Changing Plans
Trip Start
Jun 22, 2008
1
5
9
Trip End
Aug 13, 2008
Loading Map
Vienna,
Austria
Saturday, July 5, 2008
My original plan called for renting a car and visiting some castles in Burgenland on day trips from Vienna. When I communicated with Frau Walkner, she pointed out the difficulty in finding parking in Vienna and suggested that I wait until my arrival to decide about a car. Like Germany, Austria has a pretty extensive and reliable train system, and Vienna has a very well-run and complete public-transportation grid (Strassenbahn, U-Bahn, Autobus, S-Bahn, and even bicycle). In addition, many of the "sights" are in or on the Ring, and those that are farther away can be reached easily.
On the other hand, getting to the castles I wanted to see turned out to be a bit of a problem without a car. Yes, they were reachable by train, but with changes and stops, just getting there and back would take up half the day, and that was only as far as the train station; I would still have had to get up to the castle itself. With the current exchange rate I decided to save some money and fore-go the car. As a result, instead of exploring the countryside I have stayed within Vienna and gotten to know the city. I'll do my excursions on another visit - after all I still want to see those castles!
So, on Monday morning I started to experience Vienna.
Spar Grocery Store
First stop was across the street at Spar, a small supermarket, where I bought groceries. Then I went back to the apartment and fixed breakfast. I saved a lot of money by fixing my own breakfast and dinner most days. Following breakfast, I bought a Wochenkarte at the subway station just outside the apartment. This is the best value on the system if you're staying for a week and starting out on a Monday or Tuesday. The card is valid from Monday through Sunday, costs 14 Euros, and allows unlimited travel on all parts of Vienna's public transportation net. Card in pocket I set off to explore the city.My curriculum for third-year German calls for us to "move" to Vienna and learn about the city. One of phrases we use is "In Wien gibt es mehrere Kirchen." (In Vienna there are a lot of churches.) My goal was to visit several of those "mehrere Kirchen". First on the list was, of course, Stephansdom - St. Stephen's Cathedral. Parts of the building date to the Romanesque period, but most of the cathedral is Gothic. There are a lot of fascinating parts to the cathedral. The pulpit, for example, features the Latin Fathers of the Church: Saints Augustine, Ambrose, Gregory and Jerome on the sides of the pulpit. On the base is the "Fenstergucker" (Man looking out of the window) with a compass in his hand, thought to be a portrait of the sculptor. Along the handrail of the staircase are opposing lizards and toads representing the battle of good (lizards as creatures of light) vs. evil (battle toads). At the very top stands a Domini Canis, "hound of God", protecting the preacher from the battle raging below.
Spar Interior
The supports for the handrail are wheels - three-part wheels (the Trinity) rolling up and four-part wheels (the seasons = earth, mortality) rolling down.After spending time looking through the Stephansdom, I went to the Deutschordenskirche (Church of the Order of Teutonic Knights). It's dedicated to St. Elisabeth of Thuringia and has shields of the Grand Masters of Vienna on the walls, as well as other markings of the order.
From there I just wandered a bit soaking in the sights. Kärtnerstrasse is a pedestrian shopping street, but I just window shopped - except for picking up a guide to Vienna. Frau Walkner had recommended I visit the Tourist Information center to get some assistance in planning my stay, but the agent there was singularly unhelpful and could give me information (primarily in the form of brochures) only on Vienna. Stopping at Cafe Mozart, though, I enjoyed fresh strawberries and ice cream. From there I continued on my tour of churches, stopping at the Kapuzinerkirche (Church of the Capuchin Order) and the Malteserkirche (Church of the Order of the Knights of Malta) before heading back to the apartment.
Just so we get the "mehrere Kirchen" out of the way, the churches I saw while in Vienna include the Karlskirche (Church of St. Charles Boromeo), the Petruskirche (Church of St. Peter), Michaelerkirche (Church of St. Michael), Minoritenkirche (Church of the Friars Minor), the Schottenkirche (Church founded by Irish missionaries), the Augustinerkirche (Augustinian Church) and the Hofkapelle (Court Chapel in the Winter Palace of the Hofburg).
