Vienna Day Two: City Walk and glorious music in the Musikverein

April 11
We decided that, since it would be our second-to-last day in Vienna, and the weather was absolutely beautiful once again, it was finally time for the Rick Steves walking tour of the city. So after another run in the park near our place (a bit shorter this time because we didn't get as lost...) we headed downtown to walk around in Vienna and soak up its beauty and culture. Since we had gotten out of the subway at Karlsplatz, we decided to check that out even before beginning the walking tour. It's a beautiful plaza, adorned with the Karlskirche (St. Charles), the Technical University, and pond, and a Henry Moore statue.

Technical University

Karlskirche (St. Charles)

Portrait of Vivaldi on the wall

Henry Moore

Musikverein from outside

Another view of the Opera House

The official tour began at the Opera House, which we had seen from both inside and out the night before. Along the street near the Musikverein (more about that building later) and the Opera House are Hollywood-like stars, but these honor the greats of Classical music; Mahler and Verdi among others. There are more stars in some of the Opernplatz subway station (as well as a Vienna musical toilet--see photos earlier in the blog). Old meets new as we continues our walk, past the Starbucks and Burger King to the Hotel Sacher, famous for it's delicious Sacher Torte. Shiri mentioned that the unique cake was somewhat dry and very overpriced there, and I had tasted a delicious one in the Cafe Schwartzenburg the night before, so we continued past to the Albertinaplatz.

 

Hotel Sacher

Albertina Platz marks the beginning of the Hofburg Palace (more later); this particular balcony was the home of Empress Maria Theresa's daughter Maria Christina (married to the Prince Albert for whom the square is named). Today this part of the palace is the home of the Albertina Musum (see more about our visit there earlier in the blog) with its controversial "diving board" of titanium coming out from the building. On the plaza itself is the sobering and impressive Monument Against War and Facism. There are 4 parts to this monument: The Gates of Violence memorializing all victims of violence, the hunched over Jew being forced to remove graffiti from the street with a toothbrush, (more than 65,000 of Vienna's 200,000 Jews died in the Holocaust), a statue of Orpheus entering into the Underworld, and finally the grey column with the 1945 Austrian Declaration of Independence inscribed on it.

Albertina

Gates of Violence

We continued down the Kaerntnerstrasse (a main shopping street) enjoying the views, both old and new, like the Kaisergruft Chapel, containing the Imperial Crypt with what's left of the remains of the Hapsburgs in pewter coffins.

Kaisergruft

The center of Neuer Markt (New Market) is home to the Four Rivers Fountain, Lady Providence surrounded by the 4 rivers that flow into the Danube. Back on the Kaerntnerstrasse, we continued on to Stephansplatz and the beautiful St. Stephen's--this time resplendent in the sunshine and blue skies. The sun particularly brought out the amazing reflection of the cathedral in the Haas Haus, the glass/mirrored building opposite it.

Haas Haus

Vienna, like most of the other cities, also has it's memorial to the victims of the plague, but apparently, Vienna's was the first and the model for those in the other cities. About 75,000 Viennese, 1/3 of the population died of Bubonic plague in 1679. Emperor Leopold apparently prayed on the spot of the monument and the city was spared further deaths--the monument and St. Peter's down the block were built out of gratitude.

Memorial to the Victims of Plague

St. Peter's

On our wat back to the Hofburg, we had to stop in Demel, chocolatier to the Empress Sisi, filled with all of the delicacies she would have loved. We did sample a bar; not bad, but definitely not the best chocolate I've ever tasted...

Hofburg

Demel Chocolatier

St. Michael's

After the walking tour, we met up with Shiri, who had finished teaching for the day, at the beautiful Schloss Schoenbrunn, the Versailles of the Hapsburgs! This exquisite palace was the summer residence of the Hapsburgs--and contains 1441 rooms and incredibly beautiful grounds--gardens, fountains, the works. We splurged for one of the tours and got to experience the grandeur of how the other half, the nobility, lived. The gardens were just in the beginning stages of spring blooms, but it was still so beautiful! Officially I wasn't supposed to take photos inside, so I didn't get one of the room where Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Wolfie) played for the Empress as a child and then threw himself into her lap, but I was able to sneak a few until the guard caught me for the 3rd time...

Statue outside the Palace Gates

Palace with the city in the background

Toward the fountain

Obelisk Fountain

View from the Glorietta at the top of the garden

Neptune's Fountain

Glorietta, with great views of the Palace

This guy has 2 faces!

Franz Josef and Sisi

Franz Josef--liked to live "simply"

Maria Theresa (I think?)

The sun came back out!

After we finished with Schoenbrunn we went back to the city center to meet 3 of Shiri's friends for dinner before the concert that evening. One of her friends suggested the 12 Apostel Keller (Cellar of the 12 Apostles), and it turned out to be wonderful--delicious food, and a very cool atmosphere. It was also such fun to meet some of the people Shiri had been talking about all year! I can see why they all got along so well!

Dinner in the 12 Apostles Cellar

 

One of the Apostles--Paul I believe

After dinner, the event I had been looking forward to for quite some time, a concert at the Musikverein Concert Hall in Vienna. It was built in the 1860's on land donated to the "Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde" Societly of Music Lovers/Supporters); the funds were gathered by this group of music lovers. It is simply a shoebox, rectangular shape, yet the acoustics are known as among the best in the world! I doubted that it was possible for such a simply shaped hall to match the acoustics of our modern halls, with all the scientific innovations in the past 150 years, but the first chord from the Freischuetz Overture proved me wrong! It was simply incredible!! The sound was amazing, the atmosphere unbelievable (these photos don't do it justice), and the music was divine. We heard a Prokifiev cello concerto with a soloist I had never heard of, but who was wonderful (I didn't know the piece either--didn't love it, but the sound of the orchestra was so incredible it didn't matter), topped off with the icing on the cake: Brahms First! With a Viennese orchestra in the Musikverein!! It didn't matter that our box was somewhat hot and cramped, that the seats were partial view or that it had been a long day--I was transported into a world of sound that I have rarely experienced in my life. I can still hear the string section playing that famous melody with a richness that is beyond description. What a way to end our Viennese experience!

Inside the Musikverein