Dinner in Vienna With the World's Most Huggable Man

Last weekend we headed out to Vienna. Most of what we know about Vienna comes for a series of books set before World War One in which a psychiatrist and a police detective solve crimes whilst eating lots and lots of pastries. Surprisingly it mostly met our expectations, minus the ritual murders. We were struck when we arrived by how super modern the airport and train station were and even had a sit-down dinner to try to embrace the cafe culture of the city. Unlike in Munich, we managed to find the hotel without any hi jinks, though we did have to walk around the block to find the entrance.

Out first day was planned for lots of walking and the weather played along beautifully. We started with a self guided city walk, taking us by the very striking war memorial. It turns out that Austria (and Vienna in particular) were mad for Nazism, so the reminder probably does them good. Having spent much of our travels this year in nations that were strongly on the wrong side of World War 2 has actually been pretty thought provoking. I know that there are darker times in American history as well, but the fact that the holocaust could happen continues to confound me.

We paused for coffee and a snack, then it was onward to a tower climb at the main church in the center of town, St Stephens. It was a nice climb and afforded good views of the city and of the cool tiles roof of the church (which, naturally, was bombed in World War II and then replaced later.)

Inside, the church was Gothic and cool, with the highlight being an ornately carved pulpit. They also had some amazing stained glass, though there was no chance of my photos of that coming out. All this sightseeing made us hungry, so it was time for another snack, this time pretzel bread rolls. So good.

Our next stop on our walk was the baroque church of St. Peter. We see very few baroque churches, so this one stood out to us quite a bit. It was very ornate, and had many small and large details that reminded us of ornately carved ships like you would see in a pirate movie. With all of the churches that we have seen in Europe and England, it always amazes us to see one that feels totally different and new to us.

We finished up the walk by passing through the grounds if the Habsburg palace, which we would visit on Sunday. This is a whole compound of palaces, government buildings, and museums built by a family that ruled the region for hundreds of years. Both the reign and the palace were quite impressive. Lunch was a fun adventure. The place had a display case full of open-face sandwiches consisting of bread rectangles spread with various fillings. You pick out the three or four that strike you and then shoulder your way to a table. We also got a pfif each, which was a small beer served in a cup-sized beer mug. Fun!

After lunch we took advantage of the weather with a long walk in the park which turned into a walk by a series of ever growing canals. The first was so small and had so little water that I expected to see T-birds racing hot rods down it. At one point I pointed out a duck struggling against the current, only to realized he was standing in ankle deep (to him) water. Stupid duck. We grabbed a refreshing and gigantic glass of wine in the evening, and were still tipsy for dinner, which was at a nice restaurant in the old greenhouse of the Habsburg palace. The highlight was the wine-induced people watching. A man walked in the door early in the meal and was hugged by no fewer than five employees and two patrons. Oh, the time we had, the worlds most hug-able (and second most rub-able!) man and I. At least in the stories I annoyed Mary with.

And now my Tripadvisor review of sitting in a hotel bathroom in Vienna trying to quietly fix a broken production job at two in the morning: Not recommended.

Day two found rain in the air, so we planned for two indoor activities: Museums and cafes. The entire morning was spent in the various museums of the Habsburg palace, and started with the treasury. Unlike the one in Munich, this one was as focused on volume as it was on historical significance. We generally aren't big ones for bling, but seeing so much of it laid out in one place is pretty striking. It's also the only museum where we could take pictures, sadly. From the treasury we went through an interesting and long exhibit on Sisi, the tragic wife of Emperor Franz Joseph I. That spilled out into the royal apartments, which were pretty standard-issue as those things go but still a nice display. They seemed to have more of the original furnishings than some others we had seen, so that was cool.

Having had a fair amount of history at this point, but still having some time before we needed to leave, I convinced Mary into hitting the museum of modern art with me. I am pretty convinced she only gave in because it was called 'MOMAK'. We had a nice time and I was incredibly taken with the building, which was very striking. Sadly, I didn't take any pictures of it at the time so here is a collage of signs and pavement markings that amused us during our visit. Overall it was a great trip. The city was hugely walkable, we had great weather for our outdoor day, and the cafes delivered both great coffee and great pastries.