I HAVE MOVED....

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Link to my new blog.  See you there....

Vienna - The Flavours

The unmistakable Wiener Schnitzel served with a wedge of lemon and a potato salad on the side.  The portion size was overwhelming.  The restaurant was Ofenloch, a historic eaterie with a well-kept Wirthaus interior, staffed with waitresses in traditional dirndl.

Loup de mer, served at the Albertina restaurant.  No schnitzel or tafelspitz on the menu here, and the portion size was more sympathetic to the waistline.

Sweets, sweets and more sweets.  Few cities in the world can rival Vienna's devotion to all things sweet.  The finest gateaux, pastries, cakes, chocolates and sweets can be found in all manners of shops and cafes.  Surprisingly, there were very few overweight locals.

Vienna - Music

This was the music capital of Europe in the 18th and 19th centuries, where countless great composers once resided: Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven, Brahms, Schubert, Bruckner, Strauss, Schonberg and Mahler.  Almost at every street corner, there are young men and women peddling tickets to all kinds of concerts (but alas not the Vienna Philharmonic who was touring at the time), a reminder of the rich music tradition of this city.

A busking cellist playing Mozart at the entrance to the Hofburg Complex.  Once seen in coat and tails, also playing Mozart, outside an expensive jeweller in Graben, the pedestrianized shopping area where all the expensive labels can be found. 

The Vienna Mozart Orchestra, a 30-men (no women) piece playing at the Golden Saal at the Musikverein.  There was something dubious about musicians in costume, but they turned out delightful music, to rapturous applause by the audience, mostly Japanese tourists who were taken to the venue by the bus load.

The Golden Saal at the Musikverein is famous for its acoustics and is considered to be one of the five finest concert/opera venues in the world.  Considering that none of these concert halls was built in the modern era with the application of acoustics science, it is a marvel to experience the sound of an orchestra here.  Statistically, the Golden Hall is 48m long, 19m wide, and 18m high. Every year, the Vienna New Year's Concert is held here.

Vienna - Modes of Transport

On motorised bicycle

On foot, or perhaps not....

On horse-drawn carraige

Vienna - Art Treasures

Probably one of the grandest cities in Europe, Vienna boasts an abundance of art treasures that have been accumulated over the centuries by the Hapsburg monarchs and wealthy private individuals.  The city has an astonishing array of monuments, palaces, parks and museums, which themselves house an impressive collection of art and artefacts from all over the world and from all periods of history.  For art lovers, this city is truly a dream of magnificent proportions.

A Roman cameo carved from Onyx, just one of an exquisite collection displayed at the Kunsthistoriches Museum

Hand painted ceramics, amongst a dazzling array of court tableware at the State Apartments and Treasuries.  Gold, silver and the finest porcelain that were once used in state banquets, including the Sevres dinner service that was a gift from Louis XV to Maria Theresa, proudly proclaim the unimaginable wealth of the Hapsburg dynasty. 

The Morning of Corpus Christi, a painting by Ferdinand Georg Waldmuller. This artist, a prominent member of the Biedermeier movement in the 19th century is a new find for me, not having seen his works outside Vienna.  The details, the use of light, and the unusually realistic rendering of expressions is adorable.