Vienna

Random paintings and photos of Vienna caught my attention at UW. However, I had never heard much about the place tourist wise. So, I finally made the journey and I am happy I went. This was the centre of the Hasburg Austria-Hungary Empire until 1918. It has a number of large palaces, beautiful churches, museums, art galleries, and coffee shops. While it may not be Paris or London it should be listed up there as one of the most beautiful capitals in the world.

That evening a group of us followed a Brazilian to this bar on the river. It was one weird place with half the people being Turkish, paid dancers showing us how its done, and no toilets in the club. It looked like you were at a beach resort and not Austria.

The first day I walked around with some Canadians where we walked passed closed shop and after closed shop (being Sunday). We ended up stopping at one of Vienna's numerous coffeehouses (no, no weed at these ones). I had a half Espresso melange (half steamed milk/half coffee) and this amazing desert: chocolate dipped waffle cone with strawberries and strawberry moose inside. YUM!

Next was the Museum of Military History. It spanned from about the 1600-1945 with lots of exhibits and displays. It also gave me a sense of Austria before the Austria-Hungary Empire was dissolved. I spent like a half a day here!

That night I went on a another pub crawl which was better than the one in Munich. However, I embarrassed myself at the next bar when I asked a pretty looking girl if she spoke English. She looked at me and said this was an international students bar and of course everyone spoke English (she was from Spain)...the conversation did not last long after that. Well, how the hell was I supposed to know...we are in Austria right?!

I ended up fitting in a museum and a art gallery on my last day. The Kaiser-Apartments and "Sissi" museum at the Imperial Palace was interesting. It really gave a good idea of the life of the Emperor and his family...quite tragic for the most part. His wife "Sissi" was considered one of the most beautiful women in Europe at the time, however she could not handle court life. Check out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elisabeth_of_Bavaria

Later was the Oberes Belvedere Palace which is known for its set of Klimt paintings such as the Kiss. While I was impressed with them, I found the other paints in the palace just as interesting.

Before I left, I went to check out KunstHausWien which is a crazy museum similar in design to Gaudi's stuff in Barcelona. Did not do the tour but was amused by the uneven floors and wacky tiles on the outside. Even though it was wacked, the museum had a similar building envelope to the neighbouring buildings and fit in. It even had a green roof with trees!

Oh yes, and there were the lovely bike paths built along many of the major roads. I think I could have stayed in the city for a few more days...however there is still lots more of europe to see.

A good quote: "If it is not Baroque, don't fix it"