Belvedere Palace.

Café Sacher’s famous Sachertorte. There’s a whole wiki page for you.

Belvedere Palace. Vienna.

Some years ago, during a trip to Vienna, my friend and I had a wonderful time at the Belvedere Palace and Museum  One of the most unforgetable memories is seeing this beautiful painting.  Here’s the image from the Belevedere’s website.

Belvedere at a glance – Masterpieces of Gustav Klimt

The Belvedere Palace and Museum is now celebrating 150 years Gustav Klimt with a Jubilee Exhibition from July 13, 2012 to January 6, 2013.  If you have not been there, go now and see this painting yourself.  The Belvedere has the largest collection of Klimt’s paintings worldwide.  If you happen to be in Vienna or nearby, don’t lose this opportunity.  None of the images on paper or on-line, can be compared to the live painting.  I still remember the feeling standing in front of this wonderful art piece, only a feet or two away.  Unlike Mona Lisa which is small and so sheltered from the public, “The Kiss” is close to you, as if you are part of the painting.

If you are interested to know more about this painting, here’s an excerpt from the Wikipedia – the Kiss (Klimt).

“The Kiss (In German: Der Kuss) was painted by the Austrian Symbolist painter Gustav Klimt between 1907 and 1908, the highpoint of his “Golden Period”, when he painted a number of works in a similar gilded style. A perfect square, the canvas depicts a couple embracing, their bodies entwined in elaborate robes decorated in a style influenced by both linear constructs of the contemporary Art Nouveau style and the organic forms of the earlier Arts and Crafts movement. The work is composed of conventional oil paint with applied layers of gold leaf, an aspect that gives it its strikingly modern, yet evocative appearance. The painting is now in the Österreichische Galerie Belvedere museum in the Belvedere palace, Vienna, and is widely considered a masterpiece of the early modern period. It is a symbol of Vienna Jugendstil—Viennese Art Nouveau—and is considered Klimt’s most popular work.”

I just dug out a big book that I bought a while ago about Klimt by Maria Constantino, 1990, PRC Publishing Ltd., reprinted in 2002. Here’s what she said about this painting: ” Perched on a flowery precipice, the two lovers are shown surrounded by an aura of gold,…The flat background gives a sense of an indeterminate location and removes the figures from any reference point in space or time.”

Constantino said that the ornamental symbolism of the garments has led to the interpretation as a symbol of the union between the man and the woman. The man has an angular form, whereas the woman is soft.  The woman’s head is at an extreme angle, giving the impression that she is passive, and the man dominates and initiates the action of the kiss.

The interpretation of this painting has never stopped, and the world is still talking about this.  Is this representing a union of the two sexes, or a depiction of tension between them?

Whatever the interpretation is, The Kiss remains the most popular painting of Klimt. No doubt Klimt has created a masterpiece combining the aesthetics of Vienna Secession and Symbolism, and demonstrated his contribution to the development of Art Nouveau, The fascination for The Kiss is comparable to that which surrounds the Mona Lisa. I am interested to know, what is your interpretation?

Before you start making your conclusion, I would like to share with you this video which I just found.  I think it is very helpful for me to understand more about the background of this painting.  Its reference to the Hagia Sophia‘s gold leaf mosaic paintings, is particularly interesting to me since I visited Hagia Sophia just a year ago. I did post pictures of  the Hagia Sophia in my other blog: Exploring Turkey and Greece.

Please see this video, and let me know your interpretation of The Kiss.

Klimt 2012. A kiss changes the world

Pretty colored leaf

Afterwards we finally were able to go to the Treasury. There were so many precious things inside. There were some of the biggest jewels I have ever seen. There were also crowns and coats and swords! There was even the sword of Charlemagne! There were relics and shrines of every kind. There were even the coats that emperors wore like the ones on TV that you thought were fake…well they’re actually real! It was amazing and cool and shiny!

Grounds at Belvedere

It may not sound like we did a lot today, but we actually did. Roaming around palaces is a lot of work and soaking up this much culture is exhausting.

Oh…And we took a tour of the Opera and saw this church who’s name I can’t remember.

Schloß Belvedere พระราชวังเบลเวเดียร์  พระราชวังฤดูร้อนของเจ้าชายแห่งซาวอย ผู้นำกองทัพแห่งราชวงศ์แฮบส์บวร์ก ที่ทำสงครามจนได้รับชัยชนะพวกเติร์กที่เข้ามารุกราน  พระราชวังถูกออกแบบให้สร้างเป็นสองส่วน โดยมีสวนขนาดใหญ่เชื่อมระหว่างสองอาคาร  ภาพวาด  The Kiss ของศิลปิน Gustav Klimt  อันโด่งดังแสดงอยู่ที่นี่

Karlskirche โบสถ์คาร์ลที่สวยงาม ซึ่งคุณจะมองเห็นแต่หลังคาสีเขียวแต่ไกล เสาแกะสลักเรื่องราวต่างๆ ความเดือดร้อน ความทุกข์ยากในอดีต อลังการ และงดงาม ไม่มีใครเหมือน

