Day 10
Got up early again this morning - 7:00 am had breakfast, then walked to the Hofburg.
The Hofburg is the imperial residence of the Hapsburgs in Vienna. It is a rather unattractive assemblage of buildings of various styles in the old city, bordering on the Ringstrasse.
It took us a while, but we found the entrance to the Imperial apartments. We took a tour, but to tell you the truth neither Jill or I remember anything of particular significance. We are a little palaced-out at this point !
We then took even longer to find the Imperial Treasury. We were among the first in the door at 10:00 am. We saw many amazing gold objects from the Hapsburg collections, such as the crown of the Holy Roman Empire (1,000 years old), Charlemagne's sword and many other objects such as cups, swords, religious objects, crosses, etc. the value of the collection is incalculable.
Then we took the #2 tram around the Ringstrasse; got a view of City Hall, the Opera Houses, the Danube Canal, Etc.
Afterwards, we transferred to the U-4 underground for a trip to Schonbrunn Palace, a Hapsburg summer residence.
First we stopped and ate pizza in an Italian restaurant! Pizza was very good and all homemade.
Then we entered Schonbrunn, walking around the back of the gardens so as to get the full effect of seeing the Palace from the top of the Glorietta. The Glorietta is a war memorial overlooking the palace, gardens, and the city of Vienna. Quite spectacular! Rococo gardens, I like; its the interiors that get a little overdone.
We then toured the interior - including all of Franz Joseph’s rooms. Its all getting a bit samey at this point, all though the dining table set for 20 and the hall of mirrors and Chinese Lacquer rooms were nice. The hall of mirrors was where Mozart gave his concert for Maria Theresa at the age of six which established his reputation.
We then went back on the U-4 to the Statpark, where a Strauss concert is given twice daily in a restaurant/cafe but is easily overheard in the park. We listened for about half an hour, but it was getting cold (60-65 )and the small orchestra wasn't that good. (They weren't no Vienna Philharmonic!)
So we walked around the park and watched people feeding sparrows and nuthatches out of their hands before heading back to the hotel for a nap.
Got up about 7:00 pm and headed for the Figlmuler, a restaurant famous for its wiennerschnitzel. I can see why - when mine arrived it was larger than my 10" plate ! So was Jill's chicken breast ! It was very good accompanied by mugs of fresh white wine.
Then we walked down the Stephensplatz, where we stopped for about half an hour of songs by a German Quartet - Simon & Garfunkel, Crosby Stills Nash & Young, and Creedence Clearwater revival (Rolling on the Ree-ver). German classics.
After a stop in the Tram-Bar (the interior contains an old Vienna tram and all of the accessories and signs are from old trams) we headed back to the hotel.
Day 11 >>>
The Hofburg is the imperial residence of the Hapsburgs in Vienna. It is a rather unattractive assemblage of buildings of various styles in the old city, bordering on the Ringstrasse.
It took us a while, but we found the entrance to the Imperial apartments. We took a tour, but to tell you the truth neither Jill or I remember anything of particular significance. We are a little palaced-out at this point !
We then took even longer to find the Imperial Treasury. We were among the first in the door at 10:00 am. We saw many amazing gold objects from the Hapsburg collections, such as the crown of the Holy Roman Empire (1,000 years old), Charlemagne's sword and many other objects such as cups, swords, religious objects, crosses, etc. the value of the collection is incalculable.
Then we took the #2 tram around the Ringstrasse; got a view of City Hall, the Opera Houses, the Danube Canal, Etc.
Afterwards, we transferred to the U-4 underground for a trip to Schonbrunn Palace, a Hapsburg summer residence.
First we stopped and ate pizza in an Italian restaurant! Pizza was very good and all homemade.
Then we entered Schonbrunn, walking around the back of the gardens so as to get the full effect of seeing the Palace from the top of the Glorietta. The Glorietta is a war memorial overlooking the palace, gardens, and the city of Vienna. Quite spectacular! Rococo gardens, I like; its the interiors that get a little overdone.
We then toured the interior - including all of Franz Joseph’s rooms. Its all getting a bit samey at this point, all though the dining table set for 20 and the hall of mirrors and Chinese Lacquer rooms were nice. The hall of mirrors was where Mozart gave his concert for Maria Theresa at the age of six which established his reputation.
We then went back on the U-4 to the Statpark, where a Strauss concert is given twice daily in a restaurant/cafe but is easily overheard in the park. We listened for about half an hour, but it was getting cold (60-65 )and the small orchestra wasn't that good. (They weren't no Vienna Philharmonic!)
So we walked around the park and watched people feeding sparrows and nuthatches out of their hands before heading back to the hotel for a nap.
Got up about 7:00 pm and headed for the Figlmuler, a restaurant famous for its wiennerschnitzel. I can see why - when mine arrived it was larger than my 10" plate ! So was Jill's chicken breast ! It was very good accompanied by mugs of fresh white wine.
Then we walked down the Stephensplatz, where we stopped for about half an hour of songs by a German Quartet - Simon & Garfunkel, Crosby Stills Nash & Young, and Creedence Clearwater revival (Rolling on the Ree-ver). German classics.
After a stop in the Tram-Bar (the interior contains an old Vienna tram and all of the accessories and signs are from old trams) we headed back to the hotel.
Day 11 >>>
