June 8-9
We left Prague and took a train to Vienna. Once again we struggled to get seats on the train. Once again Michael spent a portion of the ride sitting on the floor. We have to figure out this whole 2nd class ticket thing because we are doing it wrong. If anyone knows what “last time res” means, I’d love to know.
We arrived late to town and went to sleep as soon as we arrived to our Airbnb.
The next morning we woke up ready for another marathon day of exploring the city. After breakfast at the cafe next to our apartment and a load of laundry, we headed out. We started in Museum Quartier which is home to a variety of art installations, large art museums, small museums, festivals and a center for dance. Knowing that we didn’t have nearly enough time to tackle anything of that size, we just walked through and looked around the area. I was hoping to find the sculpture garden exhibit, but the google machine wasn’t giving enough information to make that happen.
So instead, we wandered over to Volksgarten, or the people’s park. After struggling to find roses in the Queen’s gardens in the UK, we found them here.
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This is a famous temple, called Theseus, that is a replica of a Greek temple.
Water lillies and irises… two of my favorites:
Next we saw the Neue Hofburg which is the addition to the Hofburg Imperial Palace.
The Rathaus. Yes it’s called the Rathaus. It is the local government building. I don’t know what the translation is, but it doesn’t sound great. I assume it doesn’t translate to Rat House, but maybe it does.
The next park on our list was Burggarten which was originally a garden for the Hofburg Palace. There are several statues on the grounds, but the Mozart statue is the most famous. And it is really cool.
There is also this Hercules statue in a fountain, but there is an awkward tree and fencing that makes it really hard to see.
And these ducks that Michael made us stop to take a picture of. Ducks.
Our next stop was the Vienna State Opera House. It is very famous and very beautiful.
We got into the lobby but weren’t allowed any further because they had a show playing. We thought about getting tickets for the evening but it a ballet and we thought it more appropriate to see an opera or something while in Vienna instead of ballet. So we passed on that, but Lady Mozart talked us into seeing some live music later that night. It was a chamber orchestra that played Mozart highlights and some other major pieces. More about that later.
We made it to Petersplatz when we got a message to our Geppetto Noisewater WhatsApp group from Ken. It was an article informing us that Anthony Bourdain had committed suicide.
For those of you who don’t know, Bourdain was a chef who traveled around the world, eating food and experiencing other cultures. We watched him on several shows, but most recently on Parts Unknown on CNN. He originally became famous for an article he wrote to The New Yorker about what life is really like in a restaurant kitchen, followed by a book Kitchen Confidential.
Anthony Bourdain traveled the way we wish we traveled or the way we hope to travel. He went to distant countries that most people would never want to visit and he spent time getting to know people through their food. It wasn’t what he ate or where he went that was so inspiring. It was his attitude about life and inclusion of other cultures that was very moving. He was constantly looking for genuine human connection. He didn’t need fancy food and he didn’t operate in a normal comfort zone. He seemed equally comfortable at a plastic table with a cold beer and some street food as he did in a Michelin starred restaurant. That said, he was no saint. He was snarky and sarcastic in a really wonderful way that made him incredibly entertaining.
But his words describe him better than any of mine could:
“If I’m an advocate for anything, it’s to move. As far as you can, as much as you can. Across the ocean, or simply across the river. Walk in someone else’s shoes or at least eat their food. It’s a plus for everybody.”
“Skills can be taught. Character you either have or you don’t have.”
“Travel is about the gorgeous feeling of teetering in the unknown.”
“As you move through this life and this world you change things slightly, you leave marks behind, however small. And in return, life – and travel – leaves marks on you. Most of the time, those marks – on your body or on your heart – are beautiful. Often, though, they hurt.”
“Travel isn’t always pretty. It isn’t always comfortable. Sometimes it hurts, it even breaks your heart. But that’s ok. The journey changes you; it should change you. You take something with you. Hopefully, you leave something good behind.”
And my favorite as Michael and I have a few unplanned weeks ahead:
“When dealing with complex transportation issues, the best thing to do is pull up with a cold beer and let somebody else figure it out.”
