vango | Entries tagged with vienna

The third museum on the combination ticket proved to be a bit illusive since it was housed in the main library a few blocks away. We walked to Michaelplatz then got lost quickly. That plaza is an interesting location in itself. We stopped for some light refreshments before looking some more.

Michael platz is a large roundabout with monumental fountains. On the north side of the circle is a dig that reveals Roman ruins on the site including water pipes. To the south the building curves to match the plaza. The building facade includes two fountains with larger than life size figures. A couple of huge plaster men hold up the side of the building and a tableaux of figures look down from the top. In the circle drive Fiakers were waiting to give tourists rides.

We continued through the plaza and through the archways catching a glimpse of the Spanish Riding School Stables. Lipizzaner horses were being brought into Joseplatz for exercise. We couldn't see the famous show because most of the horses travel for the summer. We found we could not get to the Library this way and had to double back through some building courtyards and corridors. We finally found the library and the third museum, the Papyrus Museum.

The Papyrus Museum was inside the main Library in the basement. The elevator went down one floor to the restrooms but not to the museum floor. This collection was displayed in a small room with lots of nooks and crannies. The collection contains 180,000 object but only a few are on display. The displays were well organized in upright glass cases and well presented. It was easy to see the text organized in neat rows with drawings. Papyrus is really plant material that has been made into a paperlike substance. The majority of the collection is from before 15,000 bc.

We had lunch near the library then decided to forgo the other planned destination. It was more touristy anyway. It was Time Travel Vienna. It was purported to show history through a series of time travel moments. Instead we limped back to the hotel for a nap.

We made plans to go to several small museums for Friday. They proved a good choice for the day. These are a part of the National Library. From the hotel it was an easy journey, just one stop on the U-bahn. We came out of the subway and there was the first two housed in the Palais Mollard. We bought the combination ticket and visited those two quiet small museums.

The first was the Esperanto Museum. For those who do not know, Esperanto is a created language from the turn of the last century. It was meant to simplify form and make languages easier to use. It was really only designed around European Languages and when Europe went to war the movement fell apart. The World Esperanto conference in Paris was canceled and the whole movement fell apart. Amazingly enough we know someone who can speak and read Esperanto. He name is Urso which is Esperanto for bear. The old joke is that he speaks Esperanto like a native.

The Museum had posters in Esperanto and has a collection of Books written in Esperanto. The language is thought to be a good one for literature and every year a few literary works are published in Esperanto.

The Second Museum was slightly larger consisting of four rooms. It housed a collection of world globes. Some dated from the 1500s. Globes used to be sold in sets of two. The collection is about 600 globes of which 200 are on display. One sphere was terrestrial and its companion was celestial. Globe makers got cheap in the 20th century and stopped making the celestial ones. One of the landmarks in globe making came when manufacturers stopped places fantasy countries or pictures of sea monsters where there was no data and just started leaving things blank. One globe of North America did not include Alta California, Oregon, Washington or Nevada because nothing was know of that area. The map makes a turn to the east at Baja California up to the Dakota Territories.

There was a range of globes from ones the size of a cantaloupe to huge ones in stands measuring five foot high. Just the sort of thing one puts in the foyer. This museum also contained an bit of the grandeur of the Palace that housed it. Two of the rooms retained the parquet floors and a corridor had a painted ceiling and small fireplace. `

Thursday evening we dined at a landmark of Vienna, the Figlmüller Wollzeile. They are known for their schnitzel. We called for a reservation at 5pm and it is a good thing we did. They were turning away people in droves. We must have gotten the last reservation. They were full until Monday. Also, half of the restaurant was closed down for remodeling. Their schnitzel was indeed incredible. It was a nine inch schnitzel on an eight inch plate. We ordered a tomato salad and some roasted potatoes to round out the meal. I had a Zitronenkracherl which is a lemon soft drink.

We walked past the fiakers on the way there and back. Fiakers are horsedrawn carriages. The name is derrived from a hotel in Paris, St. Fiacre, that rented carriage for their guests. St. Fiacre is now the patron saint of the drivers. There were a dozen or so lined up to take people for rides through the city. The horses wore little coverings over their ears to protect them from flies. The one with a red cover looked a wee bit demonic.