Stephansdom
And that wasn't all of them. I had wonderful serendipities happen in three of the churches. When I stopped in at the Schottenkirche the organist was practicing, so I stayed and listened for a while. The same thing happened in the Augustinerkirche. Listening to the wonderful organ music in those settings was tremendous. In the Hofkapelle I was enjoying the architecture when a large group entered. All of the boys and men were dressed alike with shirts, ties and jackets (and naturally trousers, shoes and socks!). One of the men went back outside for a moment, and when he returned the recorded music stopped. Then the group gathered at the front of the chapel and sang. It was the Keystone State Boys Choir from Philadelphia. Besides the choir there were only three others in the chapel, so we had our own private concert.Later in the week I went back to the Kapuzinerkirche and went down into the Kaisergruft (Imperial Crypt). Most of the Austrian imperial family is buried there - or at least their bodies are. There are a few that have only an urn with the heart or ashes in the crypt. Thirty-three members of the family have their bodies in the crypt, their hearts in the basement of the Augustinian Church, and their viscera in the crypt of the Stephansdom. Sounds gruesome to me! The last two members of the family to be buried in the Imperial Crypt are the Empress Zita (1989) and her son Archduke Karl Ludwig (January 2008). Certain sarcophagi have places of honor while other coffins are simply lined up in rows.
Pulpit
Of course the prominent sarcophagi are of particularly significant members of the family: Maria Theresa, Franz Joseph, other emperors.Another must-see stop was the Prunksaal (literally "splendor hall") of the National Library. It really is worth seeing. Of course, there are lots of museums, and it's easy to overdose, so I tried to limit where I went. In addition to the Prunksaal I also went to the "Schatzkammer" (Treasury). It was both interesting and disappointing. Interesting because there were a lot of interesting things on exhibit. Disappointing because I paid extra to be able to shoot photos and video but the lighting was so dim nothing really came out (and they don't allow flash). I also went to the cathedral museum which had an interesting display on "Faith and Football (Soccer)". The theme tied in with the Euro2008 Final that was on Sunday, 29 June.
Of course while getting from one place to another I did lots of walking and sightseeing along the way. In general, though, I avoided the area on the western side of the Ring because they were tearing down from the Fan Zone. Traffic didn't even get back to normal until the following Saturday - and then it was interrupted again for a demonstration parade. In addition to Kärntnerstrasse, the other main pedestrian street is Graben. (Graben means a ditch, so at one point a ditch ran along here.) Everywhere you go you see people riding in a Fiaker, a horse-drawn carriage. It's primarily for the tourists, and they take you on a ride around the center of town.
Pulpit and Staircase
I have only occasionally seen any Fiakers very far outside the Ring.One day I also went to see the Hundertwasserhaus, a housing complex designed by Austrian artist Friedensreich Hundertwasser. He tried to make his work people- and environment-friendly. It certainly makes for an interesting building. I also went to the Heeresgeschichtliche (Military History) Museum. One of the more interesting exhibits had artifacts associated with the death of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. His assassination in Sarajevo precipated World War I. On the way to the museum I walked through the Belvedere, actually two palaces - Lower Belvedere and Upper Belvedere - owned by Prince Eugene of Savoy. He helped save Vienna from the Turks in the 1600s and became a counselor to three emperors.
On Friday I decided to go with a complete change of pace, so I took the U-Bahn to UNO City (Vienna International Center/United Nations Headquarters in Vienna). For my German 3 class we talk about the UN center as part of our Virtual Vienna move, so I wanted to be sure to get some pictures. The other point of interest was the Danube Tower and Park. The tower is one of the highest buildings in Vienna and gives a great view. I took the elevator to the observation platform and had great panoramas of the city and surrounding countryside. It was a windy day, and parts of the observation platform were like being in a wind tunnel. Once I was back on the ground and leaving the park I saw a couple of guys trying to fly kites. As windy as it was, you'd think they wouldn't have any problems, but the kites kept crashing.
Fenstergucker
I think the problem was that they didn't have tails on the kites, so the kite would start to climb, flip over and crash. Except for not getting into a tree, it reminded me of Charlie Brown from "Peanuts".From UNO City I stopped at Donauinsel (Danube Island). It is a long, narrow strip of land in the Danube (over 12 miles long but only 230-400 feet wide). It's a great place to go bike riding, skateboarding, in-line skating, walking or running, or just sit and enjoy the view or even get a suntan. There are a few places where you can go swimming, but the Danube has a swift current, so you have to be careful. I would have spent more time here if it hadn't been quite so cool and windy.
Instead, I headed for the Prater. This is an amusement park with lots of interesting rides. The most famous - and one of the landmarks of Vienna - is the Riesenrad (Giant Ferris Wheel). I went on it for another spectacular view of Vienna, looked around the park a bit, and then headed off to a late lunch.
Lunch was at Cafe Figlmüller. This is one of the most famous places for Wiener Schnitzel. I had schnitzel, but not a Wiener Schnitzel. Mine was in a magnificent mushroom sauce. It was still a huge amount of food, so I knew I would need to do some more walking. Thus I headed for the Naschmarkt.
