Viennese mime...

Or is that "performance artist? I don't like mimes. I also don't like clowns. But I'm sort of afraid of clowns, while mimes don't scare me at all. I just find them annoying. While walking through the city center of Vienna we came across this mime/performance artist acting like a statue on a pedestal. If you threw some money into the container at his feet he would let you take a picture with him, after handing you a prop sword or gun. I let Noah toss a Euro coin into the can and the guy gave him a fake gun and posed with Noah while I took a picture.

It wasn't until later when I looked at the picture I took that I realized how bad the picture is. First, Noah is too far away from the guy (maybe he has mime-fear?) so he has to lean over to put his arm on him. But...if he's a statue why is he putting his arm on Noah? He should be standing straight like a statue. It ruins whatever suspension of disbelief that otherwise would be created. Also, Noah is holding the gun straight on to the camera, so you can't really tell it's a gun. For all the viewer knows it's bagette. Finally, I realized that if you didn't put money in his can you could probably get a better picture since he should just stay still and not bother you while you snap away. If I'm ever in the same situation again I will use this hard gained wisdom.

Vienna - the city...

I'm just about through posting about our whirlwind trip to Vienna last weekend. Here are some pictures of the city center. The center is compact, with lots of outdoor cafes lining narrow streets, with lots of wonderful architecture. The city center is also mostly car-free which makes strolls easy and relaxing.

Vienna's Schonbrunn Palace...

Our trip to Vienna was just for the weekend, and we had to head back to Prague by about lunchtime on Sunday. So Sunday morning we spent at Schonbrunn Palace and gardens. We decided we could spend several days here on the grounds - palace, conservatory, mazes, zoo, Glorietta, etc.




From europeforvisitors.com:
Summer cottages have always been popular with wealthy Europeans, so it shouldn't have come as a surprise when Emperor Leopold I--ruler of the Austro-Hungarian Empire--commissioned a hunting lodge near the old Tiergarten, or Zoo, at Schönbrunn ("Beautiful Fountain") on Vienna's outskirts in 1695. What was surprising was the grandiosity of his vision: He ordered Bernhard Fischer von Erlach, the greatest architect of the Baroque Era, to design a palace larger than Versailles. Fortunately for the Austrian Treasury, the emperor balked when the architect's estimate came in, and the Habsburg family settled for a more modest dwelling with only 1,441 rooms.

When Empress Maria Theresia ascended to the throne in 1740, she had Schönbrunn Palace expanded and redecorated in French Rococo style over a five-year period from 1744 to 1749. The palace was later occupied by Napoleon and surrendered to the Austrian Republic upon the abdication of the last Habsburg emperor, Charles I, in 1918. Today, the restored palace is both a national monument and an apartment house for a number of lucky Viennese.







Here's the view from the front of the palace looking up to the Glorietta.




Here's looking back at the palace from the Glorietta.




This is the conservatory. It reminded us very much of the one at Como Park in St. Paul. We didn't actually go inside, and will save this for the next (longer) trip to Vienna.







I have to include a picture of Noah. Here he is by the fountain

The Heurigen of Austria...

The “Heuriger” is a famous instiution the wine growing areas of Austria. A law - more than 250 years old allows Austrian producers of wine to sell their own wine and other products at their places with very low taxes. Heuriger is the name of the youngest wine. In September, soon after the first grapes are harvested, it is possible to enjoy the “Sturm”, the only partially fermented intermediate product that later becomes full wine. It is sweet and good but you could easily drink much more than you should. Most also sell food - simple meat and potatoes and other "stick to your ribs" German-type cuisine.




Here is the Heuriger we went to in Grinzing, Austria. Grinzing is on the far outskirts of Vienna, but it still only took about 40 minutes door-to-door from our hotel. A ride on the S-bahn and then a tram to Grinzing, and then a short walk.



Last Saturday evening in Vienna was gorgeous, and we ate and drank in the garden which is a standard feature of the Heurigen. There was a table of loud American tourists (or is that redundant?) but mostly it appeared to be Austrians.



