Final Moments in Vienna

Melinda will be starting a nursing program at university in September so we added the Josephinum to our must-see list (besides, I'm quite fascinated by all things medical so I was curious about the place too). This small museum of the history of medicine in Vienna was well-advertised in tourism brochures, but the signs on the street were terribly inadequate and it took us at least fifteen minutes to wander the neighbourhood, ask directions two or three times, and finally find the place.

Instruments for ophthalmic surgery... I'm sorry, but there's no way I'd let anyone near my eyes with those things.

Eye mirror from 1851.

A case with an orderly collection of models showing diseased eyeballs. Lovely.

The description card on this case was only written in German so I have no idea what these goggles were used for, but I still think they're great!

The Josephinum is particularly known for a collection of wax models. There were plenty of organs to view and a few full bodies focused on blood vessels or intestines or muscles. It reminded me of Body Worlds but without the ethical and legal debates raised by the public display of preserved human remains. The truly amazing thing about this exhibit is that the wax models were created two hundred years ago. The models are protected under original, hand-blown Venetian glass in rosewood frames.






Vienna is a beautiful city to explore, with impressive buildings around each corner. Today we walked past the museum quarter, university, parliament, city hall, law courts, Volkstheater, Natural History Museum, and the Kunsthistorsches museum.

Melinda digging into her stash of chocolates during a break on the steps outside the Hofburg Palace.

One of our tour books provided directions for a walking tour so we gave it a try. Some of the directions weren't very clear and some of the sites weren't very impressive, but it was still an interesting way to see some back roads in the imperial area of Vienna.

Sculptures over a doorway.

I loved the shapes and colours in the buildings along this narrow road.

Fish sculptures framing a window.

Hofburg Palace.

As I shot the photo shown above, yet another Mozart concert salesman dressed in costume tried to get our attention. The conversation went something like this:

"What are you doing tonight?"
"We've already seen a concert, thanks."
"I don't want to sell you a ticket, I'm wondering what you're doing tonight. We could maybe go for coffee or something."
(laughing as I kept walking) "No thanks!"
"Okay, then you could come to my place!"
(still walking away) "Yeah, um, that's not happening."
(calling out to me across the plaza)"Come on! I'll make you pasta and I could give you a massage..."
(as we finally rounded the corner) "Not a chance."

I've lost track of the cathedrals we've visited so this one will have to remain nameless.

A beautiful fresco on the ceiling of a cathedral.

As we walked down a side street we took a little detour down a gated archway and discovered this beautiful little courtyard.

Our feet were getting sore so we caught a train to the Stadtpark, walked along the paths for a while, found a monument to Johann Strauss (not as much information here about musicians as we thought there would be - they don't even have a music museum - so we were pleased to see some monuments), and found a park bench to rest for a while.

A monument to Johann Strauss.

The view from our park bench.

I read somewhere that an easy way to explore Vienna is on the tram system because you can ride in a loop around the old part of the city and enjoy beautiful views without getting sore feet. As we waited to get on the tram I commented that it would probably be like a sauna due to the incredible heat. We discussed this a bit and hoped that there would at least be open windows or something to provide a bit of a breeze. We boarded the tram and began to wilt in the sweltering heat almost immediately. We jumped off after just a few stops and rode back to our accommodation on the underground train.

Melinda realizing this maybe wasn't such a good idea after all.

We returned to our accommodation for supper and a short rest before heading back into town at 9:30 p.m. for another big-screen concert at City Hall. A busy final day in Vienna!

Schönbrunn Palace and a Concert

This morning we caught the train to Schönbrunn Palace, the former imperial residence. Tourism information emphasizes that it was built to rival the Palace of Versailles; although that was the original intent, the final design and future modifications are impressive but far from rivaling the opulence found at Versailles.

The grounds at Schönbrunn are extensive so we tried to plan our route to avoid back-tracking. Our first stop was to buy the cheapest things we could find on the cafe menu, then attend a demonstration of how to make apple strudel. The girl who conducted the demonstration clearly had a script she had memorized, but I was still amazed by the way she flipped effortlessly between German and English.

Each person at the demonstration received a delicious slice of apple strudel.

She rolled the dough and stretched it on her arms in the air until it was so thin that when a paper was held underneath, the words could be read through the dough.

A video clip showing how she switched between German and English.

The grounds at Schönbrunn had a few ponds, plenty of well-trimmed shrubs, and impressive flower beds in front of the palace.

