Vienna

Date: July 5, 2024

We arrived in Vienna from Bratislava after our check in on the new apartment in Piešťany. We ended up staying at the Andaz, where we had free stays thanks to Hyatt points. This turned out to be a really nice hotel located conveniently by the main train station, and also a short walk from the goal of this trip: the Belvedere Palace. The hotel has an amazing rooftop bar which was full of smartly-dressed participants in the Vienna social-ladder climbing scene (my take).

We stayed at the Vienna Andaz located conveniently by the main train station

Date: July 6, 2024

The next day we went to tour the Belvedere Palace. We have been to Vienna many times but this was our first time to this truly spectacular collection. It actually consists of two Baroque palaces, the Lower and the Upper Belvedere. The construction on the lower one started in 1696 and completed in 1716, while the upper one was completed by 1722. The palaces were built to serve as a summer residence for Prince Eugene of Savoy. Among the highlights of the Upper Belvedere is a collection of Gustav Klimt, including his famous The Kiss. This painting was surrounded by a mob of visitors, and while not as bad as at La Gioconda, I didn't even bother trying to fight the crowd for a close up. Instead there were many other works of Klimt on display, including, in my mind the superior Head of Holofernes. I also very much enjoyed the statue of Vivien by Fernand Khnopff. Messerschmidt's character heads were also really neat.

Marble Room at Upper Belveder — The Marble Room, and Vivien by Fernand Khnopff with Judith and the Head of Holofernes by Gustav Klimt in the background

Vivien and Judith and Holofernes — The Marble Room, and Vivien by Fernand Khnopff with Judith and the Head of Holofernes by Gustav Klimt in the background

Here is Klimt's famous The Kiss. It was as crowded as the Mona Lisa and really cool exhibition of Franz Xaver Messerschmidt's character heads.

Character Heads Franz Xaver Messerschmidt — Here is Klimt's famous The Kiss. It was as crowded as the Mona Lisa and really cool exhibition of Franz Xaver Messerschmidt's character heads.

We then crossed the gardens to the Lower Belvedere. Here you will find more beautifully decorated rooms. From there we headed towards the Vienna Town Center, visiting additional landmarks on the way. Vienna has so much to offer. It is amazing how many times I have been here and yet I always find new places to explore.

Gardens separating the upper and the lower palace

Hall fo Grotesques — The Hall of Grotesques and the Marble Gallery inside the Lower Belvedere

The Hall of Grotesques and the Marble Gallery inside the Lower Belvedere

We then passed by the Hochstrahlbrunnen fountain with a monument to Soviet soldiers on a way to the St. Charles's Church (Karlskirche)

Typical Vienna baroque architecture by the Karlskirche

For break, we popped into Gerstner Hofzuckerbacker for a Sacher torte and apple strudel. We stumbled upon this place by a chance, just by looking for a place that has the torte, but what a gem! It was like having a cake at a Baroque museum.

Next it was time for a Sacher torte and an apple strudel at Gerstner Hofzuckerbäcker

The final museum was the Hofburg. This site actually houses several different museums, and we opted for the Weltmuseum, which has a massive collection of different ethnographic items. There are rooms dedicated to musical instruments, or horse regalia, or even North American headware. Very interesting.

Then we were off to the next stop, the Hofburg

We visited the Weltmuseum which houses a large ethnographic collection

The first picture exhibits two types of North American hats, and then a Hawain feather bust

Another art exhibit made of test tubes, and finally some food in the form of street hotdogs

Then as the final thing, we experienced another first for us: going to see an opera. But it was not an opera in some musty theater. Instead the opera, Mozart Don Giovani, was acted out in front of the Belvedere with the castle acting as a backdrop for visual projections. What a truly amazing experience. I definitely recommend this to all of you. A personal highlight here was noticing that a food truck open during the intermission was serving langoše, a fried-dough specialty popular in Slovakia. Then the next morning, it was time to head to the airport to close this adventure which started, for me, some 3 weeks ago in Avignon.

Actors getting ready for Mozart's Don Giovanni

Watching an opera with Castle Belvedere for the backdrop was a truly magical experience

Snack during the intermission: they had langoš (fried dough topped with cheese and garlic popular in Slovakia and many other places)!

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