A howitzer, the actual Danube River, and Slovakian black beer

On Monday, a rainy day, we decided to do laundry before we left Vienna and then visit just one museum. Thanks to my friend, Google, I found a self-service laundry accessible by tram. Not terrible on the price either, 2 loads washed and dried for 9 euro (it cost closer to 20 euro last year in the Swiss laundromat). Not worth a picture, though. After we returned our clean clothes to the hotel, we headed off for the National Armory Museum, again on the tram. 

entrance to the Vienna National Armory (Military Museum)

This museum had many displays of 18th, 19th and eary 20th century European uniforms and weaponry. 

The museum also contained the actual car in which Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife were riding when they were assasinated, the event that triggered World War I. Following that historic exhibit were many display cases of WWI military gear, presented in chronological order as the exhibits told the story of "the war to end all wars."

Actual death car from 1914

The museum contained more than just handguns and rifles. It had an actual 1916 model howitzer.

1916 howitzer, seen from upper floor (too big for one floor of the museum)

This weapon weighs 81,700 kg (almost 90 tons) and took 12 people to operate. It had to be disaaembled in 4 pieces to move. It took a 740 kg shell. 

Many WWI exhibits, but the museum was skimpy on the WWII material, probably because Austria agreed to the takeover by Hitler. There were numerous exhibits of the Nazi propaganda posters. 

Early Tuesday, Phillip and I boarded the Twin City Liner as our transportation to Bratislava, Slovakia, where we currently are staying. A river cruise on the Danube! Since Bratislava is only about 80 km (less than 50 miles) from Vienna, our river cruise lasted about 75 minutes. It was however, a fun 75 minutes. I learned that we had previously walked along the Danube Canal, a regulated waterway that had been an arm of the Danube River. The walls of the canal are the only legal graffiti zone in Vienna, hence the proliferation of street art we had seen. About 10 minutes after we left the pier, the canal joined the actual Danube River.

Once out of the city, the Danube was surrounded by green space as we traveled into Slovakia.

view of the Danube from the back of the boat

We passed Devin Castle ruins, about 10 km from our destination. We enjoyed the cruise partly because I had booked us seats in the upper deck Captain's Lounge (basically, first-class for the boat, but just $10 more per person than the lower deck, with its crowded seats).

Devin Castle

In Bratislava, we easily found our hotel, as the town is not very large. Since it was only about 10:30 am when we arrived, we left our luggage and walked around. By the end of the day, we had seen all the sights of Bratislava except its castle. Really, it isn't a very large place. The highlights:

Many ice cream parlors, usually 1.50 euros per scoop

Bratislava has many statues, small humorous ones. 

Cumil, aka "The Peeper"

Another thing this town has a lot of are churches. One of the most notable is the Blue Church. Although it was closed when we went by, we could see in and even the pews were blue.

The streets are similar to others in Europe's older cities, made of cobblestones. The older, historic area is mostly pedestrian only. Delivery vans are allowed, but they arrive early in the morning because by 10 am the streets are full of day-trippers from Vienna.

typical Bratislava street in historic area

We had lunch at the KGB Pub and dinner at the Slovak Pub. I had the darkest beer I have ever drank. It has a Slovak name, but it is ordered by telling the waitstaff yu want a "black beer." It was delicious, flavorful but not bitter. Not thick, just really good. It rivals my favorite beer, Czech beer. None of that watery American pseudo-beer (I'm talking about you, Coors, Miller, etc) for me.

black beer

My final picture is of our room. Our hotel, Aplend City Center, has only 16 rooms on four floors. Five rooms on three floors and one room on the top floor. I booked directly with the hotel (a Rick Steeves tip about small hotels) and got a standard double room, but they put us on the top floor in the penthouse! The room is huge, with a curved bank of windows (no view except other roofs, though) and a tub/shower instead of just a shower. Pretty neat!  

our Bratislava hotel room

We spent today (Wednesday) visiting the local castle and casino, but I haven't pulled the pictures off my camera yet, so I'll make those adventures as a separate post.

Schonbrunn: A palace that Phillip enjoyed!

Today's visit to Schonbrunn Palace met and exceeded Phillip's expectations! He knew that this was the Austrian palace that I wanted to tour, so he didn't grumble about it. Schonbrunn Palace is a UNESCO World Heritage site, and I've loved all of those designated sites we've visited. Once we began the palace tour, he was in awe of the palace rooms, the opulence and detail of what we saw.

