Vienna

St. Stephen's Cathedral

Vienna was such a beautiful city! It is full of majestic buildings from the peak of the Austro-Hungarian empire during the end of the 19th century. These buildings are still kept in good, working condition today. Vienna overall takes very good care of it's buildings. There is a lot of normal wear and tear as well as a lot of damage during WWII. However, everywhere, we saw fresh, old buildings with constant conservation taking place. One of the most obvious examples is St. Stephen's Cathedral. It even has a piece of old and reconstructed portions outside the front entrance in order to ask for conservation donations.

"Death and Life" by Gustav Klimt

While Austria is the city of music, whether it be operas, symphonies or some other classical form, the season doesn't start until September. During the summer, there are only tourist shows. This just means that I'll need to return to Vienna during the season. Vienna was also the home of intellectuals and artists during the turn of the century (19th to 20th) such as Gustav Klimt (artist) and Sigmund Freud (philosopher). To see some of these artists, visit Museums Quarter and the Leopold Museum. It's largest collection is of Egon Schiele. In addition, it has a plethora of works by his contemporaries. On Thursday nights, there is a discount ticket that covers Leopold Museum, mumok and Kunsthalle. mumok and Kunsthalle exhibit modern art. It can be interesting and/or disconcerting.

Venus of Willendorf

During our full day in Vienna, I started at the Natural History Museum. It has room after room of minerals, fossils and stuffed animals. However, my main interest was the Venus of Willendorf. It is a small statue (11 cm) that was discovered in Willendorf, Austria. It is 25,000 years old! This museum has good information and some interactive sections, such as a moving, roaring model of an allosaur. The newer sections have English translations. The older collections do not. The topmost section carries special exhibits. When I visited, there was a photography exhibit of Chernobyl by a German photographer.

Looking down on Vienna from the winery

In the afternoon, I took the 38A tram to the end of the line in Kahlenberger. There is an international school up there as well as an adventure park with zip lines. But, I was just looking for a good hike. There were several good trails up above the city for panoramic views. On the way down, I stopped next to the house where the musician Franz Schubert was born. Then, it was up through vineyards back toward the bus stop. One of the vineyards had a few picnic tables and a little food for sale. It was a gorgeous, sprinkling afternoon to enjoy the fresh wine, food and the view.