Vienna (Day Two)

We awoke Friday to sunshine! I beautiful day in Vienna. After eating a yummy and cheap breakfast at the Ruthensteiner, we headed for St. Stephen's Cathedral. After walking around the outside and taking lots of pictures, we headed inside. We took the elevator to the top of the North tower, which is not as tall as the South tower. We got some pictures, but it was very windy at the top!

After the North tower, it was time for a tour of the Catacombs - my favorite part of any super old cathedral. Here, we saw rooms full of bones and also "bone houses". During the middle ages, the catacombs had filled to the max and there was no more room for bodies in the burial grounds. The solution? Prisoners were forced to clean out the old burial rooms, taking the old bones and stacking them neatly into tightly packed rows which form the walls of the "bone houses". The old burial rooms were now opened up for a new round of occupants. It really would have sucked to be a prisoner in Vienna during that project!

The catacombs of St. Stephans lace around not only beneath the Cathedral itself but beneath the surface of the surrounding square. During the Black Plague, there was a huge pit in the square where the bodies of Plague victims were thrown - it was too dangerous to have funerals for them. Creepy. Another creepy thing in the crypt? For centuries, the bodies of the Hofburg family had been embalmed and buried in a special royal crypt somewhere else in Vienna. Their bodies are filled with wax and entombed there. In the crypt at St. Stephens, there is a room with many copper vessels in cases along the walls - these contain the intestines of the Hofburgs. Their hearts are stored at a separate location.

The last part of our visit to St. Stephens included climbing the 343 winding stone steps to the viewing room in the South Tower - here we had some beautiful views of the city (and got our exercise for the day).

One of our urgent missions on this trip to Vienna was to sample the sacher-torte from two places: Cafe Demel and Hotel Sacher. After we wrapped up at St. Stephens we went to find Cafe Demel. On our way, we walked by a building we had passed the day before. I had seen it on a postcard in the viewing area of the South tower only a few minutes before, so we decided to pop in. We were so glad we did - it ended up being one of the most amazing places we visited in Vienna- St. Peter's Church. It was surprising because it wasn't on our itinerary - Marissa had gotten recommendations from several different people/websites about things we should see, and nobody had mentioned St. Peter's. What a gorgeous Baroque Church. It was breathtaking.

The centuries-old bones of a martyr, all done up in ceremonial garb

We certainly hadn't forgotten our mission, however. After we gawked at the beauty of St. Peter's, we made our way to Cafe Demel and had our first taste of sacher-torte. It melts in your mouth and is best followed with espresso.

Next, we hopped on the subway again and headed out to Schönbrunn Palace. This palace was the summer home of the Habsburgs, and like all of the other things the Habsburgs had, it is anything but humble. The palace is huge, and filled with luxuries and ornate decorations. Each room we viewed had its own character and was planned to the tiniest detail. The complex was built in the 17th century, initially as a palatial hunting lodge. Many of the rooms were decorated by Maria Theresa, who ruled from 1740-1780 and was the only female ruler of the Habsburg dynasty. 

While pictures are not permitted inside the palace, we got plenty of shots outside. The sad part about coming to Vienna in the winter is that all of the gardens at the palaces are barren. I will have to visit again in the summer when they are all blooming; you can tell how magical it would be.

We hiked through the grounds of the Schönbrunn and back to the metro. From there we headed to the Staatsoper - the State Opera House. It was closed, so we decided to come back to it the next day. We spent the evening wandering around the area and riding the tram around the "Ring" - the loop around the city center. Later, we had more Austrian food at a little restaurant we found. It was good, but I was pretty much schnitzeled-out after that. It had been a long day.

Sunset in Wien

Vienna (Day One)

~ Prepare to be overwhelmed with pictures, many of which were taken by Marissa. I am dividing the trip into days because I don't want the blog post to be eight miles long, and because it will take me a few days to write about it.

We arrived in Vienna at 11:30 AM on Thursday. I slept almost the entire time on the train, which was nice. We found our way to our hostel easily from the directions they'd provided. Our hostel was really great - Hostel Ruthensteiner - if anyone is planning a trip to Vienna any time soon, I would definitely recommend it. It was very clean and everyone that worked there was really nice and super helpful.

