Arriving in Vienna

   Tues, April 15.   We fly to Vienna on NIKI airlines, apparently a subsidiary of Air Berlin.  Packing is hard. Stuff barely fits.  Hotel Beethoven lobby has symphony movements on shuffle.  Dinner at  Graffin von Naschmarkt, wiener schnitzel with potatoes with cranberry sauce, expensive mistake.  But it was cold and raining and we could not find the recommended restaurant.

Wed. April 16.

Breakfast is very good.

  We walked to the Albertina Museum, which has a famous collection of drawings including several iconic works by Durer:   the Hare, the Praying Hands, and the 93-Year-Old Man.

 





Culture shock.  There was also an exhibit that merged highlights from a recently donated private collection with the Museum's earlier permanent collection: Monet to Picasso.  It included some unfamiliar artists (to us),  Germans and Russians.

Heinrich Campendonk:

Max Pechstein:

And then the picture we want for our living room by Lionel Feininger

    In the Albertinaplatz is the Monument Against War and Fascism.  It is composed of 5 pieces, including the following.

We found it interesting that one of the pieces concerned the degradation of the Jews.  Also Interesting is the  image chosen to depict that degradation:  an old Jew forced to wash the anti-Nazi graffiti off the street.



A much larger part of the memorial is Gates of Violence, a large and horrific set of images, partially shown here.

    Chinese lunch was large and forgettable, at best.  Skipped dinner.

    We went to the nearby Theater an der Wien (the "New Opera House") to hear Beethoven's Missa Solemnis.  The single performance -- part of the Eastern celebration here -- was superb.  A couple of observations:  The intensity of the performance left the audience in stunned silence when it ended; the applause began when a soloist signaled by sort of dropping her head to the side.  Probably less than 1/4 of tbe men wore ties.  The venue is where Fidelio premiered.

    Thurs, April 17.  We begin with the enormous Stephansdom.  Much of the exterior was in scaffolding and it was cold, so we spent little effort on the outside.   Leslie thought the interior was too busy with ornamentation.

We were enchanted by the toads and lizards crawling up the handrail of the pulpit.

It was nice to see them.  Such whimsy was apparently discouraged in Italy as not fitting to the solemnity of the church.  It also had more serious carving of doctors of the church.

Friedrich III has a very elaborate tomb in the church

We noticed that crosses and crucifixes were covered.  Bruce got to play with his tripod and timer to get this picture.

Curious, I turned to google.   It is the practice to remove or cover them after the fourth week of lent.  The crucifixes are uncovered on good friday and the crosses on Easter. The uncovering is in the liturgy.  It seems that the practice is optional and not usually followed in the US.

   Then to the Mozart Museum.  Mozart moved around a lot.  The Museum is housed is a large apartment where the Mozarts lived for 2 years at the height of Mozart's prosperity.  The Museum stressed that Mozart and Salieri admired and liked each other; Mozart's financial straits arose from a gambling addiction; he could compose in noisy and somewhat chaotic conditions; and that he had six children, only two of whom survived him.

     Lunch at Griechenbeisl, the oldest inn in Vienna, 1447.  Although the chef has changed, we had a lovely meal:  goulasch with dumplings; roast pork with cabbage and potato dumpling.  The cabbage was amazing; I must find out how to make it. The signatures on a wall included Beethoven, Mozart, and Johnny Cash.

   Last stop Vindobona, i.e. Roman Vienna.  There was a Roman military outpost here in the first to third centuries.  There is a small museum over the excavations (which, of course, require many stairs down to see).  I think we saw bits of officers' quarters.  Upstairs are some artifacts and a short, interesting, film on the water and sewage system.

Since lunch started at 3:00 and was substantial, we skipped dinner.