Operอาคารโอเปร่า สวยเด่น ตั้งรับแขกอยู่ริมถนน จาก ตรงนี้จะมองเห็นยอด โบสถ์สเตฟานสูงสง่า Stephansdom โบสถ์ คู่บ้านคู่เมือง ศูนย์กลางของเมืองเวียนนา รายล้อมไปด้วยร้านค้า ชั้นนำ ร้านอาหาร ร้านกาแฟ จะพูดว่าเป็นหัวใจของเวียนนาสวยงามเชียวล่ะค่ะ

 Burggarten สวนสาธารณะ ที่มีรูปปั้นของโมสาร์ท ตั้งเด่นเป็นสง่าต้อนรับผู้มาเยือนอยู่หน้าตรงประตูทีเดียว สวนแห่งนี้ เป็นที่นิยมของผู้เขียนเป็นพิเศษ มีเวลาจะมานั่งที่ม้านั่งเยื้องๆ เผ้าสังเกตพฤติการณ์ของผู้คนที่ผ่านไป-มา ชาวเมืองที่จะมานั่งสบายๆ มอง

 Maria-Theresien-Platzอนุเสาวรีย์ของพระนางมาเรีย ตั้งเด่นเป็นที่ต้องตา ขนาบด้วยตึกสวยทั้งสองฝั่ง พิพิธภัณฑ์ธรรมชาติ  และข้ามพิพิธภัณฑ์ศิละป ด้านหลังเป็นจตุรัส พิพิธภัณฑ์ ที่คุณต้องใช้เวลาทั้งวันในการชมให้หมด หันไปฝั่งตรงข้ามถนนดูบ้าง

Hofburg พระราชวังเดิม ซึ่งปัจจุบันได้ดัดแปลงมาใช้ประโยชน์ บางส่วนทำเป็นหอสมุดแห่งชาติ  บางส่วนทำเป็นพิพิธภัณฑ์แสดง เครื่องใช้ เครื่องเงิน เครื่องทอง ที่เรารู้จักกันว่า Sisi Apartment

Volksgarten สวนดอกไม้ กุหลาบนานาพันธ์ ตรงข้ามกับ Parlamentsตึกที่ทำการรัฐสภาที่สวยงามและอลังการ

 Burgtheater  โรงละครที่สวยงาม ซึ่งด้านหลังของโรงละคร ติดกับที่ทำงานของประธานาธิบดี และนายกรัฐมนตรี

 Rathaus  ที่ทำการเมืองเวียนนา ที่สวยละเอียดอ่อน หน้าที่ทำการนี่เองจะมีกิจกรรมต่างๆ มากมายในแต่ละฤดู

โบสถ์ Votivkircheที่มี 2 ยอด เด่นให้คุณเห็นแต่ไกล

 Wien Universität  ภายในอาคารมหาลัยวิทยาลัยสวยมากๆ หลายๆคนอาจจะไม่ทราบว่า ข้างมีสวนเล็กๆ ตรงกลาง มีที่นั่งอ่านหนังสือ เผ้าสังเกตการสามารถเข้าไปเดินเล่น ผู้เขียนเข้าไปนั่งอ่านหนังสือบ่อยๆ

Schönbrunn พระราชวังเชินบรูนน์ ความภูมิใจที่สำคัญของชาวเวียนนา อาคารด้านหลังสุด ของอุทยาน มีชื่อว่าโกลเรียตต์ บนอาคาร รูปนกอินทรีเหยียบลูกโล ซึ่งสัญลักษณ์ความยิ่งใหญ่แห่งราชวงศ์แฮมส์บวร์ก  และด้านขวาของอุทยานเป็นสวนสัตว้ก่าแก่ที่สุดแห่งหนึ่งในโลก

 Stadt Park สวนสาธารณะ ที่มีรูปปั้นสีทองของ นักแต่งเพลงชื่อดัง Johann Strauß  อีกแห่งที่ต้องมา เมื่อมาเยือนเวียนนา

Prater Park สวนสาธารณะ / สวนสนุกขนาดใหญ Riesenrad ชิงช้ายักษ์อายุร่วม 100ปี  สัญลักษณ์ของเวียนนา อยู่ที่นี่ รอให้คุณมาเยือน

โปรแกรมเที่ยวเวียนนา

I went to the Freer Gallery many times because of its famous Peacock Room and also it has a good collection of Asian art in the U.S.  However, I never paid attention to the window.  I sent a message to the fellow blogger and told her that the header of my blog is actually taken from a picture of the Belvedere window, and I found that the design of window at the Freer Gallery is quite similar to the one in Belvedere Palace. She was very interested to see my blog and the header which she couldn’t find.  I posted my response to her and also in the “about” page of this blog and tried to find more materials about the window.   After having searched for all the relevant materials,  I found it more and more interesting.  That is why I wanted to duplicate this in in a new post to share with more fellow bloggers who may be interested in this similar subject.

