In the spring of 2011 we reached the city of Vienna after a long car journey of more than nine hours. We have rented an apartment in the suburbs and thanks to the navigation we drive straight to it. We don’t immediately find what we see of the suburb appealing. Houses and businesses are mixed together, which gives a somewhat chaotic impression. Presumably, businesses have been placed haphazardly in open spaces between the houses of old residential areas. Beautiful is different, but let’s move on: we care about the city center and we are going there tomorrow. First we have to go to the information center to collect some information about Vienna and buy a public transport card. We want to save some money on our own car.
High tide in Vienna?
Our apartment is located in the ‘Hochwasserstrasze’ and we wonder what the name has to do with it. There appears to be a small stream running along that probably can no longer get rid of its water every now and then when there is a lot of rain and then overflows. Across the street from our apartment is a beautiful, tall lawn, where construction is not allowed. The apartment is not too bad: an efficient design with all the trimmings and, above all, clean. There is a tiny front garden with some sun loungers and a seat. We don’t need anything more.
Vienna and the origin of its name
The city of Vienna owes its name (Wien) to the river ‘Wien’ that runs through the middle of the city. This river originates in the Wienerwald, a forest area just outside Vienna. It flows into the Danube Canal within Vienna. The Wien and the Danube have caused Vienna a lot of flooding in the past. The bed of the Wien has been greatly raised in the past and the additional Danube canal has also been dug to better monitor and control the water supply. Especially the Danube, the old Danube (an old, crooked course of the river within Vienna) offers citizens and tourists pleasant places to rest.
Accessibility of the city center
We buy weekly tickets for tram, bus and metro transport. That is the best solution to see Vienna. This way, for relatively little money per person, we can travel around by bus, tram and metro all week and get off where we want. Ideal, because parking spaces are scarce, especially during the week. However, on Sundays it is not that bad and even the city center is easily accessible by car. The parking garages are not as full on Sundays as during the week.
The Karlskirche
On Sunday we park our car in a parking garage near the Karlskirche. Public transport’s weekly tickets run from Monday to Sunday, so ours only starts tomorrow. We enter the church, but an entrance fee is charged and since we cannot yet estimate exactly what the entrance to the Hofburg and other important monuments will cost us, we leave this church unseen for a while, although the information in our booklet shows that it must be worth it.
The first impression of Vienna is excellent
Vienna turns out to be a very friendly and pleasant city. Anyone who stays there for more than a day learns to love it. Some may find it a bit old-fashioned, but the city takes its residents and visitors into account. There are benches everywhere, there are more beautiful and well-kept parks to admire and rest in than in many other cities and the number of parks with playground equipment is also more than sufficient. There is a pleasant atmosphere. When the weather is good, people sit everywhere on benches, eating, reading books or just enjoying themselves.
The Schwarzenbergplatz
We walk across the Schwarzenbergplatz, where people cool off at the fountain. It is pleasantly busy and that is no wonder. The square is surrounded by a number of striking buildings, including the Schwartzenberg Palace and the French Embassy.
A funny musician
A musician has installed himself behind the fountain. We continue to listen for a while, but although his pieces are recognizable, his sense of time is abysmal, although he plays a tape as extra help. However, something is wrong and sometimes it even hurts the ears. Only the Russian song Kalinka comes out reasonably well. The rest sound bored and uninterested. Still, he gets money in his pocket, but we suspect that this is more for the effort than for the quality of his music.
The Belvedere Palace
The Belvedere Palace is located close to Schwarzenberg Square and actually consists of two palaces; the upper and lower palace. On the slope between the two palaces is an extensive, tightly organized garden with precisely pruned boxwoods, beautiful marble statues and beautiful fountains.
Nice city for people who have difficulty walking
There are many rest benches, allowing the elderly and disabled to walk in the city. Especially on the sides and from the upper palace, a fairly good view over part of the city is possible. The upper palace is the main building. The lower palace now houses a museum, which of course requires an entrance fee, but at the same time offers a number of beautiful halls to admire. The project was built by an army general who defeated and drove back the Turks in front of the city in 1683.
The Botanical Garden of Vienna
Next to the front garden of the upper palace is the beautiful botanical garden that was created as a medicinal herb garden by Empress Maria Theresia and her Dutch personal physician. In contrast to the sleek gardens of the Belvedere Palace, this is a lush, peaceful garden that has nothing pompous about it, but instead comes across as a beautiful park for walking and relaxing, while also offering some plant knowledge. The citizens of Vienna also use the garden as a resting point. The traffic of the city seems far away here. Here too there are plenty of benches, where people sit to read or rest.