There were two musicians - an accordian player and a violinist. Here an older gentleman patron wanted to sing a song that they were playing. His voice wasn't bad and you could tell that he was one of those guys who really loved life. He did a couple of songs before being distracted by a child at a table accross the way.

The giant ferris wheel (Reisenrad)...

One of the stops on Saturday morning was the Prater, Vienna's best known amusement park, which is just outside the center of the city. The only thing we did here was take a ride on the giant ferris wheel, or Reisenrad. It's different from most ferris wheels in that it has cars of about 4 feet wide and 10 feet long that you ride in. It was mostly destroyed by fire during WWII, but it was quickly rebuilt, and it offers a great view of the city.

From the web site aboutvienna.org:
The Giant Ferris Wheel (Riesenrad) was erected in 1897 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the reign of Empereror Franz Joseph I. The wheel itself spans 200 feet (about 60 m.). 15 cabins and the upholding structure weigh a total of 430,5 t and rotate at the speed of 0,65 m/sec.
In 1914 the Giant Ferris Wheel was the location of a sensational film stunt: Madame Solange d'Atalide managed to complete one round on horseback on top of one of the cabins. This would not be the only time that the 'Riesenrad' was featured in major films: The Third Man or Before Sunrise to name just a few.
In 1944, at the height of World War II, the Giant Ferris Wheel burnt down, but was rebuilt in 1945 - at the same time as St. Stephen's cathedral. The Viennese Riesenrad is the only giant ferris wheel of its time which is still in use today.



Sorry for the bad exposure, but I'll just blame the nice older couple (Austrian or German) who took the photo.




Here we are at the top of the ferris wheel looking at the next car.




A great view from the Reisenrad!

Back from Vienna...

Well, we are back from our whirlwind trip to Vienna. It was 48 hours from leaving Prague to getting back. It's about a 4 hour drive each way. The point of the trip was to get a quick thumbnail view of the city to lay the groundwork for a longer trip later, and in that we were very successful.

The hotel was nice but not great. It was a "family" room that could accomodate three people, but in typical European fashion it was very small. Basically, there was room for a double bed and a single bed and not much else. Also on the negative side, the neighborhood didn't have much to recommend it. Not that it was a bad neighborhood, just kind of "blah". No cute shops or restaurants - just pretty much residential on the outskirts of the city. On the plus side, parking was free, breakfast was free, and it was right across the street from one of the many metro lines, so getting around the city was very easy.

We arrived at the hotel by around 9:00 PM on Friday evening after leaving Prague at 4:00. Traffic leaving Prague was horrendous, and not having a freeway around the city didn't help. We had downpours for the first two hours of the drive which didn't help our travel time. However, we got through the border to Austria quickly and without any problems. Surprisingly, both the Czech and Austrian border guards just glanced at our passports and gave them back to us - no stamps. We hoped for stamps.

We got up Saturday morning and had breakfast then went to the station and bought 24 hour passes that let us travel by train, subway, tram and bus. We hopped on the subway and went into the city.

There will be pictures from Vienna all week, but our first stop was Stephansdom, a church in the center of the city. The "Steffl" as the cathedral is called, was damaged by WWII bombers but was rebuilt and is a fine example of Gothic architecture. The foundations date to 1147.



The cathedral has an interesting mosaic tiled roof.


A mass was about to start so we had to stay in the back. It's truly a beautiful cathedral.


Kathy and Noah lit some candles at a side alter.

And then we are off to Vienna...

We are taking a quick trip to Vienna - leaving late this afternoon and coming back on Sunday afternoon. Vienna is only about 3 1/2 hours away by car and is generally regarded as one of the most beautiful cities in Europe. This is meant as just a little exploratory trip to get the lay of the city for future longer trips. I'm not bringing the laptop so no posting until maybe Sunday evening when I may be able to put up some pictures.