Below is the link to Brochure of the Freer Gallery of Art, the Central Courtyard.  Take a look, and see if you find the window.  Do you agree that they are quite similar to the one at Belvedere Palace?   I believe artists inspire each other.

Freer Gallery of Art Brochure

Early start, breakfast on the go. Headed straight to the Schonbrunn palace.

The Schonnbrun Palace

We skipped the interior tour and got lost in the labyrinth. Ben won the race to the heart of the maze but later got disqualified for cheating and paid the highest price – the dreaded ice cream tax.

We walked up to the top of the hill and had a couple of jars in the Gloriette.

Ellen: Kaiser Helles

Ben: Kaiser Dunkel

Once our thirst had been quenched thoughts naturally (in Ellen’s case) turned to that other basic human instinct…food! What were you thinking?!

Throughout the streets it was incredulous to see honest Austrians actually paying money for newspapers being sold off lampposts and magazines remaining in good shape hanging from the windows of the tube.

After wandering around in the midday inferno for about 30 minutes and availing of a free Coke Zero (obligatory product placement for the sponsors) we turned up at the the Gosser Bierklinik which was:

a) Closed

b) Dark and dingy

c) Opposite a construction site

Thanks 1950s Vienna guide book.

Anyway we went to Delia’s and had another dessert coffee (served with a side order of strawberry and cream), a sandwich each and a salad to share. Who knew raspberries were an integral part of an insalata italiana?

Once our appetites were sated we set about the arduous task of making our way to the Belvedere palace before it closed at 6pm.

For dinner we headed to Gustl Bauer for some traditional hearty Austrian fare. Missing the thunderstorm by minutes we arrived at the tavern hidden in the Jewish quarter of the city. Apparently being the current and previous Mayor’s favourite restaurant has not helped with publicity as the restaurant was virtually empty – clearly it is still popular with politicians though, judging by the officious looking elderly gent and his Thai escort who were making awkward conversation at the table next to us.

We ordered Wiener Schnitzel and a Roast Beef dish, accompanied by two pints of Hirter, Ben had the Helles which, although it was nothing special, seemed to disappear in about three gulps so he went back for some more. Ellen had the Dunkel because she fancied a change. The meal came to 50E incl. tip. A phenomenal bargain.

We promised more fountain high jinks later and here they are, look at this photo of a dog refusing to leave the fountain. Needless to say the owner didn’t appreciate Ben laughing out loud and then returning to take a photo. Reports on the news suggest they may still be there now.

With dinner out the way the plan was to walk back to our hotel via 7 Stern Brau brewhouse, recommended by Michael Jackson (not that one, he was more a 5 Alive kinda guy) for it’s vast array of typical beers however, as we neared the Hofburg palace, Ellen couldn’t resist the lure of children screaming and insufferable pop music (who can?) so we took a pit stop in the Volksgarten park to see what was going on.

It turned out that Monday night in Vienna is Swing Night (not swingers, definitely not swingers, at least not for us anyway). We sat outside a random diner in the park and enjoyed a pint of Trumer Pils and Ottakringer Helles. As is fast becoming a regular event Ellen tried both beers, decided she preferred the one Ben ordered and forced the old switcheroo.

To be honest I’m not the “artsy” type who has a great knowledge about Art History.  I do however, appreciate art no matter the artist or the price tag; could be a stunning masterpiece by Klimt or could just as fantastic creative finger painting by my 6 year old son.

The largest collection of Klimt’s work is located in Vienna’s Belvedere Palace, which in my opinion is a attraction in itself.   Two Baroque Palaces, the Upper Palace and Lower Palace are situated on beautiful grounds complete with fountains and immaculately maintained gardens.

The Belvedere Museum shows work from different eras too like Impressionism, Contemporary Art and Medieval are to name a few.   “The Kiss” (below), which is Klimt’s most famous piece used golf leafing combined with oil paint to create a stylish modern look in that time (1907-1908).

If you do visit Vienna I encourage you to designate a half day to visit the Belvedere Palace.  Simply beautiful.

Credits: 1 2

Related articles

• How Klimt’s art got everywhere (bbc.co.uk)

The new Danube

Karlskirche – Church of St. Charles

This week I went to Vienna, Austria to visit my friend Dalia. Having never been to Vienna before, I only ever see Dalia when she makes her annual trip to London for Fashion Week. But I was very excited to go and see Vienna for myself, in the eyes of a local, so jumped at the offer to stay at Dalia’s parent’s house in Vienna.

Vienna is very different to London. If not just because of the architecture which makes you feel like you’re in a fairy-tale, but also the transport which runs all night long on weekends, the cuisine, and even the universities have a very different atmosphere.

