, Josef, and Eduard), and a monument to Mozart (his actual grave is in another cemetery, unmarked). It's quite an atmospheric place. I strolled around the cemetery for awhile, and also located the grave of Antonio Salieri (most famous from the movie "Amadeus", a compelling but mostly fictionalized story). His monument is considerably more modest than those of the other composers (and located in a completely different part of the cemetery). It has an inscription on it that reads:
Rest in peace
Gloriette
! Uncovered by dustEternity shall bloom for you.
Rest in peace! In eternal harmonies
Your spirit now is dissolved.
He expressed himself in enchanting notes,
Now he is floating to everlasting beauty.
I took the tram, then the U-bahn back into the city just in time to catch the Third Man walking tour at 4:00 PM. It was well worth it. Of course, The Third Man is the famous movie, set in Vienna in 1948 (and filmed the same year). The tour started out at the sewers, and we got to see where they filmed many of the scenes of the movie. The guide, Barbara, was excellent and conducted the tour in both English and German, switching instantly between the two. We also saw the kiosk that leads down into the sewer passages, the Hotel Sacher where the movie begins, the location where the car crash occurred, and the house where the famous scene took place where the lights came on and the identity of the Third Man was revealed for sure. Being one of my favorite movies, it was really a great experience to be able to see these places and connect them to the scenes in the movie.
Gloriette and ducks resting on lily pads
I'm definitely going to re-watch the movie after I get back home. The tour also took us down into a basement, where there was a lady who played the theme song on a zither. An excellent tour and highly recommended if you're a fan of The Third Man and ever in Vienna (if not, watch the movie). They play the movie here several times a week, and have a Third Man museum as well.My time in Vienna is coming to a close, but I've really enjoyed getting to see the city. It has a much more Eastern European feel to it. This is the furthest east that I've been except for Krakow (last November).
Tomorrow: Salzburg, the land of the Sound of Music