The Sacher
We’re going to have a coffee in the café of the Sacher hotel, because seeing Vienna and not eating a Sachertorte there is not an option. We are pleasantly surprised. Not because of the price of coffee and cake, because that is considerable, but because of the atmosphere and the beautiful decor. I have to go to the toilet, which to my surprise is clean, but very limited in space. Only a narrow corridor leads to it, where two people can hardly pass each other. Funny!
Nice coffee and cake
The little coffee tastes good and the cake is fine, especially because of the fine, thick layer of chocolate on top. The layer of apricot jam with Kirsch is thin, but tastes good. Our opinion is good, but not euphoric, although the stately entourage does have something.
A city tour
Thanks to our weekly ticket, we can take the bus to the center. We get off at Karlsplatz, where we take the metro to the Schottenkwartier. There we first take the tram to drive around the city. In this way we pass the beautiful parliament, built in German style, and the beautiful city hall of Vienna, which looks like a cathedral with its high tower. A little further on we pass the Hundertwasserhaus. We would like to take a look there and at the end of the journey we immediately take the tram that goes back there.
The Hundertwasserhaus
The Hundertwasserhaus is really worth the extra stop. It looks fantastic. Not only because of its architecture and its brightly colored walls and balconies, but also because of the vegetation with plants, shrubs and even trees on top of the roof. The windows differ in size, which matches the asymmetrical shapes of the walls, balconies and roof parts. The house was designed by the famous architect Hundertwasser for social housing. Next to the house is a brightly colored fountain, completely in Hundertwasser style. The Hundertwasserhaus is special, challenging and very fun to see. This architect, who only died about ten years ago, had knowledge of constructions, an artistic streak, imagination and courage.
You should take your time for the Naschmarkt
We get back on the tram and drive to the training for artists. Here we pass the Secsessionshaus, built by artists in the Art Nouveau style, with the artistically openwork, golden globe on the roof above the entrance with the saying below: Der Zeit Ihre Kunst. Der Kunst Ihre Freiheit. We reach the Naschmarkt, which lives up to its name. You can get almost everything there, from all kinds of nuts, raisins and olives to meat, fish, cheese, flowers, sweets and all processed tasty variants thereof. There is coffee, wine and beer available and there are small restaurants with food from almost all parts of the world. Behind the Naschmarkt there is another flea market, but we will ignore it, because there are many more important things to discover here and our time is limited.
The Schottenkwartier
In this district we find a lot of beautiful stucco work and especially many varied stucco ornaments. You should actually walk around here with your head held high, because there are many beautiful things to see. We take our time and eat our sandwiches on a bench in a park in the meantime. However, the sky is getting darker. Moreover, we were a bit tired and looked for a spot on a covered terrace. Just in time, because a huge wind comes up and suddenly the water falls from the sky. On the busy square in front of us we see students running back and forth to find shelter from the rain. It takes half an hour, but then it is dry and the sun is shining. The rain visibly evaporates on the stones of the street. Funny. We walk a few more streets and then take the tram and bus back to our apartment.
The center with the fiakers and the Anna Church
Anyone who wants to see the center of Vienna should really take a walk, because there are some buses here and there, but you can’t really get everywhere by bus. There are many fiakers (carriages with horses in front) that make a nice tour from St. Stephen’s Cathedral, but we save the considerable amount per person. We’d rather go there for something to eat and drink. We walk through the Annagasse and find the Annakerk wedged between the buildings. Anyone who loves gold and gilded stucco work should definitely take a look there. The church is practically covered in gold. Some statues of saints are gilded from top to bottom, as are many of the ornaments. Sometimes it really seems like too much of a good thing and we look for St. Stephen’s Cathedral in a daze.
Stephen’s Cathedral
This cathedral is located in the middle of the busy center and boasts a beautiful glazed mosaic roof, as one also sees in Switzerland. However, the church is covered in scaffolding and is currently being restored, as are many buildings in the center of Vienna. Inside we are surprised by the hustle and bustle and a tangle of colors. There are no lights on, but the windows are covered with orange, blue and red cloths, creating an incredible kaleidoscope of colors. The church itself is fantastic, but we can’t walk around it. A fence shields the nave of the church from tourists. Only the Lady Chapel and the small chapel across the street can be reached for prayer. We leave the church, where on the left the fiakers are even double-parked waiting for customers, and walk through a number of fairly quiet streets to the Dominican Church.
The Dominican Church
Another beautiful church that is more than worth a visit. By the way, those are all the churches in Vienna. This Jesuit church, which is located in the middle of the monastery buildings of the order, is also very elaborately decorated on the inside. The Jesuits are still there, judging by the nameplates on the surrounding buildings.
The Hofburg
We have a drink on a terrace and then walk to our main goal for today: the Hofburg. What a vast complex! We pay the entrance to the museum and to the rooms of Sissi and Frans Joseph, after which we are allowed inside. We are amazed by the enormous number of beautiful tableware of the best make from all kinds of countries. We discover gold and silver cutlery, enormous gilded table settings, candlesticks and so on. We are amazed. It’s just too much, but we realize that much of this beauty has also been acquired from inheritances and from gifts from other world leaders who wanted to please these rulers, but still! Apparently photography is allowed, which we gratefully take advantage of.