I even went to a university party at the University of Vienna. It was supposed to be just for art history students of the University of Vienna but it seemed like every one from universities all over studying whatever were in attendance. The annual party was packed with people drinking outside on the leafy campus until the early hours of the morning. Something of a culture shock is how late Europeans go out. They pre-drink at friend’s places like we do, but then they only go out at about 12am. Any bar before that time is completely dead and empty! And strangely, they only go home after a night out at about 4-6am. (Even typing this is making me feel tired!)

Similarly, another culture shock was just how much they smoke in Austria. It seemed like everyone we met smoked. And the funnest, busiest place to be at a bar was the outside where everyone was smoking. Inside would be empty with only a few bar staff about, whilst everyone congregated and chatted to their friends drinking and smoking outside. Some people never even went inside the bar the whole night and just met their friends outside!

Being a very small city, I was able to see a lot of the sights in one day, with not even that much walking!

My favourite was the Belvedere Palace:

Belvedere Palace

The view of Schonbrunn Palace from the hill

Schonbrunn Palace fountain

Hundertwasserhaus

Dalia and the Russian monument fountain

Vienna architecture

Gender correct transport signs

Stained glass windows in the cathedral

As for food, my favourite dessert was definitely the ‘sacher torte’ which was a chocolate cake with a sort of apricot jam in the middle. It was delicious.

I also got to try various different colas, as very rarely did places actually serve coca-cola.

Sacher torte – the best chocolate cake I’ve ever had!

Fritz-kola

As this is a blog about London, I thought I’d share the little bit of London I found in Vienna:

A little bit of Great Britain in Vienna

And a little bit of London!

My favourite cafe/bar (in Vienna cafes stay open until 12am and serve alcohol and dinner) was a regular haunt of Dalia’s, WerkzeugH, which used to be a tool garage. This unusual little place had a huge outside drinking/eating area full of trees and sofas and odd matching furniture, including: computer desk chairs, plastic stalls and blue couches.

WerkzeugH – a cafe with sofas and trees outside – great for summer drinking.

Dalia at WerkzeugH cafe

I cannot wait to go back to visit Vienna again. I already really miss it. The tap water is better than Evian, the air is fresh and unpolluted, and the transport is so convenient and on time!

I managed to get the most memorable souvenir, a belly button piercing, which Dalia tells me is “very 90s”. I was sober.

Therefore, we thought to be one step ahead of you and create a series of articles with the topic – 5 things to do in the summer in (name of the city) – and help you choose the perfect destination from a list of beautiful and exciting capitals of the world.

We will start this series on the blog with Vienna – an amazing city, full of music, history and exquisite attractions.
This being said, here’s the top five things you should do in the Capital of Austria, when it’s hot outside and the sun is shining bright in the sky.

1. Enjoy a lovely meal

You can’t go to Vienna and not have a taste of its local delicacies and traditional cuisine.  For example, it’s a must to try the Viennese wurst (sausage) – typical specialties are Käsekrainer, Waldviertler and Burenwurst – and the Viennese schnitzel.  For dessert, you can indulge into some Viennese cake and coffee.

You can’t go to Vienna and not have a taste of its local delicacies and traditional cuisine

According to univie.ac.at, Vienna is certainly famous for its coffee houses, an institution founded, according to legend, back in the 16th century. There are actually two kinds: the Kaffeehaus is a place where you drink coffee, read newspapers and spend a lot of time, whereas the Konditorei is more of a pastry shop where they sell coffee and sweet cakes.

Beer lovers may be pleased to note that there are a number of beer gardens catering for all those who’re not too partial to wine. The best-known and probably most popular is in the former Swiss pavillon of the 1873 World Fair, the Schweizerhaus in the Prater.

2. Walk

Vienna is a romantic city with beautiful parks and old castles. The best part is that most of the city’s attractions are located within walking distance in or around Innere Stadt.

Start your journey in Stephansplatz, where you can also enjoy a ride on a horse drawn carriage

Start your journey in Stephansplatz, where you can also enjoy a ride on a horse drawn carriage. Afterwards, you can continue your walk to – park’s Café Maierei, where live music is often performed, Stadtpark-not only is this a pleasant place to stroll through, the Stadtpark is also home to Vienna’s famous golden Johann Strauss statue and Judenplatz – formerly part of the city’s Jewish area, the main point of interest is the Holocaust memorial, created by British designer Rachel Whiteread.

3. Visit

You should definitely take a trip to the Schonbrunn Palace – one of Vienna’s most popular attractions, this lavish palace has been a tourist attraction since 1860, shortly after the end of the Austrian monarchy.

Schonbrunn Palace - one of Vienna’s most popular attractions

While you’re here, don’t forget to visit the Zoo and meet all the exotic animals. Also, visit the Jewish Museum. This 10-year-old museum tells the story of Viennese Jews through a fascinating mix of permanent and temporary exhibitions – plus a viewable storage area offers a glimpse of those archived items not on display in the main museum.

