The Long Awaited Return

4 January 2009 - 7 January 2009

It's been an absurdly long time since I last posted. Turns out I'm lazier than even I thought I was.

I left off after Prague - which I visited literally months ago - but I failed to report on both Vienna and Budapest, so I will try my best to recount the tales here, albeit in an abridged version.

Vienna is the capital of Austria, and retains much of the splendor it enjoyed during its time as the seat of the Austro-Hungarian empire. Loved by the Hapsburgs - the dynasty of rulers that at some point or another seemed to have had control over each of the many regions of Europe - Vienna was and perhaps still is the cultural capital of the world. Richard Strauss, Joseph Haydn, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Johann Strauss, Sigmund Freud, Gustav Klimt, and Franz Schubert are only a few of the famous that have called Vienna home.

That being said, one of the very first things we did in Vienna was, naturally, to get a slice of the famous Sacher Torte: superb chocolate/raspberry cake. It was exquisite, and as far as I know can only be found in Austria. The other culinary delight of Vienna has been exported a little further, this of course being Wiener Schnitzel (which in German means 'Viennese schnitzel). In addition, we tried Kasewurst - a sausage with cheese inside of it which was marvelous. The Austrians, like the Czechs, eat mostly meat and bread but damn do they do it well.

Vienna's architecture is breathtaking if for nothing other than the sheer magnitude of it (check out my photos). But despite the palaces I will speak of shortly, every building in the city seems to conform to a certain architectural standard, as if each individual building is made of the same material, or has been built as part of a larger plan. This gives a sense of uniformity, and the light colors - mostly yellow - that define the buildings gives the city a light and airy feel, even in the freezing cold dead of winter.

Like I said, this was the seat of the Austro-Hungarian empire and a favorite city of the continents most rich and famous personalities. In addition to the TWO lavish palaces within the city limits are numerous other buildings that ostensibly look like palaces in their own rights but are now museums, as well as the magnificent opera house, home to the Viennese Philharmonic Orchestra.

We visited a number of these museums, most notably the Belvedere which houses Gustav Klimt's famous portrait The Kiss which is actually quite mesmerizing. My companions did not want to join me for the journey to another museum, the Haus der Musik (House of Music) so I went alone. Sucks for them, because this was one of the best museums ever. Not only did I get the whole place nearly to myself, but it was incredibly interactive and held my attention for nearly 5 hours. I got to compose my own song, attempt (and fail miserably) at conducting the Philharmonic via an electronic baton, and play with a ridiculous number of things that you get to bang on and make weird noises with. My two darling sisters would have loved it.

And any visit to Vienna isn't complete without trips to Schonbrunn Palace and St Stephens Cathedral. Schonbrunn, the "summer home" of the Hapsburgs could fit an inane number of my family's "regular home" inside of it. I forget how many rooms it has - we went on a tour of 45 that saw only a fraction of the mansion - but standing at the front gate, my camera could just barely cover the entire facade. The summer gardens the in "backyard," complete with the oldest zoo in the world, weren't exactly picture worthy in the winter cold, but were nonetheless worth walking through. In all, several small villages could easily fit into this "garden."

St Stephens cathedral is by far the largest building in the city and easily dominates the skyline as seen from Schonbrunn's gardens miles away. Last time 'round, its spire was under construction which served as a blight in my photos, but this time I got (or at least tried to get) the structure in its entirety. Unfortunately it still retains its medieval heating system (i.e. nothing) so it didn't provide much shelter from the bitter cold, but we did venture into the crypt to see the tombs of cardinals and other important people, along with a ton of human bones neatly stacked and arranged into piles.

Vienna is still one of my favorite cities in Europe, even though my friends didn't seem to enjoy it as much as I did. Perhaps the cold didn't do it justice, but I enjoyed myself quite well and hopefully will be able to get back in the heat of summer someday. If you're into classical music, delicious food, or architecture (or all three!) this is definitely the place for you.