| Long Weekend in Vienna |
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Well, why not? Janet's workmate Sylvia and her husband, plus the two of us, Friday to Monday in Vienna. Sounds good to me. I'd been wanting to see the Venus de Willendorf for ages, and as she's at the Naturhistorisches Museum in Vienna, plus Janet is a big Klimt fan, and the Oterreichische Galerie Belvedere, also in Vienna, has some of his best, it was a no brainer. So, 4:30am on Friday we were being picked up by Sylvia and Phil on a wet January morning for the drive to Gatwick. By lunchtime in Vienna we were sitting in the executive lounge at the Hilton Vienna Plaza discussing where to start. Out came the city guide and the city maps from reception, and it was decided to leave the first big must-sees until the following day and to head for St Stephen's. Along the way to the main church in Vienna, we stopped at a smaller one in a side street (where the ladies talked to God on the phone), watched an ancient clock that promised much in the way of animatronics (but didn't deliver, wrong time of day), and saw loads of horse drawn carriages. St Stephen's was spectacular, as expected, but access was minimal. Phil climbed the tower, but the rest of us wandered off to St Peter's instead, then we went to a small church to see a famous triptych. The following morning we headed to the Naturhistorisches, along foggy streets and past the surprising Parliament building. The Naturhistorisches was everything we'd hoped for and more, with Sylvia able to indulge her love of crystals and precious stones to the hilt. A quick bite of lunch and then across the square to the Kunsthistorisches Museum and more art than you could shake an arty thing at. Van Eyck, Durer, Caravaggio, Rubens, Raphael, Rembrandt, Vermeer, Velazquez, Brueghel, and more. Fabulous. Day three dawned and we set our sites on the Hofburg. The treasury, the Sisi museum, the Albertina (full of Michelangelo and Picasso at the time), and it's lovely Augustinian church. All fulfilled their promise. The last day had to be the Belvedere, and a short tram ride got us there shortly after breakfast. There was lots of lovely art in the Upper Belvedere, but it wasn't until we were getting close to the Klimt that it started to match what we had seen the day before. Klimt, of course, but also Manet, Monet, Schiele, Munch, Renoir, Cezanne and more. Then down to the lower Belvedere for the Rodin exhibition, then some modern installations. By the time we had done all this it was mid-afternoon and we were getting quite worn out. A late lunch in a cafe until it was time to head out to the airport and then back to Blighty. Home by about 11pm and slept until lunchtime on Tuesday. It was a lovely trip. Our companions and we had a lot in common. We saw loads of wonderful things, and packed a lot into 4 days. There's still more we want to see in that lovely, clean city. We will be back.
Naturally we tried and loved the local food - Austrian Tapas, Sachertorte, Apple Strudel, Viennese sausages, and Austrian wines and chocolates. |