Another superb attraction is Stephan’s Dome and the Belvedere Palace, where you can find an impressive array of Austrian art from such renowned artists as Gustav Klimt and Oskar Kokoschka.

Belvedere Palace

4. Shop

If you want to experience the true Viennese shopping frenzy, you must go to Mariahilfer Strasse – a veritable shopping mile with an excellent selection, stretching for about 2 km, according to univie.ac.at.

To experience the joys of the Viennese suburban lifestyle, go to Donauzentrum, the largest shopping mall within the Vienna city boundaries. The Donauzentrum impresses with its sheer size and a large variety of shops that are generally cheaper than those closer to the city centre.

Mariahilfer Strasse - a veritable shopping mile with an excellent selection

However, if you fancy window shopping or luxury shops, then you should go to Graben, Kohlmarkt and Kärntner. The pedestrian areas here are mostly frequented by tourists; the Viennese generally shop elsewhere.

For a more picturesque atmosphere, you should visit the two most famous markets of the city, Naschmarkt and Brunnenmarkt.

5. Have fun at Prater

According to somethingjewish.co.uk, this massive theme park has more than enough rides, sideshows and other entertainments to keep the whole family amused, but its star attraction is the famous Riesenrad – the giant Ferris wheel which was a focal point of the classic Orson Welles film the Third Man and provided the blueprint for the London Eye.

Prater used to be the Imperial hunting ground until Emperor Joseph II

The interesting fact about this place is that Prater used to be the Imperial hunting ground until Emperor Joseph II opened it to the public in the 18th century.

In 1873, it housed the World Fair, and today part of it is a funfair, and the other part is a quiet stretch of parkland frequented by families, joggers and just about everyone longing for a bit of relaxation.

Now that I think about it, caught up might not be the best way to describe it, as this trip ended almost two weeks ago. So I’ve really got this trip, plus two weeks of adventures in Prague to talk about. Hmm. That’s too much for one post, so I’ll just cover the five day tour of Central Europe.

The tour started bright and early the morning of Friday, March 30th (yeah, I am far behind). We (this was the USAC study tour, so there were about 50 of us) hopped on our luxury motor coach and departed Prague. A little background on the tour. It was designed as a “study tour,” which means that writing a paper or journal about the trip could earn you one credit. As Davidson exists in its own little world there’s no way for me to take one credit, so I just came along for the journey. The tour was loosely structured to exhibit important places of cultural crossroads in Central Europe, a crossroad in itself.

Our first stop on Friday was at the Maiden Castle (Dívcí Kámen in Czech), a set of medieval ruins overlooking the Vltava River. We got a short history lesson on the castle and stopped to take pictures of the ruins for only about half an hour, but that was more than enough.

What is left of the Maiden Castle.

Our next stop was the delightful little town of Cesky Krumlov, where we spent the rest of the day and night. Lunch was on us (yay schnitzel!), and then we toured the Castle, which was small but beautifully decorated. One of the highlights was the bear moat. Where most castles have, you know, water in their moats, Cesky Krumlov has bears. The reason the castle has bears is that during the Middle Ages, the rulers of the castle fabricated a relationship to the Italian Orsini family. Orsini is Italian for bear, so to strengthen this false claim, the Czechs put bears in the moat. The legacy has remained, and now the city actually has a bear breeding center. You can’t make this stuff up.

Cesky Krumlov Castle.

And when the bears die, they make them into rugs. We saw at least 10 bear skin rugs in the Castle.

That night we had dinner at the Eggenberg Brewery, which is located right in town. It’s pretty darn good beer. The rest of the night’s activities included a program-lead night walk (not the best plan after dinner at a brewery), and then a non-program sanctioned evening in the local pub, carousing with friends, and singing Czech folk songs and Adele. All in all, a good way to start the trip.

We woke up Saturday and departed for Vienna, which was a couple of hours away. Our first stop was the Schönbrunn Palace. It’s the former summer/luxury house of the Austrian royal family, and is massive. We didn’t actually go in the palace, but walked through its gardens, which gave us a sense of its grandeur. The gardens are perfectly manicured and chock-full of sculpture. One of the coolest sculptures is The Roman Ruin, a sculpture built in a pre-ruined state, as a homage to sculpture from antiquity. If that sounds confusing (it is), here’s a picture of:

The Roman Ruin.

After checking into our hostel in Vienna, we were given the evening off to explore the city at our leisure. Vienna is a really pretty city. The buildings are massive and sumptuously decorated, which reflects the imperial taste of the city. Exploring the city was nice and all, but the highlight (or maybe lowlight) of the city was what we did for dinner. Our hostel had ads for the “Beer Factor XXL,” which I could just not pass up. So I rounded up three of my friends, and we headed out looking to tackle some XXL sized plates. Warning: the following pictures may not be suitable for children or the squeamish. You’ve been warned.

Why yes, that is a 9-foot long bratwurst and 1 pound of french fries!

