Vienna, Part 2

Vienna, Part 2

A magical 24 hours filled with art, music, history, nature, and good food and drink.   What more could I ask for!

In the morning, we had a choice of the Shöenbrunn Palace, summer home of the Hapsburgs, or the National Art Gallery.  Since we had already been to the palace, we chose the art museum along with only 16 out of 160 other people on the cruise. 

What a wonderful museum—on par with the Louvre, the New York Met, the Uffizi, the Prado, etc.   Like these other museums, it is so large that it is impossible to see it appropriately in one day.  Fortunately we had an outstanding guide who took us on a tour of her favorite paintings.   Even Dan, who rarely appreciates any artists other than the impressionists and post- impressionists, was enthralled.  We visited Tintorettos, Caravaggios, Reubens, Rembrandts, Vermeers, and my favorite Breugels.   I was able to see in person “Hunters in the Snow,” and “The Wedding,” two paintings I’ve studied and admired in books.  I love the story telling and detail of the peasant life style depicted by Breugel.  When I was teaching Medieval history, I used his painting of the Black Plague.

The building itself was magnificent, with curving stairways, columns, and arches.  In the area of one of the stairways along a narrow bridge, Klimdt painted a number of beautiful ladies.  Before I saw the original Klimdts at the Belvedere Palace so many years ago, I thought he was kind of “kitchy.”  But I changed my mind when I sawthe real ones.

The rest of the group went by bus back to the ship for lunch, but in the usual Lee/Michels style of travel so as no to miss a moment Dan and I stayed in the heart of Vienna.  We had lunch at Freud’s favorite coffee house.  I was disappointed because the coffee “ein kleine brune” was terrible and we sat on chairs instead of couches, but I had a good curry chicken salad.

We were determined to find the Holocaust Monument and got straightforward directions at the Jewish museum—10-15 minutes away tops—except for us it was 30 minutes as we wandered around in circles.  The monument is controversial, and I can understand why.  It is a large cubed shape maybe 15’ square with a fake door topped by a Jewish star.  The names of concentration are carved into the stone all around the base.  The walls are in the shape of small individual books (I wouldn’t have known this except I had read about it) representing the books that were burned during Kristallnachte. 

On the recommendation of our art gallery guide, we visited the state apartments of the Hapsburgs—Franz Joseph and his wife Elizabeth, known as Sisi. As portrayed in paintings and photographs, she was truly beautiful with a teeny, tiny waist, long hair, which took 3 hours to wash, flowing past her butt.   She was ahead of her time in that she had exercise equipment in her bedroom and exercised daily.  She also knew the value of good dental hygiene and had regular dental checkups.  Unfortunately she lived a sad life.  She had 4 children: one died in infancy and her only son killed himself when he was 30. Sisi was a free spirit and rather than staying home to fulfill her duties as empress, wife, and mother, she traveled the world.  On one of these trips, she was assassinated by a nutcase when she was in her 60’s.

As part of the tour, we were also able to visit the Hapsburg collection of silver and China.  Our favorite exhibit was the display of hundreds of plates decorated with every type of flower imaginable.

 At 4 we caught the last bus back to the ship, changed clothes and went to a concert presented just for our tour group in a small, charming concert hall hanging with crystal chandeliers.  We listened to Strauss, Mozart, Brahams, and Puccini presented by a 9 piece orchestra.  (piano, 2 violins, viola, cello, base, flute, clarinet, tympany).   Can it be called an orchestra if it’s only 9 pieces?  A soprano and baritone sang 4 different arias, and a couple dance the waltz and ballet on the small stage.  Our guide told us they were professionals from various well-known groups in Vienna.  The quality of the performance was outstanding, and we gave them a well-deserved standing ovation.  Prior to the concert, we had free champagne on an outdoor patio.  To end the evening, we had a traditional Viennese dinner ending with yummy apple strudel. 

As I said, “What more could I ask for!”