Vienna was nice. The short 90 minute flight to Vienna was a good sign of things to come as the lovely Lufthansa stewardess served me a chilled wine on my flight. Thats the way to start a flight in my opinion. Arriving slightly delayed in Vienna I started my stay there with a view of Vienna at night from a hilltop wine cafe. Seriously, this place was ridiculously hard to find but once we found it in the hills and bushes of Austria, the view was fantastic. The clear night skies afforded a view of the entire city below. The St. Jakob's Church and various other Vienna monuments stuck out into the night air. It was really great.
<--(Kunst Haus Wien)
The next morning Ines had to visit her Oma in her hometown from three hours away. I was given the house key and told to have fun. That I did. I spent hours pursuing the artistic genius of The Albertina and Hundertwasser's Kunst Haus Wien. I learned some interesting facts about class European painters like Monet and was further educated on the Russian impressionist movement. The Albertina had several Monet's on display, I wasn't aware of that until I accidentally stumbled into their impressionist wing. I was also exposed to much of Klee's work, something I had never studied before. Kunst Haus Wien was an alternative to keep me from feeling stuffy in Vienna. Alternative modern art and design was really quite interesting. The floor of KHW is not flat. Several pitches in the floor offer a cascading effect of about six inches. Walking the floor is an experience in and of itself.
However, Vienna is a city of lush green parks and plenty of monuments to their imperial past. It is said that if aliens landed in Vienna, they would think that it is the capital of the world. I can imagine that. My favorite part of Vienna is the Museum Quartier. This hip, alternative section of Vienna is located in the middle of all of the Museums in Vienna. Many cafe's and plenty of sitting area offers a great view of modern architecture and fountains offer the sound of rushing water to slow you down. My trip to Vienna wouldn't have been complete without a visit to The Leopold and the Vienna Museum of Modern Arts. Sadly, I wasn't as impressed with MOMUK (Modern Arts) as I was hoping to be.
They did have a nice exhibit on 1970's US university culture (demonstrations, etc). <---part of Museum Quartier
The Leopold is the home of the largest collection of Scheile paintings. His turn of the century paintings were some of the first examples of modernist art. Much of his early work was denounced as being too provocative and sexual in nature. I can understand why. He was also quite narcissistic. I counted at least five self-portraits, many of them nude. I didn't know that he died at the age of 28 from the Spanish Influenza outbreak.
I enjoyed traditional Wiener Schnitzel and Sacher Torte as well. The cake really is quite good as well as the schnitzel. I had the chance to experience some of Vienna's night life too. I was pleasantly surprised to see Austrian's dancing in a disco. Something the Germans tend to shy away from. Not happy about the insane price of a drink though. Vienna is a pleasant city, one in which I could reside in if necessary. To be quite honest though, Vienna reminds me of so many other major German cities. I think they tend to take after one another. Vienna has its own special flavor to it, but I definitely spotted the similarities between the two countries. I could write so much more about the efficient underground system or their abundance of parks and good weather, however, I don't have the energy to pen it out. So, I leave you with a few pictures of Vienna in its glory.
I was sad though not to see a young Julie Andrews singing in the streets. Hmm, next time.
^Volksgarten Vienna
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