Wie geht es dir, Wien?” Or, in translation, “How are you, Vienna?” Otherwise, my casual way of saying that we are in AUSTRIA! Seriously, can we be any more thankful for our life? We’ve got four days here and we plan to pack about as many museums, palaces, and schnitzel as we can into our allotted time! So let’s get started! Vienna, the capitol city of the Republic of Austria, is where history and the modern world collide into perfect harmony. With German as the official language (but thankfully for us most of the population speaks English), Austria originated from the Habsburg Dynasty when most of the current country was still a part of the Holy Roman Empire. Due to the Reformation (my favourite period of history when Christianity royally changed all aspects of the European world), Austria lost most of it’s power before coming back to the game in the seventeenth/eighteenth centuries. In 1804, the country was officially proclaimed the Austrian Empire until 1867 when it became Austria-Hungary. It remained this way until the end of the First World War when the Habsburg Empire collapsed and the First Austrian Republic was established in 1919. During the Second World War, it was annexed by Germany in the 1938 Anschluss, and remained this way until 1945 when Austria’s previous democratic constitution was restored. ***Fun Fact: Vienna was liberated by the Soviets. During the war, the city was bombed fifty-two times by the Allies and more than three thousand bomb craters were made. In 1955, Austria was re-established as a sovereign state, and parliament passed the Declaration of Neutrality and the official statement of the Second Austrian Republic. Nowadays, Austria has one of the highest standards of living and Vienna has a population of just under two million and is one of the world’s most livable cities (and we can see why). DAY ONE: Today we went to a palace. Or more specifically, the Schloss Schönbrunn (Schönbrunn Palace), the last imperial residence of the Habsburg monarchy. Over 300 years old, this baroque palace boasts beautiful architecture, marble statues, portraits, paintings, and a vast garden fitted with fountains and more. Though the day was cold and windy (but of course not cold enough for two Canadians), we hiked around the grounds and got our fix of royal living (including tea at the Gloriette café at the top of the hill). Next we hit the metro and got off at the Museumsquartier (literally, this city knows us too well already). With a natural love of all things art and historical, Vienna has more than 100 museums (ranging from massive to small, famous or ones off the beaten path) and galleries. We began our binge at the Kunsthistorisches Museum (Museum of Art History) where Beci lost all of her cool in front of the Vermeer’s “Art of Painting” (see proof below). Opened in 1891, the Kunsthistorisches is the sister of identical twin Naturhistorisches Museum (Museum of Natural History), commissioned by Emperor Franz Joseph I as a place to store the Habsburg’s art collection and allow the public to view them. Needless to say, Beci was very art-historian-happy today. We finished our tour with a stop off at the medieval armory and ancient collections in the Österreichische Nationalbibliothek (Austrian National Library). We were both very satisfied with what Vienna had to offer us. DAY TWO:
We have to post a reference to this video, because Beci and I could not stop referencing this due to the title of the following landmark. Also, we find it hilarious. Today was very nearly a mirror of yesterday, but with a different palace and a different artist. As per usual when the two of us find ourselves near our Western vice, we hit up good ol’ Starbucks. After we got our very necessary (if albeit over priced) caffeine hit, we trekked through the city streets for the Belvedere, a two-piece (Upper and Lower) Baroque palace on the south-east edge of Vienna. Completed in 1697 (Lower) and 1717 (Upper) for Prince Eugene of Savoy (the Germanic states were a complicated mess back in the day), it is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It holds the greatest collection of Austrian art with work from Monet, van Gogh, Beckmann, and the largest collection of Gustav Klimt’s panting’s (including Kiss (Lovers) and Judith), as well as works from Schiele and Kokoschka. We very much fan-girled amongst elderly couples and other art-fanatics (but can you blame us?). However, our architecture fix wasn’t as easily satiated as our coffee one, so once we finished with the beauty of the Belvedere, we made our way to the Stephansdom (St. Stephen’s Cathedral), the mother church of the Roman Catholic Archdioceses of Vienna and the seat of the Archbishop of Vienna. It’s beautiful multi-coloured roof has become a hugely recognized symbol of the city. So we decided to do a silly thing – walk three hundred forty-three steps to get to the top of the spire. But on the plus side? It delivered a magnificent birds eye view of Vienna. On the down side? We are very out of shape (too many baguettes). On the topic of food, we then ended our day by dining out on quintiessential Austrian food - pork schnitzel and beef goulash. And thus ends our first two days in this fantastic city. We can’t wait to see what Vienna has in store for us tomorrow! - Jen Quote of the post: “Whoever wants to know something about me - as an artist which alone is significant - they should look attentively at my pictures and there seek to recognize what I am and what I want.” - Gustav Klimt
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