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In my attempt to cover all of Christmas
break, I really glazed over a lot of details. For my own benefit, as
this is the only record of the happenings on this adventure, I want
to backtrack and offer a few more details of our trip.
We flew into Vienna in the late morning
and discovered you can walk a crazy distance all completely indoors
in the Vienna airport. Not so great with 3 young 'uns, one person
with a bum knee, and one with sore hips. We made it, though! I think we were all really grateful that Dad arranged for a shuttle service between the airport and hotel. It is so reassuring to walk out of baggage claim and see someone with a sign that has your name and know you are taken care of.
After settling in to the hotel, we
went out in search of lunch. The hotel is owned by a friend of a
friend, which meant a bit of a deal, but not close to the
tourist/historical area. Only a couple blocks from a U-bahn station,
so a fairly quick trip to food and sights. Lunch was traditional and
a bit touristy. You can tell when a majority of the dishes on the
menu have pictures. It's great being in places where weinerli (hot
dogs) are traditional food.
We spent the afternoon doing the
museum thing- checking out the armory, the royal dishes (yes, really)
and the royal apartments of the Habsberg dynasty. We also learned more about Empress Sisi
than was entirely necessary. (depressed royalty, made to look
“mysterious”). Interesting connection to Switzerland, though- she
was assassinated in Geneva.
We ate dinner at the Gosser
Bierklinik- a restaurant my dad and his friends frequented for when
the occasion called for a step up from the University cafeteria food.
Lukas Knoll joined us for dinner- he and server were enjoying quite
the chuckle at our expense.
Jackson, Kenny, Katie, and Henry
watched the Lipizzaner horses (famous dancing horses) go through
their morning exercises at the Spanish Riding School Saturday morning
while Grandma, Grandpa, Johanna, Eli, Lukas, and I enjoyed a visit to
a Viennese cafe (cafe's are a big deal in Vienna). More of us might
have gone to see the horses but children under 3 are not allowed. We
couldn't get tickets for a performance- although outside the ticket
office they run a dvd of a performance on a loop and we stood and
watched it enough to get the gist. The exercises were a bit of a let
down, unfortunately.We hit Stephansdom, big, old Cathedral- always good for bird's eye view of wherever you are. Apparently, it is pretty rare to have a sunny day in Vienna, so we definitely had to take advantage.
The afternoon brought another cafe
at the Sacher Hotel to enjoy Sacher Torte ( chocolate cake with a
raspberry filling). I found it a bit dry-it would be much improved
with a little ice cream. The cafe served the cake with whipped cream.
Lukas' mother also served cake with whipped cream- an Austrian/German
cultural trait??
We also rode a tour tram around the
historical circle of town. We then did one more museum. The summer
palace held an art museum with a special exhibit on Klimt. I have
never been terribly impressed with his work (His most famous piece is
“The Kiss”) but in person, it was breathtaking.
He used real gold
in that piece and several others- really lovely. It would have been
nice to stop and enjoy it, but that is not how a 2 year old does a
museum- we do NOT stop.
Jackson walked through the museum
with Grandma. He learned that a lot of people in paintings don't have
clothes because they are angels or fairies and are really invisible
so they don't have to wear clothes. This lesson was directly linked
to learning that all the ceilings were very well decorated. (Well
done, Grandma.)
Lukas directed dinner, which brought
us to an American style steakhouse. If you are going to eat American-
steak is not a bad way to go.
We ended the evening with a Fiaker (horse drawn enclosed carriage) ride. Both tour guides (Dad and Lukas) were in the other carriage so it didn't mean too much to me, but we supposedly went past some of the buildings that Dad spent a great deal of time in when he stayed in Vienna.
The rest of our trip was spent in
Linz/St. Georgen with the Knoll's. We were well fed and well
entertained. The Knoll's own a mill (as previously mentioned) and
their house is connected to the mill. I can only imagine how much of
a kick my dad would get out of that. He says he could never move out
of T-town because he would miss the hum of the mill. My mom would not
get a kick out of this arrangement- that much harder to get my dad to
be “home.”
Lukas has 2 younger brothers. The
youngest is in his early teens. He spent quite a bit of time playing
with my kids and they really enjoyed him. So much so that Johanna for
several days kept asking to go to Felix's house.
Impressions of Austria
Switzerland has ruined me- no place may
ever seem clean and tidy again. I spent a little time in a park in
Linz with the kids (who needs museums or historical architecture-
give us a good park!) and I had to keep reminding myself that I was
in Austria and not an Eastern European country. This was partly due
to the immigrant population around me- definitely not speaking
German, but also because of the litter and unkempt nature of the
park. It was a really nice park in all actuality, but I was viewing
it through Swiss tinted glasses.
I also really noticed the difference in how Switzerland commemorates history, or really doesn't. If you have ever been to Europe (or any country older than the U.S.) you can be blown away by the sheer age of everything. I don't notice this as much in Switzerland because there are no statues of this king and that queen, barely any of that famous general, no castles or palaces. It's not all modern and new (in fact, mostly NOT), maybe just a lack of visible history.
What I really think of Austria, not just what seeing Austria made me realize about Switzerland- a good place to see proper history, congenial, really great architecture. I only wish we could have made it to Salzburg, too.
Things to eat in Vienna
Sacher Torte
Manner cookies (sugar wafer with filling)
Linzer Torte (although we did not get this accomplished)
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