Vienna
Imperial and exquisite
It is one of the oldest capitals in Europe. Musical city of the world, it hosted Beethoven, Strauss and Mozart.
It is also the point where the Turkish dream of conquering Europe came to an end. It was besieged three times by the Ottoman troops and always resisted, including the battle of Kahlenberg in 1683, famous for the croissant. It turns out that confectioners working at night heard noises of tunnels being dug. So they alerted the guards of the kingdom and, after discovering that they were the Ottomans, the militia went ahead of the attack. When that last siege of Vienna ended, to celebrate, those same bakers made a sweet pastry in the shape of a crescent moon, the undisputed symbol of the vanquished. And so, from Vienna, the croissant was born, among so many great everyday dishes, such as its famous sausage.
It is also the birthplace of King Franz Joseph, who reigned for sixty-eight years since 1848, husband of Elisabeth of Bavaria, the famous Empress Sisi. The Habsburg dynasty reigned from 1200 until the end of the First World War.
Klimt, Freud, Ludwig Wittgenstein shone in Vienna. It was here that Hitler's first mass speech took place.
We arrived in this impressive city by train from Prague, after a journey of just over four hours. We had booked at Leonardo, hotel, because of its strategic location right in front of the train station, which although not in the center, has a public transportation network that connects to the main attractions.
Take streetcar D at the station, Hauptbahnhof Ost S, towards Oper Karlsplatz U, and you can pay with contact less on the tram.
On the way down, we admire the exquisite architecture of the State Opera, Wiener Staatsoper, rebuilt after a fierce bombing in 1945. It is undoubtedly one of the world's leading opera houses.
Then we headed to the Albertina Museum. We had tickets to visit the collection of Albert of Saxony-Teschen, Archduke of Austria. We enjoyed the full display of art and then headed to the iconic hot dog stand, Bitzinger, as it was imperative to try the Vienna-style sausage.
Very close to the Opera House is a traditional coffee shop made ultra-famous for its chocolate cake, the Hotel Sacher. There are always long lines to get in and try it, so we opted for the efficient and economical version. We bought a slice to take away at the To Go ordering area.
We started a long walk towards the Belvedere Museum, making a stop at the square that commemorates the Soviet soldiers who liberated the city from Nazi rule. There we tasted the chocolate delicacy. Mr. @tripticity_ liked it, but I found it too sweet.
Once at the Belvedere Palace, taking advantage of the free day of the month, thanks to our great friend Maru we had gotten tickets to enter at 6.30 pm.
We enjoyed the huge paintings of the most prominent local artists, such as Klimt or Egon Schiele, and the magnificent collection of the museum.
On our way out we strolled through the palace park and headed towards Aurora Rooftop Bar, as we wanted to have a cocktail with a list view but it turned out that it was closed for a private event, so we went back to rest. We had a long day ahead of us the next day.
We left after breakfast by streetcar heading north on the Landstrasse, the Third District.
We got off at the Sechskrügelgasse stop, as we wanted to see the Sünnhof Passage. It is an example of the Biedermeier movement, the artistic-philosophical tendency of Vienna in the mid-1800s, elegant and sober. The architecture in this neighborhood follows all that line.
From there, a walk of less than half an hour to Hoher Markt and its Anker Clock.
First we crossed the Stubenbrücke Bridge bordering the State Park.
We made a stop at the facade of Mozart's former apartment, Mozarthaus, which houses a museum in his honor. He lived there from 1784 to 1787, and it is the only one of his 13 residences that he occupied that is still standing today. It is from the period of the composer's greatest economic prosperity.
Just beyond is Vienna's St. Stephen's Cathedral, Stephandom, famous for Pummerin, the bell made from the Turkish cannons of the truncated second invasion in 1683. All was lost in 1945, by the bombing of the great war with subsequent fire. It was Mozart's favorite church: in it he married, baptized two children, was his musical director in his last years and then it was his funeral, in 1791, at the age of 35.
At 12 noon we met in front of the Anker Clock, to see its twelve figures in motion. It was commissioned in 1914 by an insurance company, on Vienna's oldest square.
Then we wandered around the Innere Stadt, the Old Town.
We visited the very Parisian Ferstel Passage, a gallery with cafes and chocolate shops, whose name honors the famous architect of the late 19th century.
We passed Café Central, original from 1860, center of the Viennese intelligentsia, reopened in 1975. As expected, it was very crowded. For those who want to have a coffee or snack there the recommendation is to book a couple of days in advance.
On our way to the University of Vienna, we came across the gay pride march, with thousands of people parading in noise and color.
The whole huge area formed by the university, the Rathausplatz, the Rathaus, the Burgtheater Theater and the Parliament served as a catwalk for the beautiful circuit. We decided to join the party and get caught up in their enthusiasm.
The legendary university offers one hundred and ninety degree programs, attended by some ninety thousand students. It is one of the oldest in the world, founded in 1365.
Rathausplatz is the Town Hall Square, which in winter becomes an ice skating rink.
Rathaus is the neo-Gothic building from 1883. Very popular is the Rathausmann, the standard-bearer at the top of the tower which is a symbol of Vienna.
After the hustle and bustle, we continue on to the Hofburg Palace, a complex of buildings that was the royal seat during the winters of the Habsburg dynasty for six centuries. Today it is the seat of the President of the Republic. On one side, the Maria Theresia Square and the twin buildings: the Natural History Museum and the Museum of Art History. On the other, the Sisi Museum, after Elisabeth of Bavaria, the wife of Franz Joseph who was stabbed to death in an assassination attempt in 1898.
In the evening, a concert of Vivaldi's Four Seasons awaited us at St. Stephen's Cathedral.
The next day we left on a day trip to Bratislava.
Ironies of fate, as we said goodbye to Vienna, when we took the train to Ljubljana from its super modern train station, we concluded about the strong imprint that Muslim migration is generating in the city of art and European delicacy. It shows... and a lot.