Strauss and A. Mozart…You and old Me.
As graceful as a waltz, St. Francis of Assisi Church, also known as the Emperor’s Jubilee Church and the Mexico Church greets us as we start a morning coach overview of Vienna. It’s a Basilica-style Catholic church built between 1898 and 1910. It was consecrated in 1913, and located on the Mexikoplatz in Vienna’s Second District, Leopoldstadt. Too bad that photos are difficult from the bus, but we’ll do our best.
The rest of the morning coach tour took us by (clockwise from upper left) the Karlskirche, a Baroque church dedicated to Saint Charles Borromeo, a leading figure of the Counter-Reformation.
The Vienna State Opera house and opera company. The 1,709-seat Renaissance Revival venue was the first major building on the Vienna Ring Road. It was built from 1861 to 1869 and was inaugurated as the “Vienna Court Opera” in the presence of Emperor Franz Joseph I and Empress Elisabeth.
Maria-Theresien-Platz that joins the Ringstrasse with the Museumsquartier, a museum of modern arts located in the former Imperial Stables. Also the Naturhistorisches Museum and the Kunsthistorisches Museum.
The Pallas Athene Fountain in front of the Austrian Parliament Building.
The Maria Theresa Memorial is one of the most important monuments of the Habsburg monarchy in Vienna. It commemorates Empress Maria Theresa, who ruled the Habsburg monarchy from 1740 to 1780.
Another view of the Maria-Theresien-Platz.
After lunch we went on a walk into Vienna to get some more up close and personal views of the City and its history.
The Hofburg is the former principal imperial palace of the Habsburg dynasty in Austria. Located in the center of Vienna, it was built in the 13th century by Ottokar II of Bohemia and expanded several times afterwards. It also served as the imperial winter residence, as Schönbrunn Palace was the summer residence. Since 1946, it has been the official residence and workplace of the president of Austria.
Later, we have a special tour booked of the Schoenbrunn Palace.
We wandered the center of town through beautiful gates and arches, even past the palatial stables and riding school of the famed Lipizzaner Stallions.
We came across this elaborate, sculptural monument known as the Plague or Trinity Column. It’s a Holy Trinity column erected after the Great Plague epidemic in 1679, the Baroque memorial is apparently the best known and most prominent sculptural artwork in the city. Wikipedia says it is “one of the most ambitious and innovative sculptural ensembles created anywhere in Europe in the post-Bernini era.”
We ended the visual part of our walking tour at the impressive Roman Catholic St. Stephen’s Cathedral, the mother church of the Archdiocese of Vienna. It is the seat of the Archbishop of Vienna. The current Romanesque and Gothic form seen today stands on the ruins of two earlier churches, the first a parish church consecrated in 1147.
Reward Time
All that was then. This is/was NOW. We took a break, no, a pilgramage, to a well know cafe to worship at the alter of Sacher Torte. We asked for a small dab of schlag (whipped cream). The perfect way to prime us for our visit to Schönbrunn Palace.
We spent the rest of the splendid afternoon (albeit pretty warm as this part of Europe is also experiencing a long spate of unusually warm weather – it had us looking for shade regularly) wandering the extensive grounds and gardens of Schoenbrunn. All before our scheduled time to tour the “endless” interior spaces.
Schönbrunn Palace was the main summer residence of the Habsburg rulers, located in Hietzing, the 13th district of Vienna. The name Schönbrunn has its roots in an artesian well from which water was consumed by the court. The 1,441-room Baroque palace is one of the most important architectural, cultural, and historic monuments in the country. – Wikipedia
The above will give you just a tiny idea of the extent of the palace’s interior space and collections of important art and historical references, including to Napoleon Bonaparte (close to our historical hearts in Bordentown, NJ).
It also hints at the claustrophobia inducing hoards of tourists and tour groups…literally overheated and longing for the last chamber so you could finally step out and take a breath. Talk about a breathtaking event…in so many ways.
Fulfilled and exhausted we returned to the tranquility of the Danube and the Embla, cocktails, music and stories about tomorrow’s crossing into the Slovakian capital, Bratislava. Don’t forget to join us for a suspenseful/scary, real life story at the border.
We did a lot of that tour years ago, and it was beautiful. Thanks for sharing, as it brought back wonderful memories.