Wien, Austria

Wien, Austria

Home of the Habsburgs and capital of the Austrian empire, Vienna is a beautiful city, rich in culture and history. There is no shortage of sights, performances, museums and of course- cafes.

Of interest:

° Stephansdom - this Gothic cathedral is a landmark of Vienna

° Mozart's Apartment - near Stephansdom, entrance 25 ATS (less than $2)

° Schloss Schoenbrunn - a beautiful palace, surrounded by beautiful gardens, fountains and the Gloriette on top of the hill. It is possible to tour 22 or 40 state rooms, with guide, audio guide, or self-guided, the 40-room audio guide runs about ATS140. Mozart is said to have played here at age six.

° Schloss Belvedere - another beautiful palace with beautiful gardens as well as art galleries (ATS 60)

° Hofburg (the Imperial Palace) & Kaiserappartements. You can visit the living quarters for ATS 70, and see the Crown Jewels in the Schatzkammer for ATS 80. It is also home of the Burgkappelle, where the Viennese Boys' Choir sings mass on Sundays and holidays.

° The Lipizzaner Museum and Spanishe Reitschule (Spanish Riding School) - You can see morning training sessions of the Lipizzaner Stallions from 10 a.m. to 12 noon at the Spanische Reitschule for ATS 100, and with a slightly more expensive combo ticket also see the Lipizzaner Museum.

° Hundertwasser Haus - Untere Weissgerberstrasse 13 - a whimsical modern house designed by Hundertwasser to showcase his own art, the house is interesting in itself.

° Our favorite museum was in the Neueburg of the Hofburg. It was a museum of medieval armor, probably the largest collection of its kind, but the building also houses a museum of musical instruments. You can get a set of headphones and wander from room to room looking at the instruments - the narrative is in German but more importantly, different music is played according to the instruments of the room.

° Also, heurigen (wine gardens) are another thing for which Vienna is known. We went to one called Weingut Wolf, which was in the nearby suburb of Neustift. In town the Esterhazy Keller at Haarhof 1 is suggested.

Preferred Cafes:

° Gloriette - in the Gloriette at Schloss Schoenbrunn - glorious view

° Demel - Kohlmarkt 14 - desserts and more desserts, you can sit on the beautiful inside, or if it's nice, in the tables outside

° Cafe Central - Herrengasse 14 - Trotsky came here

° Cafe Dom - by Stephansdom- Stephansplatz 9- new but luxe setting, sit on the couch and take tea with their beautiful china

° Hotel Sacher - Philharmonikerstrasse 14 - home of the Sacher Tort

° Cafe Europa - Kartnerstrasse 18

There is a more complete listing (but without descriptions) at the following site:

http://www.austrogast.at/lokale/index/wien1.htm

More pictures will follow in August if not sooner.

For a better view of each picture, double click on the thumbnail.

Links

For general Austria tourism information:

http://www.anto.com/

For music performances:

http://www.konzerthaus.at/

http://www.musikverein-wien.at/

http://www.wiener-staatsoper.at