Day 15: Travel Day
Welcome
Yesterday we traveled to Vienna, capital of the Republic of Austria and home of the Hapsburg monarchy.
The Kranhalle staff had left us a generous spread from which I assembled myself the plate you see below. Included are cured meats, whole cheese, holed cheese, various vegetables with various houmouses, gherkin, and a bread roll.
The drive to Vienna took us the best part of the day and was fairly boring. Austria’s countryside is extremely handsome but the pleasantness of the surroundings were countered by frustration at the constant ballet of trucks leap-frogging and blocking lanes.
A typical moment on our drive. Rich farmland, rolling hills, and a healthy procession of trucks.
Lunch stop.
We arrived at our hotel late in the afternoon and took a short time to freshen up before heading into the city centre by way of Vienna’s excellent metro system. There are far too many impressive sights to see in Vienna - a consequence of it being the capital of one of the richest and most powerful empires that Europe has ever seen. We rationed ourselves to a couple of locations, the first being the Hofburg palace which was built in the 13th century and expanded many times in subsequent years. It has 2600 rooms, and covers 240,000 m² with it’s 18 wings and 19 courtyards. The palace housed the Hapsburg dynasty for 600 years and now serves as the official seat for the Austrian head of state.
The Hofburg.
Prince Eugen statue commemorating the famous military commander who turned the tide against the Ottoman army at the Siege of Vienna.
Not far from this site are two nearly identical buildings which house the natural history museum and the fine arts museum, both commissioned by Emperor Franz Joseph and completed in 1891.
Naturhistorisches Museum Wien.
After the sun set we made our way across town to meet a colleague for dinner accompanied by a couple of the delicious local beers which went a long way in assisting the next phase of the evening which we call ‘going to bed at a reasonable hour’.
Fast and cheap public transport. Underground trains run 24 hrs a day with a 3 minute frequency during peak hours.
The rather horrific mirror in our hotel elevator.