Guten morgen to all from the wonderful city of Vienna. We have really been enjoying ourselves since we arrived, trying to take in all the city has to offer. We are back on the tourist trail and feeling wonderful about it.
After arriving at the airport Thursday afternoon, we found our hotel. We had booked it through the travel agent in Madrid, and we really learned a lesson from the experience. Our hotel is far away from the city center and not even that close to a subway stop. We have to walk about half a mile or so just to get to the station before starting the journey into the city center. Moreover, the hotel isn�t even that nice. It�s pretty bare bones at the same price we have been paying for nicer hotels elsewhere. I guess it�s better to do the research ourselves and book our own hotels from now on.
Colleen was pretty tired from the trip � we had to get up early to catch our train � so she napped for a couple hours before we made it out onto the town. We strolled around Vienna�s historic quarter, hit an Internet caf�, and ate a wonderful dinner.
Yesterday, though, was quite a full day of touring. We started the day at St. Stephan�s Cathedral, a wonder of gothic architecture. Soaring vaults inside the church lift the ceiling toward the heavens while numerous altars throughout the church glorify God. Dozens of faithful, surrounded by more dozens of tourists and schoolkids, dutifully prayed as we examined the inside of the church. In one chapel, an enormous statue of Jesus on the cross hangs on the wall with a long beard. Legend has it that the beard is real hair that grows from the statue. They had the chapel gated off, so I couldn�t check this story out myself (which is probably why they gated it in the first place � I mean, not for me specifically, but with a legend like that I can only imagine how many thousands would try to validate its authenticity by touching the beard, although it�s probably too high up any way, and thereby ruining the statue and the sanctity of the chapel � it�s better to have unverified legend that just might be true than to have an old wives� tale that no one believes anyway).
We then walked through the main shopping district of Vienna, passing a monument built to commemorate the eradication (temporarily, I guess) of the plague in the 17th century. On the statue, Emperor Leopold kneels, thanking God for delivering the city, and him, from the horrors of the plague. Let�s face it, if building a monument to God will keep the plague out of the city, it�s probably not such a bad idea. Interesting to see is the figure of Leopold, whose lineage (and the habitual inbreeding that came historically with many royal families) is evident by the severe, almost ridiculous, underbite he sports. Incest just isn�t a good idea, boys and girls.
From there, we went to see the crypt of the Habsburgs. Almost the whole of the family is laid out in tombs underneath the streets. Some are magnificent, celebrating the power of Austria and her empire, while others are understated, some even austerely plain. It was both creepy and interesting to walk among the tombs, with only a low railing separating us from the dead, and look at their coffins.
Finally we reached the main square behind the Opera House. In it, the city has placed a monument against war and fascism. Horrific scenes show the things Vienna had to endure after the Anschluss with Germany was declared. One statue shows a Jew hunched over on the ground, reminiscent of the hundreds forced to scrub the pavement clean for the arrival of the German army. One shows emaciated, skeleton-like people slaving away in a factory, while another shows a woman, dying, but giving birth to a child destined to be just another fatality of a terrible time. It serves to remind us all that good government and a stable society requires constant vigilance by the people, the ultimate source of power. It is only when people sit back and let their leaders do whatever they want that they get pulled into bad situations.
Anyway, after lunch and a piece of the famous Sacher torte, we visited the Albertina Museum to see their special exhibit of the works of Peter Paul Rubens. This was a highlight of the day for me. Pieces of his work have been brought from all over the world to fill out this exhibit, which showed some masterpieces alongside the sketched studies he made to prepare for the final painting. Reading the names of museums on the wall, which ranged from the Getty in LA to the Louvre to the Met in NY, it was obvious that someone had done an incredible job collecting all these pieces together for one exhibit.
Last night, we went to the opera in Vienna�s amazing Opera House. The building hosts operas 300 nights a year, which is surprising to me in this day and age. We paid $2 each for standing room tickets, knowing we wouldn�t be staying for the entire performance, and found ourselves looking over the railing on the side at the very top of the theater, only able to see about a third of the stage. We stayed for about 45 minutes, reveling in the music, but I�m sure still underappreciating the medium for what it is. The opera played to a full house, a testament to the endurance of high culture in Vienna. What�s interesting to me is that the height of popularity of opera coincided with the height of the power of Vienna. I guess the people here like to remember and commemorate those days by keeping the period�s art alive and well. We showed our appreciation of Vienna with another wondrous dinner.
So that�s it. Quite a day out on the town. We have to go now. We have another full day planned and have to beat the crowds to the first stop, the summer palace of the Habsburgs. It�s supposed to rival Versailles�
Paul and Colleen