Schonbrunn Castle, from the side of the front courtyard entrance

I would love to provide pictures of the palace rooms, but photography was prohibited and each room had attendants to enforce the rule. I checked on-line to get pictures, but there are very few of them! Apparently the rule is strictly obeyed. I'll have plenty of exterior photos, so I'll need to use words to describe what we saw inside. Our tour ticket gave us access to 40 of the palace's 1441 rooms. The tapestries and upholstery were intricate patterns, at times muted colors, at times brighter, based on the use of the room and the taste of the Empress who designed the room. The wall paintings were wonderfully detailed. An amusing story about one of the paintings: We saw the room in which Mozart gave his first royal performance at age 6. In another room, we saw a painting of a royal wedding which occurred a year before Mozart's performance. The painting included Mozart in the wedding audience because when the painting was made, Mozart had performed and was famous.  We saw the royal dining hall, huge with three frescos on the ceiling. State dinners here. We also saw the emperors' family quarters, smaller but with amazing wall coverings and intricately decorated furnishings. An audioguide was included with our ticket, so we had a running narrative as we moved thru the rooms. (The audioguide is a handheld device we put to our ear. We'd punch in the room number, visible as we walked thru, and that portion of the narrative would play, in English, for us.)

Enough of words, let's get to the outside where I could take pictures.

We used our Wein Card (the public transport card with discounts at museums - unlike the Salz Card that gave us free entry to museums) and paid 22.50 euros so that we could see all the sights at Schonbrunn. In addition to the room tour, our ticket gave us access to our next stop, the Privy Garden. No, not that meaning for "privy." Not outhouse, but rather the "sharing in the knowledge of something private" meaning. This garden is immediately to the east of the palace. We walked thru a vine-covered walkway to the viewing pavillon and captured the gardens and the side of the palace in this picture.

After the Privy Garden, we walked toward the back of the palace complex. The Schonbrunn Gardens (what the grounds are called, a 450-acre grid of tree-lined walkways, fountains at path intersections, and statues) were opened to the public in 1779.

Popular at the time, Hapsburg Emperor Franz Joseph had fake Roman Ruins built into the design of the garden. The Schoner Brunnen (FYI, all the "schon" that I type should have an umlaut [the double dots] above the o, but I have an English keyboard, so please excuse this consistent error) was built in 1778.

Turning right from the Schoner Brunnen, we came to the Neptunbrunnen (Neptune Fountain). Built in 1780, it has figures from Greek mythology.

Neptune Fountain

Before we headed up the hill to the Gloriette, Phillip and I stopped at the labyrinth and maze. (Cue David Bowie music in the background, right, Leslie and Robin?) These that we went thru were a more recent 20th century addition, although the Hapsburgs did have a maze here.

Phillip in the maze. I couldn't let him get too far ahead through!

Our goal in the first maze was to get to the viewing platform, and it was challenging! Phillip and I couldn't see over the hedge, and it took us about twenty minutes. We enjoyed laughing as we'd meet the same people who'd also taken wrong turns. At the viewing platform, you can see the route to be taken.

less than 1/4 of this maze from the viewing platform

From the platform, we also saw the second of the three mazes. It did not have wrong turns, just corridors that took us to various activities, like fountains at our feet. The third maze was shorter and less confusing.

The second maze is past the people in the picture

After the mazes, we had fun in the children's area where funhouse mirrors had been set up.

picture in the mirror

After the labyrinth, we returned to the Neptune Fountain and followed a path that led behind the fountain. We had an excellent view of the palace and the flowerbeds spread across several acres between the fountain and the palace.

Our next task was to visit the Gloriette, a marble summerhouse, built in 1775 (hit by bombs during WWII, but rebuilt). It was an uphill trek.

Our destination: the Gloriette in the distance, up the hill

A pond with lilies awaited us at the top of the hill, in front of the Gloriette.

Because the Gloriette was rebuilt true to its 18th century version, it had no elevator. A spiral staircase led us to the viewing platform with a wonderful view of the palace and gardens.

Schonbrunn Palace as seen from the top of the Gloriette

Instead of returning to the Neptune Fountain, we decided to walk down a different route. We noticed that they groom the trees into arches.