Why yes, that is a platter with 4.5 pounds of chicken wings, onion rings, and potato wedges!

Where'd it all go? And to top it off, we got dessert as well.

We stumbled back to our hostel in a food coma, and proceeded to pass out for the rest of the evening.

Sunday morning rolled around and I felt like I had consumed a small child the night before (which depending on the size of the child is a distinct possibility). A breakfast of three cups of coffee had me feeling a little better, so we got back on the bus to check out the Belvedere Palace gardens, which were nice, but honestly not that different from the gardens at the Schönbrunn Palace. After freezing outside in the gardens for a while (it actually snowed!), we got back on the bus to Vienna, where we visited the Leopold Museum. I was fairly impressed with the museum, which has one of the largest Klimt collections in the world and THE largest Egon Schiele (a Austrian modern artist) collection in the world. Some of it is a little dark, but if you’re interested, the paintings are really emotional and expressive.

Leaving Vienna, our next stop was Budapest, the capital of Hungary. Before we got there, we made a stop at Pannonhalma, the oldest abbey in Hungary (founded 996), a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the trip’s highlights for me. It was a really beautiful, peaceful, and spiritual place, and the young monk who gave us our tour did the place justice. Continuing the theme of cultural crossroads, the abbey is doubly remarkable because it sits basically smack dab in the center of Central Europe, and has seen more than its fair share of history. It’s the kind of place you would never even know existed, but is one hundred percent worth visiting.

Pannonhalma (Say that 5 times fast).

The distances from the Abbey to major European capitals.

We made it to Budapest later that afternoon and immediately went on a walking tour of the city. Even at night, Budapest was beautiful. It’s build on two hills on the opposite sides of the river, which really opens the city up and makes it feel a lot bigger than it actually is.

On Monday, our first stop was the world famous Széchenyi Spa, a complex of thermal baths and saunas that was really enjoyable and relaxing. I tried out a steam room there, and am impressed to say that I lasted for probably 3-4 minutes a one time. We stayed at the Spa for a couple of hours, then left to go on a walking tour of the city. We saw all of the one day “must sees,” including St. Stephen’s Basilica, the Parliament Building, the Alexandra Cafe, the Chain Bridge, and the Millenary Memorial. I also wandered off on my own to visit the Dohány Synagogue, the second largest Synagogue in the world. My personal and biased favorite was St. Stephen’s Basilica, because it was breathtaking, and they’ve got the mummified right hand of King Stephen, the first king of Hungary. What’s not to like?

Inside St. Stephen's Basilica.

The reliquary with the mummified hand.

The entrance to the Dohány Synagogue. More cultural crossroads: its interior is laid out like a Roman Catholic church, and it wasn't designed by Jews.

The next day, Tuesday, was sadly the final day of our exciting five-day excursion. We still had a couple of places to see, so we departed Budapest early in the morning and made it to Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia, a couple of hours later. We had free time to walk around Bratislava, as well as get some lunch. I have to say that Bratislava was not particularly impressive. I probably would have liked it on its own, but after Vienna and Budapest, it just seemed lacking. It was also the last city we visited, and I think many of us were eager to get back to Prague. I did like the quirky street art/sculpture sprinkled around the city center, most of which poked fun at the country’s Soviet-sympathizing past.

Like this guy. Someone's always watching.

After Bratislava, we made a quick and final stop at Devín Castle, which was built at the confluence of the Danube and Morava rivers as a strategic defensive point. It was a nice way to close the trip and mirrored the first castle we visited.

Ok, that’s a wrap on the five day trip! If I had to go back to any of the cities, I would go to Budapest first and spend a couple more days there. I wasn’t expecting anything from the city, and was thoroughly impressed with its history, culture, and the warmness of its people.

Happy reading!

What I like about Europe is, beautiful parks and gardens are accessible to the public. We were just walking around the area of our hotel when we saw this palace. It had huge gates which was actually open and people are walking/cycling past thru it – we went in of course and only found out that it’s one of Vienna’s many palaces-turned-museum when we saw a signage inside. The palace was closed when we went there so we were not able to go inside the museums and just roamed around the grounds. I later found out that the museum houses the work of Gustav Klimt – “The Kiss”. Now, I’m not really the artsy type and I just saw one of its posters from a friend’s living room.

The Kiss

The museum is must-see for all your art lovers as per my art-lover friend.

The Austrian flag as seen flying on the top of the Belvedere Palace in Vienna (where I went to see a Gustav Klimt and Josef Hoffmann exhibition). I’m always fascinated by architectural details, as seen on the coat of arms in this photograph. The  colour of the sky has not been tampered with in post-production; this was me just fiddling around with a few settings before taking the photograph.

