Vienna Blog

This is the last of my five nights in Vienna so time for an update before I pack my bag and continue wandering. Vienna is a much larger city than I thought it would be so a 3 day train/tram/bus pass was a necessity. Travel operates on a trust basis. Not once did anyone check to see whether I'd purchased a ticket but apparently random checks are carried out and it's a huge fine if you're caught freeloading. The system is excellent and you never have to wait more than 5 minutes before something comes along.

Because of the size of the city, and because of the haphazard way in which the roads are laid out, I thought it best to join a walking tour and get a bit of the history at the same time. Otherwise you find yourself constantly checking the map to see where you're going and you forget to stop and look at the sights! Not only were the roads in a haphazard formation, I felt that the buildings were a real hotch potch of architectural styles. You look one way and see a Gothic style building or church and then right next to it is something in Baroque or Renaissance style. And, apart from the few that were bordered by gardens, it was hard to stand back and admire the buildings because they were constructed very close together. Most of them were made of brick but had been plastered with a fancy facade. The tour was interesting but I wouldn't call Vienna a pretty city. There's loads of history here, mostly connected to the Hadsburg monarchy, once the mightiest empire in Europe. Their main home was the Hofburg but that is now used for a number of different purposes such as the Treasury, the National Library, a museum, the arena for the Spanish Riding School and the Vienna Boys Choir, to name a few.

I visited two castles, Belvedere and Schonbrunn. Belvedere means "beautiful view" and it was originally built as a summer estate for Prince Eugene of Savoy. I didn't go inside but the grounds were certainly lovely and, at the time, it would have had a lovely view over Vienna because it's built on a bit of a hill. However, the rolling green pastures are no longer there so the view is over an urban landscape.

I did go inside Schonbrunn, which was the summer palace of the Hadsburgs. It's a beautiful palace filled with treasures and the gardens were magnificent. I'm not quite sure why they had their summer palace built here because it's only a 10 minute train ride from the centre of the city. But, I guess back in their day, it would have been a longer trip by horse and cart.

One morning I went to see the practice session of the Lipizzaner horses. For those that don't know (me included before this visit), these horses are born with black hair. Over time, the hair gradually turns to gray and then to white. But underneath the hair, they're still known as gray horses. (A white horse is born white, has pink skin and often has blue eyes.) The horses used to be bred for battle but now it's for ballet. Only stallions are used and the movements include stylized jumps, all to music by one of the famous composers. The horses only get taught one specialized movement each so, when they do a proper performance, several teams of horses are needed to showcase the whole range.

I also got up early this morning and went to Sunday Mass - I know, wonders will never cease! The real reason behind this was to listen to the Vienna Boys Choir. Apart from concerts, the boys sing every Sunday morning and, as there wasn't going to be a concert during my time here, it was off to Mass for me. Obviously, the whole thing was in German so I didn't understand a word of it but, when it was the boys' turn to sing, you just sat back and enjoyed their beautiful, pure voices. Really lovely.

Tomorrow I head to the Czech Republic. I was hoping that the weather would have warmed up by now but it's absolutely freezing! Today it actually started snowing while I was walking around. It'll be a wonder if I don't come down with the flu because I'm definitely not dressed for this kind of cold. I'm longing for the lovely warmth of Central America again!