We also found a small garden where the shrubs are shaped.

We arrived back at the main palace just as the clouds formed for rain.

I found the return tram spot and we boarded the tram back to our hotel just as it started to sprinkle. All the way back on the trams (the route Seiji gave us worked great), Phillip talked about the palace and how this had been the best palace he'd seen. So, I'm glad I saved the "palace credit" for Schonbrunn!

Vienna, Austria: no gondolas or kangaroos

Phillip and I left Salzburg Friday morning and are in Vienna, Austria. (Vienna, not Venice, no canals. Austria, not Australia, no kangaroos.)  On Friday afternoon, we walked along the Danube River and found our pier for the boat we will take Tuesday to Slovakia. For those who thought of pastoral scenes of beauty when I said the Danube, it may very well have such scenes, but they are outside of downtown Vienna! The section we walked had a concrete path next to a concrete wall. Some trees were planted along the path, but not enough to call it shaded.

Danube thru downtown Vienna

Yesterday (Saturday), we met with Seiji, our Global Greeter guide. He is from Japan but lives in Vienna now. He spoke English well and took us around the high points of the Ringstrasse, the ring road around the Old Town portion of Vienna. (Built when Emperor Franz Josef ordered that the military fortifications be torn down and a road circling the city be built in their place in 1857.) Seiji pointed out the oldest restaurant, describing the four flags which are markers by the Austrian government that the location has historic significance. We also saw a church built in 740 AD and the Hoher Market, the oldest square in Vienna that started as a Roman outpost.

four flags signify historic importance

Seiji took us to a location on my list, the Volksgarten. We also went by the Hofburg Palace, but I wanted to save my "Phillip palace credit" for Sunday's Schonbrunn Palace. (I figured Phillip is good for just one palace tour!)

Volksgarten, a rose garden

The Lippanzer stallions train and perform here, but I didn't pre-order a ticket. We went by the ticket office and it was very crowded, too crowded to expect to get a ticket anytime in the next two days. Seiji know where we could get a glimpse of the horses in their stable, so I was able to see them.

Dancing Lippanzers in their stalls

We also walked by the Vienna Opera House, the only large one in Europe that provides reasonably priced (6 euro) standing room only tickets so that performances are accessible to regular citizens, not just the wealthy.

fountain at the Vienna Opera House

Another of Vienna's showpieces is St. Stephen's Cathedral. I hadn't read that the interior had anything that would appeal to Phillip, so we were both satisfied with viewing it from the outside. We could see the unusual tiled roof, quite different from other cathedrals we've seen.

St. Stephen's tiled roof

After walking us around to these sights and giving me a tip about getting to our Sunday destination (my route wouldn't work because of subway construction), we bid auf wiedersehen to Seiji.

Seiji, our Global Greeter, with Pat

Phillip and I then walked to the Nachtmarkt. Anything with "market" in its title is a draw for me. This, however, was more like cafe row. We walked thru it and Phillip bought a Leberkase on a roll. I thought it looked like Spam. Phillip said it was more like a piece of thick bologna. Since Phillip likes both Spam and bologna, he enjoyed his Leberkase.

Phillip buying his Leberkase

After the Nachtmarkt, we were tired of walking, so I checked the tram map and found a tram stop just around the corner. We rode the tram all the way to Prater, the stopping point of this tram line and the park closest to our hotel. Phillip and I did walk a bit more, thru the park. The north end of Prater has an amusement park, free to enter, with most individual rides priced at 5 euro. We saw an ad that people could buy a package of 20 ride tickets for 45 euro, quite a savings. And then we came to the ride that people can see for quite a distance, the ferris wheel. It cost 11 euro to ride, but each ride is 20 minutes!

Riesenrad, the ferris wheel

We might have considered it, but each ride is only 1 revolution - it is a very slow ferris wheel! And I zoomed in on the ride cars... notice any windows?

It was 88 degrees at the time I took the picture. A metal car with no windows in full sun. I told Phillip that it wasn't a ferris wheel, it was a human rotisserie!
We walked back to our hotel, and since we were just about walked out for the day, I found the closest well-reviewed restaurant, Tethy's Cafe, which was right across the street. I'm so glad I found it, as the Wagner's Kalbsragout (veal stew, more like goulash as paprika was the predominant, but not overwhelming, spice) was delicious! The best restaurant dinner I've had since we started our trip. The stew was meat in thick sauce (no veggies) and it was served with spaetzle and a dollop of sour cream (full-fat, not the light stuff that I buy at home).

