Vienna

Capital of Austria and summer home of the Hapsburgs. If fancy buildings and works of art are your thing, this is the place.

Belvedere Schloss or Palace was the summer home of Prince Eugene of Savoy. It is actually two palaces, the Upper Belvedere (shown above) and the Lower Belvedere. The upper house is now a museum with a great art collection. If nothing else see Gustav Klimt’s “The Kiss” . They have a replica copy in the marble room. This is so people can take their selfies without blocking traffic in front of the original. Much need as the original is mesmerizing. Took me about 20 minutes to realize I needed to move on and let others take my spot.

The marble room itself is a masterpiece. This is the ceiling of the marble room. You can go up to the next floor and look through those windows to see some of the detail on the fresco.

The gardens and fountains in between the Upper and Lower Belvedere’s are simply a different canvas.

As with most grand buildings, restoration is an ongoing necessity. Vienna has found an innovative way to help defray some of the costs.

This is the Cathedral of Vienna, undergoing a massive re do. That is a beer ad on the side scaffolding. Makes sense as it was the friars that started the brewing tradition in Europe.

The Opera house is in the middle of town. It is a regular meeting place for a lot of the tour groups in Vienna. Right behind it is the Sacher Hotel, known for their delicious Sacher Torte. Nearby is the Albertina, another must see museum. I was there for their exhibit “From Monet to Picasso”. The audio tour really helped explain the monumental changes in the art world from the end of World War One forward. I’ve run out of words to describe the artwork itself, just ecstatic that I got to see it.

This is the Franz von Assisi church, just another building that I liked.

This is the other palace I saw, Schonbrunn Schloss. A little further from the center of the city, this was the summer palace for the last of the Hapsburg dynasty.

The gardens and fountains outside are wonderful. Best thing is that most of it is free and open to the public.

You can spend hours wandering around the grounds.

The fountains each have their own appeal. Not sure I understood this one, but I liked it.

Next to the palace is the Privvy Garden. Gives me ideas for my own garden, once I hit the lottery.

The Orangery is actually the building where they stored all the citrus and tropical plants. All the plants in the gardens outside the orangery are potted and moved in for the winter.

There is a cafe at the front that is perfect for enjoying a beer and some sausage after a days sightseeing. Also great for people watching. There was a trio of noisy guests that showed up. Just sitting there people watching, hearing sirens getting closer and closer.

Then all of a sudden 3 firetrucks come racing in and around towards the back, followed by 4-5 other police and fire vehicles. Never heard what it was all about and did check the news for the next couple of days. Talked to a local and we decided it must have just been a tourist stuck up a tree.

I’m trying my best not to be “that American tourist”. So far so good.

See you in Salzburg!