Vienna, Austria

We took the train from Budapest to Vienna, which is less than a 3 hour train ride. We will be using trains now until we get to Calais, France. We made several stops between the two cities and the train system appears to be very popular and is relatively inexpensive. It was also pretty comfortable, too.

Vienna (or Wien) is a cohesive blend of old and new. The old part is  the city center area where some beautiful churches and historic buildings are but they are mixed with some newer buildings as well. As you move outward, the buildings get plainer and newer, as you would expect for a growing city with hundreds of years of history. Even a lot of their "newer" buildings are old when compared to our country's age. There are about 8.5 M people in Austria and almost 2 M of them live in Vienna.

The Danube River used to run through Vienna and historically created some major problems with flooding. In the 19th and 20th centuries, there were two "regulations" (man-made diversions) of the river to control flooding. Since 1875, the Danube (Donau) Canal, instead of the main Danube, flows alongside the city center for ~ 23 km. There are places where it even goes underground. The diverted portion (Neue Donau for New Danube) is actually split from the Alte Donau (Old Danube) by a long, narrow island which is a recreational area. It helps put a green space in the city. There are also many other parks in the city as well, as green spaces are a precious respite from all the cement and pavement. There is a cluster of small single cottages with garden lots that we passed on the Big Bus tour that is the only neighborhood of it's kind in the city. It is like a misplaced island within the tall buildings of the city. The prices for them are astronomical and the waiting list very long. They pretty much only go on the market if someone dies without heirs or the heirs sell to make their fortune. That is the impression the tour made.

This is a newer housing complex built along the Neue Donau. 1/3 of all the housing in Vienna is government owned. They can control housing costs that way and Vienna is the only major city in Europe (or the US for that matter) that doesn't have a problem with unaffordable housing costs. Their water also comes from the Austrian Alps and they don't have to pump it to the city as gravity brings it right to the homes with enough pressure. The purity is so high, they also don't have to treat it.

Hofburg Palace

Vienna was the seat of the Habsburg (or Hapsburg) family for over 600 yrs and there are many, many palaces throughout the city. Some have been converted to hotels but three are tourist sites. The Habsburg family was very prolific (most royal families weren't) and they married children off to cement political relationships rather than fight. The last Emperor was Franz Josef who was the longest-reigning Emperor of Austria (68 yrs). He became ruler when he was 18 and ruled until 1916 when he died at 86. After WWI, the country renounced the royalty and forced out Franz's son. Franz Josef was married to Empress Elisabeth (affectionately known in Austria as SiSi). She gave him 16 children (11 girls and 5 boys), 11 of whom reached adulthood. They strategically married them all off except 1 who was her mother's favorite and was allowed to marry for love. She had multiple children, too, but she made them all strategic marriages as well save 1. (Practicality before romance.) SiSi also became disillusioned with marriage and found the court stifling so after she had all those children, she pretty much lived her own life and rarely was in Austria again. She ultimately was stabbed to death at the age of 61 by an Italian. Franz Josef was heartbroken but I guess the marriage was a one-sided love affair.

The Habsburg's main seat was the Schonbrunn Palace. It was added to many times throughout history and is very large. From the outside, it doesn't look particularly spectacular but the inside is very ornate; lots of white walls with gold detail, intricate paneling, murals on the ceiling, black and gold Asian inlays in a couple rooms, inlaid floors, damask, ornate clocks and decor. Picture taking wasn't allowed so I only have pictures of the outside and the gardens but they were huge and pretty spectacular, too.

We went to several churches. Vienna's St. Stephen's Cathedral (Stephansdom) is very ornate and the spire is a landmark in the city center.

The most unique is St. Charles Church (Karlskirche). The inside has some beautiful features and the dome is painted with murals. What makes the church unique is the elevator they have installed. It takes you up into the dome for a first-hand close-up view of the dome murals. It is a popular tourist stop. When we were there we had a 20 minute wait but by the time we came down, the line was three times as long as when we arrived. I guess it is a way for the church to pay for maintenance because you pay a fee to get in but it kind of takes away from the church interior. We have been to churches that take you up into their steeples before but this is the first time we have been to one that built a special elevator in the church proper.

There was a music festival Friday night while we were there. We missed the main event but saw some signs of the celebration, including the clean-up in front of City Hall the next day.

One thing I learned that I hadn't known is that Vienna is one of 4 headquarters for the UN. The others are New York, Geneva, and Nairobi. I guess I was one of the few people who thought NYC was the only location. Guess I've been living under a rock. The building complex isn't too exciting but there were some other very modern buildings in that area. It is outside city center, on the other side of the Danube.

In all it has been a very pleasant time in Vienna.