Sunday: UNESCO World Heritage site, the Hapsburg's Schonbrunn Palace

Final Salzburg day

A quarry turned theatre and arm-twisting of the Austrian government were two stories we learned to day as we looked for, and found, more Sound of Music locations. When we arrived in town this morning from our hotel, Phillip wanted to find the stage used to film the Sound of Music scene where the Von Trapp family makes their final singing performance and then slips away from the Nazis. A Google search told me that we were looking for Felsenreitschule. I was a bit confused because "felsenreitschule" translates to "rock riding school," and I thought we'd be looking for an old theatre location. I used Google maps, which took us to the side of the mountain, at the back of a building that was a mix of really old and new architecture.

Phillip looking for Felsenreitshule, but a locked gate was ahead

We went down a few dead end hallways and up this dead end stairwell until we came across a lady who said tickets for a tour of the Felsenreitscule were available around the corner.  Still not knowing anything about it, we found that the next Felsenreitschule tour was at 2 pm, so we proceeded on to our next stop, the Sound of Music Museum. 

I'm glad this museum was free with our Salzburg card, because it was only four rooms, mostly with movie stills and historical pictures of the real Von Trapp family. Several videos played of Maria Von Trapp (one of the daughters, not the Julie Andrews character) comparing the movie to her real life. One of the movie pictures, of the Nazis in Salzburg, had an interesting story.

Sound of Music picture

Apparently, the Austrian government did not want a Nazi flag placed on the Residenzplatz (a major building in a nearby square) for the movie filming in 1964. The movie people said they'd use archived news footage if they couldn't film the scene they wanted. Since the news footage showed the Austrians cheering the entry of the Nazis, the Austrian government decided to allow the flag. (In the 1930s, Austria, where German is the official language, just rolled over with a sizable number of Austrians welcoming Hitler.)

same building, today

After the museum, we noticed on our Salzburg map that the St. Peter's cemetary was near the catacombs that I wanted to visit. So, we walked to the catacombs and toured them. These catacombs date back to 1178, burial sites carved out of the side of the hill, accessible up cave-like stairs. From a window of the catacombs, we could see the cemetary. 

We walked thru the cemetary and, although we did not identify the exact "cage" that the movie characters hid in, we saw the burial vaults that lined the edge of the traditional in-ground graves.

Burial vaults, which look like cages, line the edges of the cemetary

Next, we went to Mozart's birthplace. This was pretty boring for Phillip, but interesting for me as Mozart is my favorite classic composer. It was a hot, crowded museum. Then lunch, (Cafe Mozart: mushroom rissoto and a salad for me, french fries for Phillip - he wasn't hungry) and on to our 2 pm Felsenreitschule tour. 

In 1693, the Salzburg rulers turned a rock quarry into a performance venue by hewing 96 spots into the wall where people could sit and watch equestrian events. It was not covered and they trained for the events there also, hence the name "Rock Riding School." Over the years, the seating was moved out of the wall and placed so the audience looked toward the wall. In 1926, the real Max Reinhardt (not just a character in the movie) did use this venue as a performance hall. 

Low on the back left is the stage exit. Also, three of the ancient seating alcoves can be seen on the left.

The 96 alcoves in the wall are still there, covered up unless needed for a performance. And of course, it has a roof and modern seating. Two other performance halls have been built to create a major location that hosts Mozart concerts and other musical and theatre performances. The tour guide showed us all three halls.

When we left the Felsenreitschule tour, it was raining, so we went to the Museum of Nature and Science. It had interactive exhibits in one area for kids of all ages. We stayed there till it closed.

Phillip using an air current to keep the ball suspended

Before heading for the hotel, we each bought a sausage with mustard in a roll (my favorite quick meal in Europe). And then Phillip had to stop for a chocolate pretzel!

Savory and sweet, pretzels of all kinds, 3.50 euros each

We've enjoyed Salzburg and saw just about everything on my list. We leave for Vienna with its palaces and a garden maze. On to our next adventure!