DAYS IN VIENNA

I'm so glad you enjoyed seeing some of the trip as I have had sharing it. If you ever get the chance go!!!! It is quite beautiful and it can not be put in words if you ask me. This will be the last post for the trip, otherwise we will be here another week!!!

The entrance to our hotel. The best morning coffee I have ever had in the morning. Since we were on the Orient Express for some many days, by time we got a Vienna, we were ready to tour and mingle. I knew we wanted to see certain things, but most days just got up and wandered and see where the day took us. Here some things of interests we saw on other days, you know, in between patronizing some lovely little bars and lounges. 

Since I enjoy classical music I wanted to see the Strauss Monument, which was designed by Edmund Hellmer'. The golden Strauss Monument is the most popular photographic subject in Vienna. The gilded bronze monument of Johann Strauss II was unveiled to the public on 26 June 1921 and is framed by a marble relief made by Edmund Hellmer. On this occasion the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra played the Blue Danube Waltz, composed by Strauss.

The Imperial Crypt, is a burial chamber beneath the Capuchin Church and monastery in Vienna, Austria.

It was founded in 1618 and dedicated in 1632, and located on the Neuer Markt square of the Innere Stadt, near the Hofburg Palace. Since 1633, the Imperial Crypt serves as the principal place of entombment for the members of the House of Habsburg. The bones of 145 Habsburg royalty, plus urns containing the hearts or cremated remains of four others, are here, including 12 emperors and 18 empresses. While the crypt did have an eerie feel, there is no denying the workmanship of the actual crypts.The free-standing tombs are usually variations of either a flat-topped storage chest, or a tub with sloping sides and a convex lid of tapered decks. Ornamentation ranges from simple to elaborate. Until far in the 18th century, the most common material for a sarcophagus here was a bronze-like alloy of tin, coated with shellac. The splendid tombs of the baroque and rococo eras are made of true bronze, a nobler and therefore more expensive material. On the tour they said the sarcophagus of Empress Maria Thresa and her husband alone weighed 4,800lbs.

The nerds in us wanted to see the elegant library. This wasn't your run of the mill library either.

The Austrian National Library is the largest library in Austria, with more than 12 million items in its various collections. The library is located in the Neue Burg Wing of the Hofburg in center of Vienna. Since 2005, some of the collections have been relocated within the baroque structure of the Palais Mollard-Clary. Founded by the Habsburgs, the library was originally called the Imperial Court Library; the change to the current name occurred in 1920. The library complex includes four museums, as well as multiple special collections and archives. The State Hall – built in the 18th century as part of the former Court Library – is a breathtaking 262 feet long and  70 feet high. An intricately decorated dome and numerous frescos provide an imperial flair.

While in Vienna, if your like me and love chocolate, one must simply have to visit a chocolatier! It was fine. They greased chubs on the way home from eating so many earthly delights.

The Belvedere Museum in Vienna is one of the most important art museums in Austria and is all housed in a stunning baroque palace from which it takes it's name.

The Baroque complex The Belvedere palace is actually an ensemble of various buildings and gardens in central Vienna, originally commissioned between the end of the 17th and the beginning of the 18th century by the Prince Eugene of Savoy as a Summer residence. The complex is composed of two main buildings located at the opposite ends of a large French-style garden: the Upper Belvedere, and the Lower Belvedere, both designed by Johann Lucas von Hildebrandt; the Lower Belvedere also includes the Orangery, a smaller building recently converted into a temporary exhibition space. Unanimously considered one of Vienna’s architectural jewels, It is quite evident that the building complex was designed with the Palace of Versailles in mind.The Belvedere showcases a permanent collection primarily dedicated to Austrian art from the Middle Ages to the present; yet, also artworks from other European countries complete the collection. The collection is presented in the Upper Belvedere and includes an impressive array of sculptures and paintings by Austrian masters such as Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller , Heinrich Füger, Gustav Klimt, including the famous “The Kiss”

 Egon Schiele and Oskar Kokoschka. International artist represented include Jean Louis David, Edvard Munch, Pierre Auguste Renoir, Edouard Manet, Claude Monet, Vincent Van Gogh, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, and Max Beckmann, among others.

I have no idea if I'll ever again make it back to Vienna, but it was certainly a stunning and picturesque city, and yet again proved to me that our European friends know how to live better and slow down and take the time to enjoy life, by far better, then we. Their not all about work home work home work home. Warbucks tried yet again to try and get me to vacate the US,but as long as I have family still here, I wouldn't make the move. Yet. While I did enjoy the city, the Orient Express was by far the highlight that showcased this trip and a once in a lifetime treat. And I can across off yet another thing I wanted to try, having hot sex on a train. I kept it very understated, of course, I mean it was the Orient Express after all.