A view of Schönbrunn Palace from the roof of the Gloriette.

A view of the Gloriette from the back door of Schönbrunn Palace.

The view from the top of the Gloriette, a structure built to glorify the Habsburg family.

A little bit of posing because it's fun.

As we walked through the airport in Vienna upon arrival, I saw a poster of a panda bear with the words, "Vienna Zoo" underneath. I was thrilled at the prospect that one of my dreams might come true much easier than I thought it would! Before I moved to England I checked online and the only panda I could find in Europe was at the Berlin Zoo. I wasn't willing to take a flight there just to see a panda, but I knew if I ever made it anywhere near Berlin, the zoo would definitely be on my must-see list. When I discovered that Vienna has a panda bear and we were visiting the palace connected to the zoo, I decided to pay for admission to the zoo, no matter what it cost. I was extra-excited when I found out that the zoo doesn't just have one panda, they have three! They succesfully bred a pair and the cub is now over one year old. Fu Long is the first cub born in Europe as a result of natural conception rather than artificial insemination.

A real, live panda bear!

A video of a panda eating bamboo.
Turn up your volume and you can hear him munching his lunch.

A video of two pandas eating bamboo.

Since I'm on the topic of pandas, check out this video clip - it's guaranteed to make you smile or even laugh out loud. Seems to become even more amusing if you watch it a few times.

Oh well. I'll have to keep trying.

We attended the feeding of the seals and it was hilarious to watch the kids in the front scream and shout for the handler to toss fish to make the sea lions leap into the water and splash them.

"Founded as an imperial menagerie in 1752, it is the oldest zoo in the world."

Bats hanging from the rafters in the Rain Forest exhibit.
We didn't last long as the heat outside was stifling, but the heat inside the massive greenhouse was unbearable.

The palace gardens had a few mazes, one of which used hedges so high we couldn't see over them. It's more difficult than you'd think to make your way through it!

In the middle of one of the mazes we discovered an extra little maze of mirrors... so we posed, because that's what we like to do.

One of the mazes had little surprises along the way, like footstep platforms mounted on springs, metal tiles which rang different tones when stepped on, and the walkway above, where the movement of your foot could trigger a spray of water across your feet.

We took the train back into town and hopped off at the Naschmarkt (outdoor market) to pick up some food for supper. Our concert didn't start for a few more hours so we headed back to our accommodation to put our feet up and eat our supper before heading out again.

Random self-portraits provide endless entertainment and are a great way to kill time while waiting for a concert to begin.




Melinda and I may not be highly cultured women, but we do know that when you attend a concert of classical music, you're not supposed to clap between each song. After the first song we looked at each other in utter amazement as loud applause erupted around us and I said, "This is definitely aimed squarely at tourists." The songs were all famous classics... I know this because I recognized almost all the songs. There were instrumental songs and also a few opera numbers. I couldn't help grinning at how directly the concert was aimed at tourists. It was actually quite cheesy at some points, but we still had a lot of fun. I don't think we'll ever forget the Papageno duet.

Museums, Churches, and Concerts

We caught the underground train into the historic part of the city this morning and as we approached the escalator to go outside we heard classical music. We looked around to see where the sound was coming from and got a good laugh out of the "Vienna Opera Toilet - Mit Musik" (with music). We didn't pay half a euro to use it as it was entertaining enough to just look in the entrance area. I looked it up online and the cubicle doors are designed so you feel like you're walking into a private box at the theatre. Creative and quirky, to say the least!

Here's a video clip so you can get the whole experience - mit musik.

We looked around for the tourism information office but couldn't see it anywhere. What we did see where numerous concert ticket salesmen dressed in 18th century costumes. One of them asked if we needed any help and I asked him where the tourism information office is located. He said, "Oh, I know everything you'd want to know. What do you want to know about Vienna?" I replied, "No, really, we need to go there and ask them some questions. Could you tell me where the office is?" He again insisted that that he could help us because he knows tourism information. I think he was trying to be flirtatious as a sales technique but we wanted to get our day going and I wasn't amused. I said, "No, seriously, I just want the tourism office," and we started walking away. He called out, "Hey, hey, where are you from?" I told him I'm from Canada to which he replied with a sarcastic tone, "Is everyone in your country like you?" I wanted to smack him, but instead I said, "What? Is everyone in a hurry? Yes." He finally told us where the tourism office was located. From then on, whenever one of the salesmen offered concert tickets or assistance we just said, "No thanks," and kept walking.

