Sunday, September 20, 2015

Austria 2015/ Vienna

Sunday, 9/13
Arrived in Vienna today to warm weather! Quite a change from our last trip to Europe. We made the connecting flight to Vienna from Amsterdam- but just barely.  Unfortunately our luggage did not make the flight, but I was prepared for that possibility so we had enough clothes to last a couple of days. We checked into our hotel and went out walking for a bit, getting our bearings as it's been several years since we last here.

On our second day in Vienna, it was overcast with possible rain so we decided to see some museums. We went to the Hofburg and saw the Sisi exhibit and the silver collection. The silver collection is mildly interesting but not something I would consider a must-see.  The Sisi exhibit was more interesting, telling about the young Empress and her rather unhappy life. We have seen the Spanish Riding School practice session before so we skipped that and headed over to the Kunsthistoriches Museum, only to find that it was closed today. The Natural History Museum is directly across from there, so we decided to tour that museum instead.  It was a nice museum but I find that most of them are very much alike although I have not been to the ones in DC or NY yet.

Third day is Stephansdom and the Belvedere Gardens.  We climbed the 349 spiral steps up the South Tower of Stephansdom and had a look around from the top.  Then we went back down again and circled around the main entrance.  We made our way to the lift for the North Tower so we could go up and see the Pummerin, the giant church bell.  It weighs over 44,000 pounds! It used to take 8 men to ring the bell! Back down to the main church and a look at the altar, then off to walk to the Belvedere.

On our last visit, we happened to arrive at the Belvedere during a (graduation?) ceremony for troops.  At the time, there was a parade, a military band and lots of spectators- quite festive! This time around, there were just groups of tourists but the Belvedere was still lovely. I love the reflecting pool and the gardens at the Upper Belvedere and then walking around to walk the gardens and fountain down to the Lower Belvedere. The gardens between the Upper and Lower buildings are not very crowded at all as most of the tour groups just see the area at the top and then get back on their bus.

We wandered around the gardens for awhile, then decided to find the Heeregeschichtliches Museum (Military History Museum). We had a general idea of its location and there were a few signs so we managed to eventually find it.  It is housed a really cool set of buildings and the main focus of the museum is WW1 history. The displays were quite interesting, including displays about the use of biological warfare (mustard gas, etc) and also some remains of bunker roofs showing the damage done by shelling.  There were some replicas of the shells and I was amazed at the size and weight of them as well as the giant hole one created that hit a bunker but did not explode.  One of the most important items in the display is the car in which the Austrian heir to the throne was riding when he was killed by an assassin in Sarajevo, setting into motion the events that would start the First World War in 1914.

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