The Naschmarkt is an open-air market that stretches along the path of the Wien River. At this point the river is underground, so the market sits above the river. It is full of stands selling different kinds of fresh fruits, vegtables, nuts, meat, fish and poultry.
Domini Canis
Additionally you can get different kinds of sweets, cheese, souvenirs, etc. There are also a lot of cafes and restaurants. Going there after my huge meal at Figlmüller was actually a good idea; I was so full there was no temptation at all to sample things. I did enjoy the sights, sounds and smells. Most of the stalls are owned and operated by immigrants from Turkey and Eastern Europe. At the northeast end of the Naschmarkt is the Secession building, the home of Art Nouveau. I decided not to pay to go into the art collection there.Friday evening I finished the day by going to a concert in the Stephansdom. The Robert Page Festival Singers and the Budapest Concert Orchestra performed The Creation by Haydn. Of course it was in German, as originally written. Before the concert started I thought we might have a bit of a problem. Whoever had set up the chairs apparently didn't have legs and didn't think anyone else did either. One very tall man had shoved his seat back, so the row behind him had zero room. We quickly solved the problem by moving the last four rows back and spreading them out. Then everyone settled in to enjoy the concert. It was superb. The acoustics in the church meant that everyone could be heard, and the combination of this great religious work of art with the setting of the cathedral was a truly spiritual experience for me. Two of my favorite choral pieces come from The Creation: "The Heavens are Telling the Glory of God", "Achieved is the Glorious Work". Haydn's ability to set the words and ideas to music was incredible.
Lizard and Toad
The opening orchestral introduction represents the "without form and void" condition of creation. Then the introductory recitative with choir is in g minor until the words "And there was Light." On the word light the choir sings and the orchestra plays a wonderfully prepared G Major chord, and the music takes off. I truly rejoiced in God's creation.The next day I slept in before heading out to look at endings rather than the beginning. My first stop was the Zentralfriedhof (Central Cemetery). Why it is called the Central Cemetery, I don't know; it is far from the center of the city. It's well worth a visit. To see everything could take days. I just went to the Church designed by Otto Wagner (Art Nouveau designer), the Musicians section, and the Presidents' Memorial (where the Presidents of the Austrian Republic are honored). Then I took the tram back to the Ring and stopped at the Sacher Cafe for a piece of Sacher Torte (decadent chocolate cake) with whipped cream and tea. It was wonderful sitting on the sidewalk watching people go by and enjoying this signature Viennese dessert.
After eating I walked past the Memorial Against War and Fascism, the Albertina Museum and the Augustinerkirche (where I was drawn in by that excellent organ music I mentioned earlier) to the Kunsthistorisches (Art History) Museum. I did a tour of some of the great artwork in the imperial collection before walking across the street and visiting the Tutankhamen exhibit in the New Palace of the Hofburg. My timing was excellent, because they were handing out half-price coupons, so I paid 9 Euros instead of 18. It was an interesting exhibition, but apparently the Viennese aren't as interested as the sponsors had anticipated (hence the discount). A couple of years ago when I was in Basel I had seen a Tutankhamen exhibit, but it was so crowded that you had to get timed entrances, and I wasn't in the city long enough for that to work. So I was glad I got to get into the exhibit this time. It wasn't crowded at all. Unfortunately, they asked that we not take photographs, unlike most of the museums I had been in. The national museums simply ask that you not use flash. (Of course that sometimes makes things difficult because of dim lighting, but at least you can try.)
Finally I went to the Hofburg Garden and sat and enjoyed the sun for a while. Then I headed back to the apartment.
Thus endeth my first week in Vienna. Thanks for sticking with me this long. Gottes reichsten Segen an Euch!
Comments
seredipidous music and song
Organ music in European cathedrals always has the same effect on my: I melt into tears of wonder and joy. You are truly blessed, Robert, to be able to be wherre you are today.
oops
my...heart and soul
All those Churches, yet Europe is secular.
I wonder what the owner of the store thought when s/he saw you shooting pictures of the produce aisle... So, have you been mistaken for a native yet? I imagine you don't have any problems communicating, but I've always wondered how close your accent resembles true native German speakers. Keep up the good work on your blogs, I enjoy reading them. They brush up on the history I would have forgotten over the summer. European art periods are represented wonderfully in the design of the churches! Sadly enough I forgot the details of Baroque; a quick google image search got me all the info I needed. And lastly, you can only see their mud huts if your one of them. Without Wax, August