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Well
on Tuesday I was taking out the garbage and left the keys in the
apartment because I was just going to prop the doors open (as I
always do when taking out the trash.) However, because of the
weather the door to our apartment slammed shut and I was locked
out. I decided to use the “Emergency Entrance” C. However, to get to the window one has to
either jump (or climb) a 7-foot tall fence or shimmy through some
hedges. I opted for the hedges and am very surprised that I was
not arrested in doing so. There were people all around as I was
head diving through this narrow opening in the hedges, then using
the water pipe to climb through the window into the apartment.
Good thing it was pouring rain during this whole thing.
On
Wednesday my first stop of the day was Hoher Markt, which is the
oldest square in Vienna. In medieval times fish and cloth market
were held in the square as well as executions (rather odd mix eh?)
Today it is a big tourist attraction because it is the home to
subterranean ruins of a former Roman garrison and the infamous
Anker Clock. The ruins were discovered after World War II and show
groups of houses (which I learned are believed to be 2nd
and 3rd century officers’ houses) bisected by
straight roads leading to the town gates. The excavations are very
well laid out and also contain exhibits of pottery and tiles. The
Anker clock is a bronze and gold sculptural clock that links two
offices buildings together on the square. Every of the clock is a
different historical figure (all relating to Vienna’s history)
ranging from the Emperor Marcus Aurelius and Duke Rudolf IV to
Josef Hayden. The best time to see the clock is at noon because
all of the twelve sculptures glide from one side of the clock to
the other to the sound of organ music. It was unlike any clock I
have ever seen but it was also the most beautiful one I have ever
seen .
I
then popped on the subway and headed over to the Neues Rathaus (or
the New Town Hall.) I went back to the Rathaus because I wanted
to take some
pictures of the absolutely gorgeous architecture of the building.
The first thong one notices about the building is the huge central
tower, which is topped by a knight in armor with a lance. Your
eyes are then drawn to the lofty terrace with its delicate tracery
ad curved balconies. This is definitely my favorite building here
in Vienna. It is breathtaking.
While
I was attempting to take pictures of the Rathaus ran in to the
Hofburg Theater or Burgtheater, which is right across the street
from the Rathaus.. (www.burgtheatre.at)
On
Wednesday I headed into the city after dinner to
try another one of Vienna’s famous coffee houses, Café
Landtmann. The café was decorated with a multitude of mirrors and
elegant paneling. It is a very comfortable café with a nice
outdoor patio overlooking both the Rathaus and the Burgtheater, so
I can easily see why is was Sigmund Freud’s favorite café.
Thursday
my first stop was the absolutely gorgeous Belvedere Palace (www.bevedere.at)
This Palace was built as a summer residence of Prince Eugene of
Savoy, who was a famous military commander back in the 1600’s.
The Belvedere actually consists of 2 palaces (one at the top of a
gently sloping hill and one at the bottom.) I found the upper
palace to be much more beautiful that the lower palace because of
the giant shallow pool in the front of the palace and because it
had a much more elaborate façade than the lower palace. It was
only used for festive occasions and apparently the inside is very
ornately decorated. This palace is now home to an art museum. The
lower palace was used by Prince Eugene for day-to-day living and
is now home to the Museum of Baroque Art. I did not go into either
museum.
The
Palaces as connected by formal gardens that were very similar to
the gardens we saw while we were in France. The upper gardens
consisted of gorgeous fountains (which were all turned off for
repairs) and small pools as well as some flowers and grass. In the
grass there was brown gravel that was all laid out in intricate
designs. The lower gardens were hedge gardens or Bosquet.
From the ground of the Belvedere I
could see the steeple of Stephansdom (the big cathedral in the
center of Vienna.) I decided to walk to it instead of taking the
metro.
The first stop was a Baroque
plague column called the Pestsaule, which is situated in a
pedestrian only zone near Stephansdom. It was built to commemorate
Vienna’s eventual deliverance from the plague of 1679. The most
impressive image of the column is a saintly figure and an angel
who are watching the destruction of a hag (representing the
plague) as a figure representing the Emperor prays.
Right
near the column is the Peterskirche (St. Peter’s Church), which
was my next stop. This church was modeled on St. Peter’s in Rome
and has an amazing lavish interior. I had two favorite parts of
the church: The number one was definitely the exuberant,
eye-catching pulpit. It was positioned on one of the columns in
the church and was abundantly decorated with gold statues. My
second favorite part was the heating system in the church. Each of
the pews had a mini radiator running between the front of the pew
and the kneeler. I am not quite sure why I found this so
fascinating but I thought it was really cool.
The
dome of the church was covered by frescos depicting the assumption
of the Virgin Mary. Another highlight of the church of the church
were the richly clothed skeletons on the right and left hand sides
of the altar. These are the remains of early Christian martyrs
originally deposited in the catacombs in Rome. The final sight
within the church worth mentioning was the remains of the original
church. The present day church was built in the 18th
century but a church has stood in this location since the 12th
century. On the side of the present-day church there is an old
stone doorway (the original entrance to the church) and a stone
sculpture that was on the outside of the original church.
My
next stop was the Michaelkirche (St. Michael’s Church), which is
situated directly in front of the Hofburg palace, which would
explain why this church was once the parish church of the court.
The most remarkable aspect of this church was definitely the
altar. This glorious, vividly carved organ was absolutely mammoth
and hovered over the church from its raised platform over the
entrance of the church. I really wish I could have heard it being
played.
When
I left the church I tripped upon some ruins located in the
Michealerplatz, which is situated between the church and the
palace. This is a recent excavation site and contains the remains
of a Roman encampment, as well as some medieval fountains. I found
it humorous (and sort of sad) that this excavation site is
directly in the middle of this Michealerplatz which Craig and I
have walked through at least a dozen times. However, we always
just walked by it without taking the time to notice it (I wonder
what else we are missing.)
I
then made the hour journey back to the Belvedere to catch the S-Bahn
home. It was just too beautiful of a day to take the subway.
After dinner I ventured to the
Rathaus (where the outdoor food and drink festival is) to partake
in their film and music festival. It was an incredible experience
to be sitting in front of an absolutely gorgeous building watching
a jazz concert on an enormous movie screen. The movie they were
showing was of an American jazz musician name Peter Cincotti. His
band and him played their new hits on the streets of New York.
He has an incredible voice.
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Elizabeth
