Vienna...opera, art & opulence

March 8^th and 9^th 

One of the most exhausting aspects of extended travel is that you're constantly researching and booking hotels. Sometimes, I'd have hotels planned in advance, but I wanted to have some flexibility on road trips.  Often, I'd head to my destination and use an app to find a hotel as I came into town.  This can backfire, which is exactly what happened as I drove into Vienna.  I decided to detour to Bratislava, Slovakia and stayed one night at the Danubia Gate. It was clean, comfortable, inexpensive (50€) and had a decent breakfast.  I got in late and left early and was able to book a  hotel for the next 2 nights in Vienna. The next morning, I was so eager to get to Vienna, I didn't even explore Bratislava's historic old town area. 

I got into Vienna early and checked into my hotel - the Austria Trend Parkhotel Schonbrunn Wein. This gorgeous 4-star hotel was the former guesthouse of Emperor Franz Joseph and has it's own private park.  

I managed to get 2 nights here for about what you'd expect to pay for a Holiday Inn, so I was thrilled to find I had a large, gorgeous room, yummy breakfast and a comfortable bed.  I was even more thrilled they let me check in early.

A quick stop by the concierge desk and I had a ticket for an opera performance later that night at the Volksopera house.  I decided to explore the city for a few hours and took the 10-minute subway ride into the center of the city. 

Vienna is beautiful.  It's elegant, manicured and exceptionally clean. The historic area I was exploring is dominated by the stunning, lavish, enormous Hofburg Palace. 

The Palace is the current home of the President of Austria and historically home to the Habsberg dynasty, Emperor Franz Joseph and Empress Elisabeth. The Hofburg area has been the documented seat of government in Vienna since 1279.

The palace is actually a sprawling campus - a series of buildings set on abundant and lavish grounds.  I planned to spend the following day exploring the palace, (now largely museum space), so I spent the afternoon walking the grounds of the palace, the Heldenplatz.  I loved seeing the outdoor sculptures and statues of people like Goethe and Mozart.

I strolled around the area and stumbled onto a Winter Wonderland that was setup in the heart of the city.  It was a beautiful day, so I sat on a park bench and watched parents and kids skate around the ice rink. I even saw a 2 year old in full snow gear and the most adorable little ice skates you've ever seen - flat boots with two little blades on them.  Squeee! Adorable.

The afternoon flew by and I headed back to my hotel to get gussied up for the opera. There are two main opera houses in Vienna, the Vienna State Opera House (Weiner Straatsoper) and the Vienna Peoples Opera (Volksoper Wein), which is where I saw Albert Herring.  

                                          

The performance was excellent.  I enjoyed the comedic opera and despite the opera being in German, I found the synopsis, body language and tone of the performance were enough to have decent comprehension of the overall plot.  There was one standout performer who had me captivated... a woman in her early 40s who was in a supporting role in Albert Herring.  When she hit high notes or projected her voice loudly out into the theater, the hair on the back of my neck stood up.  At intermission, I chatted with the man sitting next to me, who turned out to be friend of the standout performer.  He told me she sings with the Vienna Boys Choir and I understood why she was such a standout - she normally stands in the gorgeous chapel at Hofburg Palace and projects her voice out into the crowd.  It was an amazing performance and a wonderful first live opera experience for me.

For dinner, I had to try weiner schnitzel for the first time. LOVED it!  The thin, crispy veal was delicious and  served with herbed potatoes (a staple in Austria and Germany).  

After dinner, I treated myself to a tiny trio of creme brulee. The first was cinnamon pear, the second blueberry rosemary and I cannot remember the third one.  Even as I stare at the photo, I cannot remember what it was.  It was delicious, though!

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The next day, I was up early and ready to take on the day! I started with the Albertina museum.

The Albertina had a wonderful impressionist exhibit featuring paintings by Monet, Matisse, Sisley, Kandinsky, Chagall and Picasso.  Photos were allowed, so here are some of the notable works of art... and some of my favorites.

This was one of my absolute favorites, by Karel Appel, "Face in a Landscape."  I love the colors and depth.

Henri Matisse, "Parrot Tulips."

Paul Signac, "Venice, the Pink Cloud."

And finally, this stunner by Claude Monet, "House Among the Roses."

My next stop was the Hofburg Palace to tour (1) the Imperial Apartments, (2) the Silver Collection and (3) Elizabeth's Apartments. I took hundreds of photos in these museums, but I'll only post a few here.  I'm not sure I could ever post enough photos to truly capture the wealth, opulence and grandeur.

The Imperial Apartments are grand and gorgeous. I strolled through room after room admiring the lavish decorations.

But what stole the show was the Silver Collection. The Silver Collection is full of all of the silver, porcelain and serving pieces used by the Emperor and Empress for everything from daily meals, traveling and even official state dinners for visiting heads of state.  It took hours just to see it all.

There was a massive cabinet just for the dozens of silver tea pots.

For example, dozens of solid gold cheese and pastry servers...

Dozens and dozens of solid gold or gilded bronze candelabras.

And the personal cutlery sets for the Empress, Maria Theresa... obviously she can't just use the regular cutlery, duh.

When the Emperor and Emperess travelled, they'd take with them full table service of china, cutlery, crystal stemware and the like. These are a few of cases that would be loaded (by the dozen) into the trains and coaches for transport.

And they'd have to have tea on the road, so they also had a personal traveling tea service of silver and porcelain.

My favorite part of the museums was the Sissy museum, dedicated to the life of Empress Elizabeth.  She was a fascinating woman!  Unfortunately, no photos were allowed there, but I learned so much about her.  She married Franz Joseph in her teens, became an Empress, became overwhelmed by the fame and notoriety of the aristocratic life, became a recluse and was assassinated at the age of 60.  I plan to read more about her life, as well as the life of Franz Joseph. 

Vienna is an amazing city with a wonderfully long history to discover.  I could spend another week in this grand dame of a city, but instead, it's time to move on...

Up next....I visit Prague, Czech Republic.