We booked a tour of the city of Vienna and the bus came right to the campground to pick us up.   We had a great tour with a very knowledgeable tour guide, who knew everything about Vienna.  One of our stops was for a tour of Schonbrunn Castle, where we stayed for about an hour.  The grounds were gorgeous and the rooms were absolutely amazing.  It seems we also stopped at Belvedere Palace, but I have written nothing other than we walked around there.  I did take a picture that is labeled Belvedere Palace – not sure why I have nothing from Schonbrunn Castle though.

The tour bus took us back to the campground again and we watched for awhile as the campers began piling in for the night.   Then I walked over the the office to get information on seeing the Lipizzaner Stallions.  Instead of answering me, the guy started chasing me around his office.    He was acting pretty strange and scared me a bit, so I got out the door as soon as I could.  His parting words were that he would be over to our tent later on.

It started raining soon after that and luckily, he didn’t come over.   The campground had filled up even more while I was gone and I’m sure the tents were even closer together tonight than they were last night.  We talked a bit to some of the people in the nearby tents, and I’m sure they would have come over to help if this guy had come out to bother us.

Belvedere Palace

I don’t know who the man is and what he is doing in my picture 

Today was June 24, 1975.

We were up early and off to take the metro over to the water to catch our hydrofoil to Budapest. We briefly stopped at Mexicoplaza so that I could take more architecture photos and then waited to board the hydrofoil. We had been worried about the 5-hour ride in the heat, but quickly felt relieved as we found seats in the air-conditioned cabin.  Almost immediately we spent thirty minutes in the channel to empty the water and lower our boat to another section of the river (I took video). Though we didn’t stop, we did take photos of Bratislava as we sailed by. The hydrofoil is a great trip one way, and then I’d suggest catching the train on the way home.

It was hot hot hot when we arrived in Budapest and we immediately found an Asian sandwich shop for me to grab something quick, then we hopped on the No. 7 bus to Blaha Lujza ter where our apartment was. Renting an apartment in Europe is a great way to go, especially if you have food issues like I do. It is also good for the budget and we lucked out with an apartment in the center of “Pest.” We spent the afternoon on the “Pest” side, which began with checking in and cooling down in the apartment with much needed air conditioning before venturing back out into the city.  FYI – Budapest embraces air conditioning, so when one feels a little overheated it is possible to duck into a store for a little shopping…

We took the tram and jumped off in the opera section of Pest, wandered through cute shops and cafés and finally stopped to sample a local beer at an outdoor café before making our way to Oktober street to have dinner at the “Hummus” restaurant. Great food, then a quick stop at a grocery store on the way back to grab breakfast for the next morning. In our hot and tired state it took a little longer to get on the correct Metro home, lol. Upon arriving at Blaha Lujza ter I was greeted by the “Golden Arches” and a giggle reminder that had Jen and I saying “Mc Donalds: NO!” As our host had pointed out that that was the wrong direction to our apartment. There were still plenty of people out enjoying the city as we settled in for the night.

We slept until around 10am. After purchasing a 24-hour ticket (also good for our return train in the morning) we headed to Deak Ter to catch a metro to the Elizabeth Bridge, a bus over the bridge, and a crazy little bus ride up to the Citadel. The view from the Citadel was amazing, a panorama of Pest from the Buda side.  We enjoyed lunch with a view fans blowing the air to try and keep some of the heat away at the Citadel café.

We managed to catch the correct tram back to the Pest side of the river, a quick ride on the Metro and we were at our final destination – the Szechenyi baths.

Taking a plunge in room after room of mineral water baths at different temperatures, from 20 degrees Celsius to 38 degrees Celsius, felt amazing after a long week of relentless heat. The large pool area outside was a fun stop as well, and the center of the pool had this little round about whirlpool that sent you rushing around the circle.

We returned to the apartment in the evening to drop our shopping bags and then headed to a local Indian Restaurant: “Shalimar Indian Restaurant Budapest” (yum-o). We headed back toward the square for our final stop at a local pub for a beverage and some people watching out the window of the bar. The next morning we caught the train to Vienna.

We arrived in Vienna mid-day and walked to The Red Carpet Hostel where we had a private room. It looked like an old hotel that had been converted to a hostel, but seemed to have an older crowd than the Wombat. We checked in, dropped the bags and took the U-Bahn to Stephanplatz Square (named after Stephansdom cathedral) for an Italian lunch, a little sightseeing and shopping. You can’t walk a block without running into a living version of Mozart, and there are too many Mozart stores to count. The history and architecture is fabulous. We walked around for hours and then took a forty-minute carriage ride through the streets.  We stumbled across a Mandarin restaurant and had dinner, took the metro back to the hostel, had a few cocktails in the bar and went to sleep.