Hearing about his death was heartbreaking for us. We stood next to random building for a few minutes trying to get any information we could about it. When we finally started walking again, we realized we were just a few steps from Peterskirche, or St. Peter’s Church. There has been a church on this site since 4th Century A.D.
When we entered, we were lucky to have someone playing the organ – classical music, Motzart or something. It didn’t fix us. Michael and I were going to be sad for much of this day and for parts of upcoming days. But it helped. We may not be doing it as well as Bourdain, but he is definitely an inspiration to try as hard as we can to make the most of this time we have traveling.
After St. Peter’s, we walked a few more blocks to the food festival that was set up in a square. It was pretty empty, but we grabbed some sausages and drinks. Sarah and I had some type of spritzer after a woman encouraged us to “try something you’ve never had before”. How could we say no?
Although the food festival was pretty empty, there was a tent there with a small orchestra that was practicing. We popped in for a few minutes. They were great, but then, out of nowhere, a random woman from the only table with people stood up and started singing along. Apparently she’s part of the performance, but it was amazing the way she just came out of nowhere, belting it out.
https://www.thatsonourlist.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/img_0741.movAfter this, we popped into a wine bar called Wine Tray to try out some Austrian wines. They were delicious plus we got the chance to have some good conversation with “locals”. I put that in quotes because the owner is originally from Hungary and his wife is originally from Romania but they’ve been living here for the past couple of years, which means that they speak English to each other and to their super cute little girl, Sophie, who was also hanging out with us.
I’m measuring my hand with a tape measure. She’s not that impressed.
The feeling we got is that the man liked speaking about wine while his wife liked speaking about anything else. I asked her about maternity leave in Austria. She’s in finance and got one year, but apparently people are offered up to three years paid maternity leave. She was adamantly against three years. She thought one was the right amount to have off and that anything more than that removed the incentive for people to go back to work. I asked if she thought being away for a full year had a negative impact on her career and she said a fast and hard no. She said that things are very different from the United States. In the US, everyone thinks they have to be there all the time or they will get left behind, which is why people don’t disconnect (agree). But, when I pressed just a little bit further, she admitted that women aren’t in higher level positions for the most part, so being away has no affect on them. She then shifted into talking about how hard it is for a woman to get ahead in Austria and how wrong that is. Alright… so… maybe it does have an effect on their careers? Maybe?
After a few glasses of wine, we took naps back at the Airbnb and then headed off to our concert.
Here’s a cool clock we saw:
A picture inside the Wiener Musikverein:
The concert hall was just beautiful, but no pictures allowed of the musicians, so you’ll have to use your imagination. Everyone was dressed like Mozart – different colored coats, short pants and stockings. Plus everyone wore a white wig. Imagine this guy holding a violin:
The program was composed mostly of pieces from Don Giovanni and The Marriage of Figaro. We heard Magic Flute, Eine Klein Nachtmusik, Rondo alla Turca, among others, with the night ending on the Danube Waltz by Strauss. It was a great show with quite a few of the pieces being accompanied by two opera singers that really just nailed it. My favorite was from Don Giovanni. Michael isn’t sure what specific part of Don Giovanni. So I don’t know how to narrow that down without singing it for you… Much of the night was spent with Michael telling me the names of pieces as they came up and then saying, “you have heard this one, right??” Shout out to Michael’s father who I’m pretty sure is the reason that Michael knows the names of so many classical pieces. A part of me loves it about him and a part of me is annoyed by it.
That last piece reminded Michael of something important: We hadn’t seen the Danube yet!! Michael and I were off to Budapest the next day, so it didn’t matter that much for us, but Sarah needed to see it! So we wandered over.
You can see in this second picture some food stalls on the left bank and a boat that housed a bar/night club. We did grab burgers at the food stalls and had a drink, but couldn’t bring ourselves to go to the club, despite the fact they were playing Pony by Ginuwine. See… I know music too…
Vienna was a beautiful city and a great end to our time with Sarah. She was an easy and fun travel partner and is off on the next leg of her journey with 10 days in Italy while we’re off to Budapest!