,

After we got our luggage situated in our room, we went out to see some things. For some reason, it was snowing all day on Thursday, both in Prague and in Vienna. It seemed to come out of nowhere as it had been pretty warm recently. The weather for our first day was not great. It was cold and wet, but luckily we had lots of things on our list that were indoors. We decided to start with the Hofburg Imperial Palace. It was really amazing. The Habsburg dynasty, who inhabited the palace, ruled Europe for over 600 years, in which time they acquired many amazing things. The first part of the exhibit in the main part of the Palace was a collection all the Royal silver and china. It went on forever, basically. Their plates alone would have taken up several huge rooms.

, 

A really interesting piece from the dish collection

After the huge china collection, we got to view the Imperial Apartments. They were pretty over-the-top; crystal, velvet, huge portraits, fancy carpets. There was also a special exhibit about Empress Elisabeth, who was married to Franz Josef and lived from 1837-1898. She was called "Sisi" by her husband, and had a really interesting, but in some ways tragic life. She was stabbed to death by an Italian anarchist. Very dramatic.

Sometimes it is hard to believe that actual kings and queens like we see in the movies actually existed. If you are ever in doubt, just go to the Hofburg and visit the Imperial Treasury. This was probably my favorite thing I saw in Vienna. As someone who likes jewelry and gemstones, there was plenty to interest me here. This collection puts the Crown Jewels of England to shame. The opulence and sheer quantity is mindboggling. And it's so amazing how old these things are! There are elaborate, intricate and ornamented garments worn by kings and their courts that are over 1000 years old. You just have to see some of this stuff to believe it. Unfortunately pictures can't even begin to do any of it justice.

After we were done at the treasury, we visited the Augustinian Church, also in the Hofburg complex. Here is the tomb of Maria Christina, built in the 14th century. Very beautiful.

Maria Christina's tomb

By the time we finished looking around at the Augustinian Church, it was evening and the museums were closing, so we headed back to the neighborhood we were staying in. We stopped at a little restaurant and had espresso and sundaes!

We relaxed at the hotel for a while, then went down to the lounge area to plan our next day and get some tips on places to eat dinner. We ended up eating at an Austrian restaurant near our hostel - I had wiener schnitzel (sort of - it was made with turkey instead of veal). It was delicious. A great end to the first day of our trip.

Planning Day 2

The past week

Well, it's midnight, and I am going to get up at 4am so that I can be at Vysočanska metro station at 5:30 AM to meet Marissa. Then we'll head to the main train station, where we'll catch our train to Vienna. The ride is about 4 hours long, so I'll be able to sleep on the train (hopefully). It's exciting to be going on my first trip abroad since I arrived. After all, this is the main reason I wanted to come here, so I would be able to travel around Europe.

I'm all moved in to my new apartment, and it's very comfortable here. I'll have to post some pictures soon. It's been a blur of a week, though. I moved. I taught some cover classes, observed some more, and it was my second week with both of my private students. Earlier this evening I had my session with Alice, the 6 year old. She is very cute and also very talented, and I am in a good mood when I leave there. I also had my first class with Anezka using the textbook for the FCE test. It will be a challenging course, but she is very motivated.

Last Sunday was nice, some friends I met here in Prague have a meditation group every Sunday, and I went for the first time. They rotate who hosts it each week, and this week it was at Jeff's house. We had silent meditation for 45 minutes, then had tea and listened to a Buddhist talk. Afterward we watched a movie and Jeff cooked an awesome lunch - an Iranian dish with rice and potatoes and chicken in a tomato sauce.

The weather here has warmed up, and we've been lucky to have some really beautiful sunny days. It's so funny how often I am walking down the street, all caught up in my head, totally forgetting what's around me. I'm just thinking about all of the things I need to do. Suddenly I look up and something catches my eye - I realize I'm surrounded by beautiful, ancient buildings. Nobody around me is speaking English. It's so easy to forget I'm living in the middle of Europe. Life just becomes normal, wherever you go. I love the moments when I remember where I am, and it's so exciting. I had a moment yesterday like that, and took a couple of pictures... just a typical street corner in Prague :)

I will write in a few days after I return from Austria. I will have many pictures and many things to write about, I'm sure. Missing everyone at home and thinking of you.