Wien Tour

I have little time to explore and observe on these work trips.  In fact, today, Sunday, I had a meeting from 10am until noon, and later on I have a reception at 6pm.  In between though, I took a quickie self-guided  tour of Vienna to get a better sense of its feel and flavor.  Admittedly, I was pretty efficient, this was definitely the 10-minute overview, but I got a decent sense of some of the city, and a sneak preview for my next visit someday when I come back on a real vacation with my lover.

It started with the U-bahn, a very good subway system with some of my favorite public transit amenities - clear signage; good, conceptual maps; the timing of the next train; and good subway car layout, with priority seats marked  for elderly, handicapped, and exhausted, swollen pregnant women.

I headed towards my meeting at the Vienna International Centre (the VIC, as I now affectionately call it) in the newest part of the city which houses the United Nations complex.  Quite honestly, it is horrid.  The buildings are pretty "Bloc-ish," and there is very little sidewalk-scape or civic life.  Large expanses of concrete pose as sweeping plazas.  This quarter must have been designed by a UN sub-committee.

(Tour more of Vienna... wacky architecture, Klimpt's Kiss, a streetside freak show, Mozart's sex life, and the perfect Viennese cafe!!... after the link.)

Leaving the VIC, I headed by U-bahn and tram (No. 1 Direction Prater Haupterlee) to Radetsky Platz.  The tram system is also impressive - mine arrived at Schwedenplatz at 12h42, just as the schedule promised, and we passed along the Donau Kanal en route.  The residential neighborhood of my destination was completely desolate this cloudy Sunday afternoon. I followed the signs to Kunst Haus Wien (reminding me of mosaic murals of the Magic Gardens in Philadelphia).  I had lunch here in their garden cafe, with more tiles and glass, curvy brick patio among shade trees and criss-crossed vines.  I walked the few additional blocks to see the Hundertwasser Haus, a somewhat bizarre, gaudy (and Gaudi-esque), residential apartment complex with mosaics of tiles, mirror, glass, and curved tiled floors and courtyards. (Photo (l) is cribbed from the internet)

Back on the tram, with a transfer at Karlzplatz at the Vienna Opera House which I ogled from across the street while waiting for the 13h52 tram which arrived precisely on schedule, to go the Belvedere Palace and Gardens. Here is the largest collection of Gustav Kimpt paintings (I counted about a dozen), including The [famous] Kiss.   It's hard to comment on The Kiss, but I did appreciate Klimpt's use of  metallic gold/bronze paint, and the way each section of the painting (his robe, her robe, the flowers on the floor) could easily be its own rich tapestry in isolation.  I liked his less well-known, but characteristically Klimpt,  painting Adam and Eve, where Adam and Eve's bodies mirror a flowing stream of robes, and the poppies on the ground echo her rosy bare nipple.  There were also a fair number of Egon Schiele paintings which were quite cool . Here, I saw definite influences (or influencers) of Picasso, Klimpt and even Van Gogh.

Heading into the mid-afternoon, I once again took the tram to Karlzplatz, where I could walk back to my hotel along the pedestrian shopping street Kartnerstrasse, packed with people even though every single store was closed because it's Sunday, towards Saint Stephan's Gothic cathedral.  There was a veritable freak show of street performers along the way, and horse and carriage rides for the tourists to add to the circus.

I dodged the main drag for some quieter cobblestone alleys surrounding the cathedral (amazing how few tourists step 2 blocks off the beaten path!), and wandered to Mozart's House.  While out of time and out of steam, I paid the discounted entrance fee with my public transit Vienna Card to run through the rather impressive museum - with excellent installations, and an audio tour included with the ticket.  I wished I had more time and energy for this one, because I certainly would have enjoyed it quite a bit.  However, my takeaway from my 60-second tour was that Mozart was a carousing, gambling womanizer who loved sex, lived well-beyond his means, and made incredible music.  He lived in this apartment in the heart of Vienna's most luxe district for 2-1/2 years at the age of 27, with his 22-year old wife.  As comparison at the age of 27, I was a boy-crazy, cheap red-wine drinking, recovering backpacker living in Manhattan for 2 years to go to grad school. 

Back through the back streets off the beaten path, I stumbled upon Cafe Diglas (est 1875).  Here the marble tables, red-velvet chairs, and crystal chandeliers provided the backdrop for my kaffee and Sacher torte served by waiters in black-ties, crisp white shirts and floor length aprons tied about their waists.  A perfect Viennese cafe!