A historical tour through the Palace Chambers
The rooms of the imperial couple on the first floor are also impressive. Everything shows that this was the center of the power of Western Europe at the time, with which all surrounding countries had relations. Chandeliers burn in most rooms and salons. Without lamps the rooms would be quite dark. There is a porcelain stove everywhere, the walls are covered with (recently restored) red brocade and the chairs and sofas are also covered with this. There are embroidered glass curtains in front of the windows, with red brocade curtains on top.
Empress Elizabeth was a child of her time
The natural child from Bavaria, which Empress Elizabeth simply was, could not settle in this dark, oppressive atmosphere with the tightly organized court and traveled as often as she could to her beloved mountains, to Hungary, Venice and wherever else the wind took her. blew away. On her last journey she was murdered by a stab while taking a boat trip on Lake Geneva. Anyone who has seen the chambers of the imperial couple can get a better idea of their lives than just from the romanticized film Sissi.
The stables of the Lipizzaners
We take a look at the stables of the Lipizzaners and receive an explanation of how things work. These thoroughbred horses go on holiday for a few weeks in the summer to tender, green pastures in Styria. Their place in the stables is taken for those weeks by the horses of the fiakers and the police horses. No one knows exactly how long the riding stable has existed. There is only an old document in which the neighborhood complains about the stench of horse manure, from which the age can be somewhat estimated. Yet Lipizzaners have been bred in Vienna for more than 400 years. The riding stables can be viewed for the price of a guided tour and you can also attend the dressage. However, reservations must be made for the latter. Information about this is also available elsewhere on the internet.
Corpus Christi
We give our feet a day of rest and drive by car to the beginning of the Alps. The weather is changeable, but sun is promised. We avoid the highway and drive through various villages, where a Sacrament procession passes through here and there. We have completely forgotten that this is a free Sunday in Austria, as it used to be in the Netherlands. However, we didn’t get any bread and today all shops are closed. Only the Kebab is open, but that doesn’t bother us that much.
Fresh sandwiches at Autohof
We stop at an Autohof and buy some fresh rolls and a package of cheese slices. That tastes great. Back in the Vienna area we drive to the viewpoint on the Kahlenberg, where you have an excellent overview of the big city. Although it is very hazy, we see the Danube arms lying beautifully next to each other. We can also discover the Prater and the center. We also walk into the church on the Kahlenberg. It’s small, but beautiful.
To the Prater
The well-known Prater is located near the exit of Praterstern station. If you enter the Praterterrein from there, you will immediately see the attractions. After all, the Prater is actually a huge fairground with a large park behind it, intended for young and old. Originally it used to be the Imperial hunting ground, but it was opened to the public in the 18th century, who have gratefully used it ever since. Gradually more and more attractions were installed and it became more and more of an amusement park. The famous Ferris wheel stands out above everything, but we also discover an enormously high pole with a float that starts low, but then turns sky-high.
The annual open air concert of the Vienna Philharmonic
The sun is shining now and it is nice and warm. We read something, make our dinner and then we leave for the open air concert of the Vienna Philharmonic in the garden of Schönbrunn Palace, which is freely accessible to all citizens of Vienna as well as tourists. Upon arrival it is already very busy, even though we are already there at seven o’clock. The grass slope near the tea pavilion is already occupied by guests who want to see the ballet on the pond. However, we want to find a spot from which we can watch the orchestra play.
No one is allowed to sit for safety reasons
We brought a chair with us, but soon found out that no one was allowed to sit and the chairs were all ordered behind the cordon. Even sitting on a blanket is not allowed for safety reasons. We understand that, but we think it’s a shame. Later we find out that not only invited guests are allowed to sit on the prepared chairs at the front, but that the last rows can be occupied by the public, if they remain free. The concert is fantastic. All paths of the sleek Baroque gardens are packed with listening people, young and old, who can also follow the concert via two large screens. It looks like Pinkpop, but classic.
Vienna is a fantastic and pleasant city on the much-sung Danube
We really need to go there again. A whole week is not enough to see everything. Schönbrunn Palace and the gardens around it cost more than a whole day and we didn’t get around to that anymore. We were only able to view the Hoftheater from the outside. We have also only seen part of the beautiful churches, monuments and museums. Vienna also has many beautiful and cozy cafes, bakery shops with delicacies and delicious sandwiches, terraces, gardens, statues and so on. We visited the house where Beethoven lived. We would have liked to see the Votive Church, but it turned out to be locked when we got there. It’s too much to mention, but well worth a trip.