Autumn is in the Air: Day 38 - Wandering around Vienna
K and I were last in Vienna 28 years ago, in January, just after we got engaged. We really loved the city for the short time we were there and thought it would be a wonderful place to come back to in the summer.
We can safely say that it is a wonderful place in the summer, but thousands of other people also think that. Even now in mid September the main sights, like St Stephens Cathedral, are heaving with tourists.
Our first goal today was to tour the catacombs under St Stephens, just like we did 28 years ago. Back then there were three other people on our tour, we spent the better portion of an hour under the cathedral and could take all the pictures we wanted. This time, about 50 people in the group, a regimented 30 minute walk through and no pictures. It was still interesting but not like we remembered it. It was at that point that we decided that we wouldn't try to recreate our past experiences. That usually doesn't work so we would do completely new things this time.
That cued up the Belvedere Palace and a concert at Karlskirche church in the evening. Belvedere was quite a nice mixture of 'classical' and more contemporary art, very beautiful grounds and architecture, and the Vivaldi concert at the very baroque Karlskirche, ..... simply amazing.
Between the Belvedere and Karlskirche, we had a very good and light dinner at The Bank Brasserie. We're taking advantage of having the option of something other than some form of schnitzel or sausage (it's good, but we need some variety). One sour note from the dinner was the addition of a 4 euro per person 'cover charge' on the bill. This was a pretty high end place, with commensurate pricing and service compris, and I think the addition of a cover charge, however modest, is outrageous. We're very fortunate that that's what we have to rage about, but rage I will.
On the way to the concert we also found out just like Dorothy did, that 'We're not in Kansas anymore'. The wind was still howling and it started to rain fairly heavily just as we stepped out of the restaurant. It was about a 20 minute walk to the church, and we'd be drenched by the time we got there. There was a taxi right there so we jumped in and a few minutes later were at the church. The fare was just under 10 Euro's. The only bills either of us had were 50's, so I gave the cabby one and got two 20's back. I stuffed these in my pocket and ran through the rain to the cover of the church.
The next morning, as we're heading out for breakfast, I pull my money out of my pocket. Two 20 bills. Serbian Dinar's. Worth about 50 cents! Warning shot across the bow! This will probably only get more interesting as we head south!
Despite the crappy cover charge and the taxi rip off ... it was a really great day capped with a truly once in a lifetime type experience at Karlskirche.
Song of the Day:
The Four Seasons "Autumn" by Antonia Vivaldi
We went to a performance of The Four Seasons in Karlskirch last night ... simply amazing. Vivaldi is buried very near here. Today started out as a very beautiful fall day, but by 5 pm black clouds were roiling in and the wind was gusting to over 60 km/hr. As we were sitting in the church, you could even hear the wind as a dull roar during the quiet passages in the music. An 'otherworldly experience"
The 10 am invasion of the Vikings ... the first columns arrive to rape and pillage every gift shop in sight! .... in this case it was the Lipizzaner Stallions getting the boat people
... upper Belvedere ... it now houses a very fine collection of Marie Theresa's art collection plus quite a bit of impressionist and late 19th century paintings
Some very interesting sculpture from Franz Xaver Messerschmidt circa 1770 ... the write up on these heads, and him said .."There are several theories to explain the background to them and the controversy remains unabated today. Mental Illness is one theory that has often been put forward, but the influence of the miracle healer Franz Anton Mesmer has also been posited. .... Although Messerschmidt must have been a bizarre and solitary character he was always a respected artist"
The galleries at Belvedere feature a lot of Gustav Klimt ... a local Vienna boy who did well ...while most people were flocking around his more famous work "The Kiss", I am more partial to this work, "Bride"
Edvard Munch's "The Boys at the Beach"... it could also very well be titled "Just Another NOLAC adventure" ... Some folks will know what I', talking about
... and how could we have a day go by without another food shot ... dinner at The Bank Brasserie ... another place recommended by M Michelin. The food and service was very good but a bit pricy, and to top it off when the bill came, they had a 4 euro per person 'cover charge' ... wtf?? Very pissed off with that out of principle