We walked past the Staats Opera House and found the tourism office, received answers to all our questions, purchased train tickets to go to Schonbrunn Palace tomorrow, and walked across the street to explore the Albertina, an art gallery. It was primarily modern art, some of which was beautiful, much of which was confusing.

Next stop was the Wien Museum (Vienna Museum).

These sculptures were brought from the exterior of a church to be protected at the museum. I liked how they had a graceful, twisting shape instead of the usual formal posture found in statues.

Royal Jousting Armour for Maximilian II (c. 1550).

Royal Jousting Armour for Maximilian II (c. 1550).

After exploring the Wien Museum, we walked across the street to Karlskirche, a large cathedral.

Poncho protection from the rain.

"In 1713, one year after the last great plague epidemic, Charles VI, Holy Roman Emporer, pledged to build a church for his namesake patron saint, Charles Borromeo, who was revered as a healer for plague sufferers."

The interior of the church was dominated by a huge column of scaffolding. At first I thought it was used for repairs to the church, but it actually housed an elevator to take us to a platform nestled in the dome.

Looking up into the dome from the main floor.

I was very surprised to discover that Melinda is terrified of heights!

Part of the frescos in the dome.

Karlskirche had a museum so we decided to take full advantage of our ticket price and take a look. It's the smallest museum I've ever been in!

When we left the church, the rain wasn't just drizzling down, it was pouring down. We sat under the entrance arch to rest our feet and attempt to wait out the worst. One of the Mozart concert ticket sellers was staked out in this area, but it was a woman who wasn't trying to obnoxiously flirt with us. We want to attend a concert and hear classical music performed live; after chatting with her for a while we decided to buy tickets to see a concert tomorrow evening.

Rain may be annoying on a vacation, but it's also beautiful.
I'd rather get drenched than sunburned.

Most European cities have a main cathedral and in Vienna it's the Stephandom (St. Stephen's Cathedral). We stopped by and we agreed that the roof was beautiful, but we weren't too impressed with the rest of the building. We actually thought it was quite boring compared to many of the smaller cathedrals we've visited. We also decided that we think we're kind of spoiled by all the beautiful places we've seen.

We tried to find a place for supper near a smaller cathedral which was hosting a free organ concert later in the evening. We settled on a small, Hungarian restaurant. I wish we could have found an Austrian restaurant, but Hungarian and Austrian food seem to be quite similar so we still got a bit of a cultural experience. I love trying the local cuisine but Melinda isn't such a fan of experimenting with her food. She kept looking at food on the menu that she could easily eat back in Canada so I worked on convincing her to try something new, even if she wasn't sure what would arrive on her plate. She finally said, "Okay - you pick three items and I'll choose from them." I was nice and chose relatively normal foods and she chose a plate with stewed meat and some vegetables. I ordered a Hungarian soup which was a specialty of the house.

We still had more time to use up between supper and the organ concert so we found a Starbucks and enjoyed hot drinks while we watched the rain slowly ease up. The concert was held at Peterskirche (St. Peter's Church), a cathedral built in the eighteenth century.

The interior of Peterskirche.

A video showing the interior of Peterskirche during the concert.

The dome of Peterskirche.

The organ.

There were two skeletons of early Christian martyrs dressed regally and contained in glass cases on each side of the church. The light was quite dim so I braced my camera on a railing to allow for a longer exposure. The results were rather grotesque.

An ornately decorated skeleton.
The hand and face appeared to have some kind of coating to mimic skin and there were even fake eyes in the sockets. Quite bizarre.

We walked through the archway of the Hofburg Imperial Palace on our way to the City Hall.

When we visited the tourism office we discovered that there is a Musikfilm-Festival taking place over the next few days. There are restaurant kiosks set up in the plaza in front of City Hall and a huge screen has been raised to show recorded performances of concerts, a ballet, and some opera. Entrance is free so we figure we might as well give it a try. A huge seating area had been created so we sat down in the bleacher seating and got ready for a concert of Bruckner's Symphony Number 7.

I've always wanted to see a movie on a big screen outdoors and it was utterly magical. If you ever have a chance to see a movie like this, go for it!

City Hall with the lights out during the concert.

A video clip of the concert.

City Hall with the lights on after the concert.

Tonight we've discovered that although our accommodation is beautiful, the three flights of stairs are more than a little daunting after exploring the city for twelve hours. It felt like our bodies aged by at least sixty years today.