The next morning we had breakfast, packed up and went to the train station to store all of stuff before heading over to the Belvedere Palace to enjoy the architecture and the museum. There is an Upper and Lower Palace that were built in the 18^th century as a summer residence for Prince Eugene if Savoy with gardens and many fountains. In the afternoon, we headed back to Stephanplatz for lunch and some final shopping, and then hopped on the ICE train back to Germany around 4:30pm. I was ready for my day off before heading to Poland…

I had two wonderful days wandering around the city, and finishing up my Austrian experience on a right note at the Hofburg Orchestra concert. Being an avid listener of classical music, being surrounded by so many concert halls, opera houses and musicians has definitely been the highlight of my stay in Vienna. If you have a chance, make sure you grab a sachertorte at Demel. I would have definitely missed out on this delightful dessert and newfound adoration for Eiskaffees without the ever so thankful recommendation of my elementary teacher. Thank you!

• The legendary Empress Maria Theresa, the mother of Marie Antoinette
• Belvedere Palace:  famous for its gardens and observatory
• Kunsthistorisches Museum:  fine art picture gallery, as well as antiquities
• Naturhistorisches Museum:  for paleontology and nature

Preview and Buy and the 2011 Red Map Vienna

– Lower Belvedere หรือ ปราสาทเบลเวเดียร์ล่าง ส่วนนี้เคยเป็นที่ประทับส่วนพระองค์ของเจ้าชายยูจีน ปัจจุบัน เปิดเป็นพิพิธภัณฑ์จัดแสดงศิลปะออสเตรีย ตั้งแต่ยุคกลางจนถึงยุคปัจจุบัน  ค่าเข้าชม ส่วนนี้ 8 ยูโร.

- Upper Belvedere หรือปราสาทเบลเวเดียร์บน ส่วนนี้ทั้งหรูหราสง่างามกว่า ใช้เป็นที่รับรองแขกจัดงานเลี้ยงรื่นเริงสังสรรค์ รอบๆ อาคารประดับด้วยรูปปั้นสฟิงค์ ซึ่งถือได้ว่าแปลกไปกว่าที่อื่นๆ  จากส่วนนี้มองไปด้านล่างจะเห็นทัศนียภาพที่สวยงามทีเดียว ปัจจุบันเป็นพิพิธภัณฑ์จัดแสดงภาพเขียน ออสเตรียนแกลเลอรี (Österreichische Galerie หรือ Austrian Gallery)  ซึ่งถือว่าเป็นพิพิธภัณฑ์ภาพเขียนที่สำคัญที่สุดแห่งหนึ่งของโลก  จัดแสดงผลงานภาพเขียนของศิลปินดังๆ หลายท่านรวมทั้งศิลปินชาวออสเตรียน กุสตาฟ คลิมท์ (Gustav Klimt) ภาพเขียนที่โด่งดังที่สุดในพิพิธภัณฑ์แห่งนี้ เป็นภาพวาดแบบอาร์ตนูโวที่ชื่อว่า The Kiss ว่าักันว่าถ้ามาพระราชวังแห่งนี้แล้ว ไม่ได้เข้าชมภาพ “The Kiss”  ถือว่ามาไม่ถึง  ค่าเข้าชมส่วนนี้ 8 ยูโร

การซื้อบัตรเข้าชม ควรเลือกแบบเบ็ดเสร็จ 13.50 ออยโร จะคุ้มกว่าสามารถเข้าชมได้ทั้ง 2ส่วน

The city of Vienna was totally different from Venice but is exactly the same as Munich. I had a feeling of dejavu and remembered my stay in Munich last year, it was the saddest place I went to. Haha. Traffic was heavy so we arrived at Lindner Hotel Am Belvedere an hour after. The hotel was really very nice and was centrally located although the people at the hotel were not as warm as that of Bauer hotel in Italy. After about 2 hours of nap time (too long for a nap hey?) we explored the streets of Vienna. We looked for a Chinese place to have our lunch but the nearest Chinese restaurant from our hotel was still closed so we settled for Burger King. After the meal, we walked around Belvedere road and came across a really nice park. We went in and found out that it was the famous Belvedere Palace. IT’s nice because you don’t have to pay for entrance fees to go in the gardens of this palace. They have to have some sort of source of income to keep these gardens beautifully maintained but anyway, that’s Europe. They preserve their history unlike Filipinos. In the Philippines, you have to pay for every park that you will go to only to find a filthy place inside. Sad truth.

Belvedere Palace

This whole day was just an exploration of the streets of Vienna, we just kept on walking and walking without any idea where we’re headed to. Took photos of buildings, fountains and people out of curiosity – little do we know that those buildings were holding a part of the history of Vienna. We will soon find those out the next day during our Vienna City tour. At about 10pm, after eating our overpriced Chinese dinner we were already too tired and would love to be in the comforts of our bed but we can’t seem to find the way going back to the hotel. A man in bike who looked like Josh Groban asked us if we need help, that’s how lost we looked like. Haha. We didn’t need to ask the gentleman for directions he already offered it to us. The hotel was just 2 blocks from where we were standing he said, glad that we were on the right track.

Arrived at the hotel with aching legs, took a hot shower and dozed off to sleep. The next day will be long for us that’s for sure.