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| House of Parliament designed in Classical style to represent Greek interest in Democracy Athena, Goddess of Democracy, turns her back to parliament... |
Yesterday was my first weekend-day in Vienna other than last Sunday, when all we did was move in. It wasn't like most Saturdays will be, however, because there were a variety of planned and required activities. At 10:30 I went down to the IES Center for a lecture on the history of Vienna. The professor took us through Vienna's progression from a Celtic town by a river to a Roman military outpost, then becoming an important part of Charlemagne's Empire and the Babenburg Empire until finally it came under the Hapsburgs, for whom it was vital over their 600 year reign and eventually mighty empire. She explained certain key figures, like Maria Theresia, and then moved on to the modern history after World War I, the rise of Hitler, and its changes after World War II.
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| It looks like the Stephansdom but it's actually another, similar church... go figure... two in one city... |
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| Vienna from the hill |
After that, at 12:00, we all went to a place where the bus could actually park, and went on a whole tour of Vienna. We were able to see the natural history and art history museums, since that's where we were picked up. We also made our way through the Ringstrasse and saw various other constructions of the Hapsburgs. We saw the art institute that denied Hitler entry (if only they would've). We went around a few other areas in the inner city and then headed out toward the mountains. We got to see the Wienerwald (Vienna Woods), a former hunting ground that became a park. At the top there was a church and and incredible view of Vienna. On the way up to this location we also passed the wineries and vineyards that are actually part of Vienna, as it is the only major city that actually brews its own wine. We went down the other way from the mountain into a valley with a little village that I guess lies on the outskirts of Vienna, with lots of vineyards surrounding it. On the far hills there was a church and also a palace.
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| Really hard to tell here but the Stephansdom is a little triangle in the middle of the photo behind the big stick-like thing |
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| ME! From the lookout over Vienna |
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| Church in the town outside Vienna |
We came back into Vienna along the Danube and got stuck in traffic, but were able to circumvent it. We saw a lot of the recreational locations along the Danube before continuing into more historical locations in the city. One such location was the side of two anti-aircraft battlements left over from World War II that were so strong they were unable to demolish them. We then progressed to the Hundertwasserhaus - an apartment complex made by a modern artist that is very famous here in Vienna. He wanted no straight lines, trees growing inside the building, and oddities like windows that children can look through without being seen.
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| Vineyards |
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| Sailboats on the Danube (Dad) |
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| Just a taste of the weirdness of the Hundertwasserhaus |
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| Belvedere |
Finally, we went to the amazing Belvedere. We actually walked in the gates of and around the Upper Belvedere, which is now used as a museum. We could, however, look down across the garden at the Lower Belvedere. One was the winter and the other the summer residence. The Lower was also more defensible, so underground passageways existed in case of an attack. This residence was given to a general who was particularly adept at repelling Turkish assaults. When he died, however, the Hapsburgs bought it. Franz Ferdinand was living there at the time of his death and the beginning of World War I. It is a building to which I will have to return for a more in depth tour.
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| Belvedere garden, Lower Belvedere, and Stephansdom, in distance |
In the evening, I went to an Italian restaurant because I was craving pasta. I had some excellent Carbonara. Almost the entire communication with the waiters, however, occurred in Italian. This was interesting and kind of fun. Definitely a departure from trying to talk to people in German!
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