The location of the hotel proved to be ideal. We were able to get around the city using the U-bahn. There was plenty of food to be had close to the hotel. Banks abounded. And the beautiful Stephanplatz was pedestrian only so there was no traffic noise, although it was a bit crowded with delivery trucks in the morning. I even found a grocery with Coca-cola at half the price of the souvenir shops. The last time we visited Vienna it was Christmas time. We had a brief tour of the city in the morning then visited Schönbrunn Palace - Schloß Schönbrunn in the afternoon. There was a Christmas market at the Palace but because we did the palace tour we missed out on the enormous market in central Vienna. While we saw lots of thing we didn't get to enjoy the quiet city that we were seeing this time.

From Stephanplatz we took the U1 to Schwedenplatz to take the Ringstrasse Tram Tour. The plaza was named in honor of the Swedish who took in Austrian Children during the war. The U-bahn is the subway running throughout the city. We picked up a 72 hour pass at the airport. They are very trusting in Austria. There are no turnstyles. There is a machine to validate your ticket and after that you just walk in and get on the train.

At Schwedenplatz we found the Tram for the tour. The Ringstrasse used to be the city walls. When they were removed the built a road in its place. The tram is similar to the regular trams but is painted bright yellow. It costs 8 euros to ride the circuit. There is recorded narration in 8 different languages. There are lots of old palaces along the Ringstrasse that have been turned into 5 star hotels. We passed Parliament with a large statue Athena erected in 1893. She fits in well as the building is Neo-Greek Classical Revival the stone columns and large pediments. The route goes paste the museum district and along the Danube canal back to Schwedenplatz.

We ate some chocolate before braving the subway again to ride two more stops to the Praterstern stop. Near that station is the Wiener Riesenrad (Ferris wheel). This iconic ride was built in 1897 and is 212 feet tall. It was the tallest Ferris Wheel for 65 years until it was surpassed in 1985.

It had thirty cars in the beginning but sometime in the past they removed half of them. That meant better views and lighter loads. It is possible to dine on the wheel. The waiters rush in when you reach the bottom with the next course. We could see tables already set in other cars. The Wurstelprater amusement park has grown up around the iconic wheel with a dozen or so roller coaster rides. The little park has places to eat and Vienna's Madam Tussauds. After our ride we had lunch a the Stadgasthaus Eisvogel, the kingfisher. We dined on goulash and Viennese Fried Chicken. The chicken had the same light breading found in Schnitzels. We returned to nap during the heat of the day.

It was a struggle but we stayed up long after we wanted to go to bed the get our internal clocks switched. We sat out on the balcony and enjoyed the evening,. In the distance a 10 story bank building lit up the night. Its entire facade was illuminated with LEDs that spelled out words. Stephanplatz was quieter late.

The Hotel Am Stephanplatz is an eight story building that sits directly across the square from the church. Most of the ground floor is taken up with retail. It bills itself as an “Art Hotel”, therefore it is very fashionable. The rooms appear to have been remodeled recently. One curiousity that we haven't seen other places is the half bath on the right with a toilet and small sink. On the left is the bathroom with shower, tub with hand wand but no toilet. The beds could be configured as two twins or one king. The balcony almost seemed like an afterthought. I suspect that this floor was the roof at one time. This is the only floor with balconies. It is two steps up to the deck that features three chairs and an umbrella. The doors can be open like french doors or one of the doors can be opened from the bottom to allow for ventilation.

Morning came but we felt grungy even after a shower. We dressed in our overused outfits and went to breakfast at the hotel. The Breakfast room was on the second floor which is known as the first floor in Europe. The hostess directed us to a table with floor to ceiling windows and a spectacular view of the church. After breakfast we decided we would start a bit of sightseeing with a look at the church but as I started to tell the desk clerk about expecting the bags I spotted them behind the counter. We drug them upstairs and changed into fresh clothes ready to meet the day. By the time we had changed the church square had filled up with people. There were boys wearing parts of period costumes hawking Mozart concerts. The shirt ruffles over t-shirts was an interesting touch. The church had installed a barrier to separate the ingress from the egress. There were tour groups following their leaders like ducklings.

The Dom St. Stephans was nice. It had been reconstructed having suffered bombing in World War II. The space was dark and atmospheric as only an old church can be. The faithful were crossing themselves and lighting candles. The Unfaithful were roaming around with cameras trying to get the definitive shots. The Church Store was doing a brisk business in postcards and candles. It was 90 euro cents for a candle.

Without clothes we didn't freshen up much. All we could do was a bit of water on the face. We were referred to an authentic Austrian restaurant near the hotel for dinner. It was the Zum weissen Rauchfangkehrer or the White Chimney. It was a small place with a plaster chimney sweep about 4 feet high that greated visitors at the door. The interior was elegant woodwork with plaster rosettes. One of the waiters looked like he could be Rolf from the “Sound of Music.”