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Our only stop in Austria was the remarkable and classic city of Vienna (Wien). For hundreds of years, Vienna was the seat of the royal Hapsburg family which lead an empire that included Austria, Hungary, Bohemia, Dalmatia, Croatia and many areas of Italy, Yugoslavia, Poland, Romania and the Ukraine. It was under the Hapsburg monarchy that Austria thrived as a classical music capital. Vienna was home to such great musical composers as Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Strauss, Brahms and Schubert. The Hapsburg empire finally fell with the coming of World War I, after which Austria became a republic and relinquished control of her other territories. Vienna was bombed heavily in World War II; however, she has recovered beautifully.
Our favorite empress is Maria Theresa. It was under her forty years of power that the Austrian Army and economy thrived. She also created a public education system. All the while she gave birth to 18 children, including Marie Antoinette who would later be beheaded during the French Revolution. Maria Theresa also converted the royal hunting lodge into the Hapsburg summer palace of Schloss Schonbrunn. We visited this majestic palace and we became quite fond and interested in the Hapsburg family monarchy. Incidentally, it is here that Mozart was recognized for his fine talents when he gave a performance at the age of six. What you see here is not actually the palace; rather, it is the view from the back of the palace toward the gardens and a decorative memorial sitting on the hill behind.
While Schloss Schonbrunn served as the summer palace, the rest of the year was spent in central Vienna at the Imperial Palace, which served as the main palace for the Hapsburg family.
Many visitors of Vienna still choose to travel like they did during the Hapsburg monarchy. Here a horse and buggy idle under the gates to the Imperial Palace.
One of the greatest names in Vienna, Johann Strauss is remembered by this gilded statute in one of Vienna's many parks..
If you plan on taking a trip to Vienna, take some time to eat some delicious tiny finger sandwiches at the Buffet Trzesniewski. These tasty sandwiches may be washed down by an equally tiny beer.
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The
most interesting Hapsburg Emperor and Empress are Franz Joseph and Elisabeth,
who was known as Sissy. Franz Joseph and Sissy grew apart after only a few
years of marriage. Sissy became tired of royal life, and she would often
travel for long periods of time. When she was at home in the Imperial
Palace, she would spend several hours caring for her ankle length hair and
exercising, as her appearance was very important to her. While Vienna was
not very fond of Sissy at the time of her reign, she has now become the little
darling of Vienna. This is the royal dining room where the entire family
would eat dinner together. Both Franz Joseph and Sissy had small
appetites. They would eat very quickly and leave the table (most of the
time separately). Unfortunately, this meant that dinner was officially
over. The hungry family members would then be left with no other choice
but to go out to a restaurant to satisfy their need for a decent meal.
Vienna
is most reknowned as the home of great music.
365 days a year, you can attend a concert that includes, most typically, the music of
Mozart and Strauss (the "inventor" of the waltz), as well as ballet dancers and other treats. There are
several different concerts available, and they must compete with each other on a
daily basis. In order to attract potential audiences, salesmen (and women)
dress up in classical clothing and wigs and accost you as you walk by.
They must be on commission.
Every summer, Vienna holds several music festivals. We were there
during their Film Festival. Here Rich enjoys some delicious regional food
that was being served (for a hefty price) at the festival. What is
interesting about Vienna's film festival, and that speaks to the sophisticated
air of this city, is that the films shown here typically are of ballets and
symphonies! No Beavis and Butthead or other similarly low-brow films here,
thank you.
