From Spaetzle To Spaten

We tried to slow down today… Just a hair… Really…

Started the day off at the Naschmarkt, aÂ popular market in Vienna. The selection was interesting, however although there were many stalls with Viennese/Austrian items, the middle and far east goods were more predominant than we expected and all seemed to be selling the same goods. Kim likes to visit local markets wherever we go and although she found the fresh fruits and vegetables were interesting, her expectations overall were higher. Still it was a worth the visit she said.

Next we were off to the Belvedere, once summer palaces for royalty, now museums. The two palaces now contain a great collection 19th & 2oth century Viennese/Austrian art including pieces from Klint, Reiter & Schiele to name a few. There was a also the Character Heads collection by Franz Xaver Messerschmidt that although created in the 18th century they looked very modern in style and execution. Sorry, no pictures allowed of the paintings, although I was tempted to “shoot and run”. Combined with the connecting gardens this was a great place to spend the afternoon.

Between the Naschmarkt and the Belvedere we bumped into a group of men loading Google Cars with cameras onto an auto carrier. I snapped a couple of photos and was told not to take any pictures. I responded “You don’t ask permission to take my picture, why should it be any different for you?”. Â They were nonplussed for a few seconds then responded “Good one”.

We decided on room service for this evening, I wore the ladies out. One thing we found while here is the food is great, at even the more basic places and the Grand Hotel is no exception. I had Kalbsgulasch mit Nockerlin (Veal goulash with small egg dumplings), excellent.

There are a few more photos under the “Additional Vienna Pictures” tab.

Sydney and Kim at Naschmarkt, Vienna

Naschmarkt, Vienna

Choices to make...

Honey, boil some water!

No photos please. The ones we take of you are fine of course....

Sydney and Upper Belvedere

Fountains in the Belvedere Gardens and Lower Belvedere

Posted in Vienna | Tagged Austria, Google Grrrrrr, Vienna | Comments Off

Hofburg and Prater

Today was museums followed by a bit of fun. The Hofburg Complex was the seat of Austrian power for hundreds of years, now it has Museums, Â the National Library… you get the idea. The first was visited was the Silberkammer which contains the court tableware, silverware etc. A very interesting and large collection. These people were far ahead of the Jones if you know what I mean. There was a collection of chamber-pots and when we explained to Sydney what they were for she said “Those poor servants…”. The explanation of a duck press brought a “Gross”.

Next was the State Apartments which were the residential and state apartments of Emperor Franz Joseph I. and Empress Elisabeth (or Sisi) and show 19th-century imperial life. No pictures allowed, sorry… The apartments were typical of royalty of this time period but also had a sense of modesty to them. Or at least what modesty an Emperor and Empress could have. Empress Elisabeth was quite the feisty one rebelling more and more against court life as she got older. The odd thing was Swarovski Crystals was the sponsor of the first part of the exhibit which focused on Empress Elisabeth’s life and looked a lot like a Swarovski store. It was an odd juxtaposition since the Empress seemed to like modesty and Swarovski is, well, Swarovski. I wonder what the Empress and Emperor would say if they saw their personal items displayed in such a manner.

Next museum, the Treasuries which has items royalty ‘need’. Beautiful. Them Jones can live….

The last museum was the Albertina a recently restored museum that houses one of the largest collections of prints, Â drawings,Â modern graphic works, photographs and architectural drawings in the world. Supposedly. Both Kim and I walked out disappointed. The colletion of old masters was good but nothing that could not be seen elsewhere. There was an Alex Katz exhibition and although his works looked like they would be fine as individual pieces as a collection they walked on each other thus rendering them flat. What really surprised us was when found a print that Kim really wanted to see,Â Young Hare by Albrecht DÃ¼rer, and in fine print was written ‘facsimile’ or copy. In fact all the prints had this tag and when we asked where were the originals are we were told they were not sure, there are many museums in Vienna. So we left and if you come to Vienna skip this one.

In the evening we went to Prater. Originally an Imperial hunting grounds, it is now a public park with a fun fair which was our destination. Lots of fun with Sydney including the longest bumper car ride I have ever taken….