Whatagain in Vienna and Linz

[whatagain]

Vienna is starting to replace Krakow in my heart.

Splendid city, full of monuments. a much bigger city than such a small country would normally have, result if being the main city of the lost Hungaro Austrian empire.

Home to Mozart, history and music are everywhere. Food however is not a priority.

The crescents that french eat every morning were invented here to celebrate the defeat of ottoman troops. Thei flag had a red crescents, and Christians wanting to celebrate their victory baked bread in the form of a crescent, to eat them !
Such pastry is also called viennoiseries in France.

[whatagain]

Mozart house. My hotel was connected to it. 

My hotel was just leftbut belo ged to this one, which also housed the restaurant. Which in turn was installed in former Mozart house. 

Mozart played here. Theclady on the right is a harpist. So i paid 30 euros to listen to her, mostly to prove myself i can enjoy something other than hard rock. 
What i had not counted on was that the lady on the keft would declame Mozart's life, in german, for 5 min every 2 min of harp. 
I left after 20 min, bored to death. 



The cathedral is stunning. 

Look at the austro hungarian imperial eagle on the roif, mafe by using different tiles. 



View from the church towards another side if the square. 

Same, but this side has kept its old building. 

The left part of the cathedral is housing a vaccination center, open wjen I was there, around 5ish.

The pics inside dontgive justice to the stunning beauty of it. 

Some paintings. Wish i knew more about them.

Wish i had such an imposing organ...



Details of a guy high up. 

[whatagain]

I think i was given the room monks were sleeping in. 

The bar of the hotel next door. Would make a great venue for an Amyport meeting. 

Vienna is full of such buildings

[whatagain]

As a bonus, pics of last year. Not sure you would have noticed they are so old... 
They have minuments everywhere.

Main square.



I think this puc is less bad than the one I took this week. 

Inside... 

This isozart, ubiquitous in Vienna, here in a park a few hundreds of meters from center. 

Same neighbourhood. Small office building i guess. 

I really love such facades. 

These are publuc toilets.
Never seen such lavish and clean ones. 

[bjd]

It hasn't changed much since we were there 20 years ago. I actually preferred the late 19th/early 20thc architecture: Secession, as Art Nouveau was called in Vienna. Also some wonderful public housing that architects actually put their names on. There are some incredible baroque churches too.

But I do confess that we found Vienna rather boring and not lively at all. Nice enough to look at but I wouldn't go back there.

[kerouac2]

I was only there once and I confess that it did not connect with me -- all massive sterile buildings and practically no vegetation outside of the parks. I know that lots of people love it because it is grandiose and conveys the notion of "empire."

Very happy to see your photos though and to see the enormous progress that has been made with pedestrian zones -- which proves that they could have put in some trees if they wanted to, so the lack of them is a conscious choice.

[mich64]

Great photos whatagain! Especially the Anyport meeting place, I wish we all could be there someday.

I look forward to being there some time soon, Vienna was our last planned vacation arrival before COVID, it looks like we will love it there.

[bixaorellana]

Lovely report, Whatagain, and very impressive night pictures, which are always a challenge. Yes, your older picture of the interior of the cathedral gave a better look, but your more recent nighttime one of the illuminated lacy arches on the exterior is very striking. Yes, the Mozart lecture interspersed with harp music sounds deadly, but that interior is wonderfully ott. I love that you included the public bathroom, which somehow really capsulized the elegance of the city, a city I've always wanted to see.

Thanks for that word picture of your visits to Vienna, Huckle, which fed into my fantasy of myself drifting around the city attired like Silvana Mangano in Death in Venice.

[bjd]

My husband speaks German, I was raised on schnitzel and we stayed in an apartment someone lent us for a week. But we still found Vienna fairly boring. The Belvedere Museum was great but students around the Hofburg (? royal palace?) dressed in 18th century costumes flogging concert tickets was really off-putting. Vienna really felt like the kind of place where the sidewalks are rolled up at 8 pm.

I have always wanted to go to Trieste though.

[kerouac2]

I have been to Trieste but not to Venice!

[lugg]

Thanks Whatagain. The cathedral does look impressive both outside and in. I always think of cakes and pastries/ coffe shops when I think about Vienna, although I have never been. Did you get to try any ?

[whatagain]

2 hours drive from Vienna is Linz, close to the Alps i guess. 
It was funny to follow signage indicating Budapest or Bratislava. For a guy like me for whom these cities were part of Warsaw pact, so the enemy. 

Clean nice old buildinfs ince again. 

Facades painted in pastel colors. 

Very ekegant corner.

My hotel. 

The view from my hotel. 
I think Kerouac has a point about trees or lack of. The few ones are in large containers. 

The small chalets that yiu saw from abive.
Kitsch....

Inside a church. 
Yes as Bjd said, baroque comes to mind. 

Monks/bishops/prieT whatever had nice seats. 

The chair is very sober.
One can feel eeverything was being done to make the priest as clise as possible to the people. 

The door... i kive wooden doors. 

The lock ! I spent some time looking at it from all angles. 

[Kimby]

I was in Vienna as a 13 year old, traveling with my family of 5 and my maternal grandfather who was born in Austria and died in a suburb of Vienna called Perchtoldsdorf after spending his young adulthood and middle age in the United States. It was great to see these recent photos looking much as I remember the place. Thanks whatagain.

Will you also go to Salzburg? I liked that very much, including the mine tour and the high and low castles.

[fumobici]

Lovely report, I must visit Vienna at least even if I fear it might not really connect with me, it's a very important historical city. I'd wanted to see Trieste for ages, but it turned out to be a complete hotbed of anti-vax sentiment during the Delta surge and I've consequently lost a fair bit of respect for the place and its inhabitants.

[kerouac2]

Linz looks very nice. It seems "warmer" than Vienna to me.

[bjd]

Linz looks like quite a few Austro-Hungarian cities that I do like. Less pompous than much of the traditional architecture in Vienna, like the Ring.

[tod2]

Just loved your photos Whatagain - the harp lady might have been boring but my eyes would have looked up the whole time at that wonderful ceiling and all around the room. Also the carved wooden pieces in the churches are just fabulous. thanks for bringing Vienna and Linz to me as I have never been there.

[whatagain]

Thank you all !

No pics of Salzburg ! No client or supplier to visit ...

Yes Trieste definitely has a similar look, as is Cluz Naplope (sp ?) In Romenia. 

I swear i thought of Questa when i bought the cap at the airport and wsnted to close the report with it !

[mich64]

Thank you whatagain, enjoyed the thread.

Great photograph to end with!

[bixaorellana]

Nice look at Linz, Whatagain.

Jan 15, 2022 17:50:38 GMT whatagain said:

... trees or lack of. The few ones are in large containers.

I wonder if you went back in Spring or Summer, would that square be full of barrels and pots stuffed with flowering plants.

Love that you went to a European city to buy a baseball cap -- and one that referenced Australia, no less!

[whatagain]

A museum, at the outskirts of Vienna proper. 



Did i tell you i live these kinds of buildings ? Even more lit when dark fights light... 

I find it ugly but interesting. 





A nice square

Oops, this is Empstetten. One hour from Vienna. 

My partner put our flags to welcome us but wanted to please our french boss more.