Vienna

I'll spare you long-winded recountings of the sites we visited, and instead allow you to click on the linked webpages if you'd like to read more.  

The morning after Christmas, J and I loaded up the van and drove to Vienna, Austria.  The trip was a little over six hours, and the route we took was scenic as the Alps were visible.  Upon arriving in Vienna that evening, we toured our section of Wien (Prater) and ate Chinese food. The prater boasts an amusement park that was apparently featured in a Welles' film, The Third Man, and was heavily advertised as a 'must-see' site throughout the city.  

After a restful night where J and I got caught up on our favorite BBC programs (we really must get cable soon), we set out the next morning for Schönbrunn, the summer residence of the Hapsburgs.   When we arrived, vendors were breaking their Christkindlmarkt stands apart, but a tree remained in the platz. I thought that Marie Antoinette would feature heavily throughout the castle, but I suppose Austria is content for France to claim her as its adopted daughter. Instead, Franz Josef and Maria Theresia were ubiquitous.  

J and kids at entrance to the castle

Photographs were not permitted inside, but we toured the grand and imperial suites where we saw the room Mozart played for the Empress as a precocious six year old; Napoleon's son, the King of Rome's, lock of flaxen hair and his effigy, Maria Theresia's marital bed, and the Grand Hall with its lacquered cabinet rooms and lavish frescoed ceilings.  

Log on the grounds

Though the trees were bare, statues carefully wrapped to protect them from the cold, and the gardens without bloom, the grounds were lovely.  Winsome views were afforded from every prospect.

Fountain facing one of the castle's facades with the Gloriette in the background

A snaking walking path led to the Gloriette

After visiting the world's oldest zoo, the one time menagerie, we took the train back to the heart of the city where we visited Stephansdom.  The cathedral was begun in 1147 and houses catacombs including many bone rooms filled with the remains of Black Plague victims.  

Littlest with a performer in the cathedral's platz

We climbed the tightly spiraling stairs to a level just above the once bell tower.

The roof of the cathedral was tiled in richly intricate patterns, depicting the coat of arms of the city of Vienna and the Republic of Austria. 

J. Log and Littlest peeking out from a window during our climb up one of the towers

I had a fervid reaction to this particular cathedral, the strongest of any I've visited at home and abroad.  Artwork abounded with detailed carved panels, frescoes, and sculptures adorning nearly every space.

The altar with Christmas decorations in place

After walking through Stephansdom, we walked across the street to Aida where we ate Sachertorte and breathed in the aroma of intoxicating Viennese coffee.  You may be able to make out a box of chocolates featuring the work of Klimt; his iconic painting 'The Kiss' hangs in the Belvedere in Vienna.

Christmas lights were strung on the streets surrounding the cathedral.  My favorite lights were the ones that came together and formed a chandelier.  Other lights resembled cascading water droplets, blue and red balls and stars.

That evening, we walked along the ring where we saw the Spanish Riding School and the Hofburg, the Hapsburg's Imperial Residence.

Hofburg with carriages parked along the street

Vienna's Rathaus

Stadtpark with a statue of Vienna's literal Golden Boy, Strauss

My mother can tell you that few trips with me pass without a visit to a cemetery.  We visited Vienna's Zentralfriedhof where we saw the graves of...

Brahms

Strauss

Schubert

Beethoven

and a monument to Mozart, who was buried in an unmarked grave.

I was particularly drawn to this memorial:  a woman perched under an obliging tree thumbing through a book.

We enjoyed our time in Vienna, the cleanest city I've visited in Europe (an especially poignant feat as the city also boasts myriad canals and the Danube). We hope to return again!