Vienna to Amarillo 10/31-11/1

Vienna, October 31, Wednesday, the last day

Oh, my goodness.  I had to check to see if I had legs or just stubs left -- still two legs -- but they are tired.  I think I have walked miles, befpmostly looking in shops and at buildings.  I even rode the tram some.  Garrett will have to identify some of the things I took pictures of.  It was chilly, but not uncomfortable.  The trees are loosing their leaves, the people are bundled up, Christmas decoration shopping has started.  We stopped for coffee and cake again about noon, so I am not hungry for dinner yet.  Austrians walk a lot, so, even if they eat cake, they seem to be in pretty good shape.  It is easier to walk in Vienna than it was in Rome because the sidewalks are smoother.

This is part of the breakfast bar we see each morning: boiled eggs, vegetable salad, tomatoes, cukes, egg salad, olives, pickles, 3 kinds of yogurt, hazelnuts, raisins, 3 kinds of cereal, several cheeses, several meats, 2 juices, coffee, tea, cocoa, several breads, butter, honey, jams

                                   Garrett and Goethe

                                       Garrett and Schiller

 

We went back to the gasthaus we have been to before for our last dinner this trip.  Both of us had the garlic cream soup and we shared the cevapcici and fries.  It was delicious, and not too much.  Then we had to pack to go home.  We went to bed about 8:30 since our pick-up time was 3:45. 

 

Vienna, November 1, Thursday

We got up at 3 and were ready to go in half an hour.  The man at the desk fixed coffee, and the van came by at 3:45.  Making the reservations for transportation has been worth the time and money.  There has been someone there for us every time scheduled.  It took about 25 minutes to reach the airport, and we were through the check in and security in just a few minutes more.  It was very smooth and easy.  I got some pictures out the window on the way down into Frankfort.

 

In Frankfort we had to move to another terminal again and go through security again.  It went smoothly.  We boarded the big bird home on time and took off.

It was a LONG ride.  My seat mate (since I was in the middle) had been a teacher in the Greek school I went to.  She taught English and ESL.  The food was good and the wine was plentiful.  They even gave us Bailey’s Irish Cream.

Houston was not fun.  We had to go through customs, get our bags and recheck them, find our terminal and wait for the plane to Amarillo.  We had been told the flight would be late leaving, but it was on time.  Carl and Celeste met us at the gate; we were glad to see them, but didn’t stay long.  We wanted to get home!  It was a lovely trip.

Rome 10/23-4

Tuesday, October

Yesterday we had to wash as we had no clean clothes left.  It went very easily as there are 2 laundries near the hotel.  While they were washing we went on a walk in the neighborhood.  Most of the stores were not open yet.

Later we visited the Massimo museum of sculpture.  From the mosaaics I have gotten some quilting ideas.  The statues were laid out cleanly, not too many per room.  I especially liked a bronze of a philospher sitting and took a picture of his head.  There was also one of Sapho that I liked.  My feet were killing me, so we came back to the hotel and found a trattoria for dinner.  It was already after 4:30, and we had not eaten since 8:30 breakfast.

The dinner was good.  Garrett had a thin veal steak and vegetable soup.  I had pizza.  We finished up with gelato.

Wednesday October 24

We saved the forum and coloseum for our last full day.  Oh, my aching body!  It was really wonderful, but the paths are mostly rocks and cobblestones.  It is hard for me to walk on them.  Aparently Rome has been built and rebuilt over the centuries and is made up of many layers of civilization.  It it a fascinating place. 

The forum covers a huge amount of ground.  There are columns and rocks every  where.  I don't know how they can find out so much about them.  Things are well documented so we could understand what we were seeing.  It would have been better to have had a book or plan.  Also we needed water and had not taken it with us.  A lot of cats live on the grounds of the Forum and in the Coloseum.

We ended at the coloseum with at least a half million people.  Our tickets let us in both.  We came back to the hotel on the metro for a rest before dinner.

Rome 10/22-3

Tuesday, Oct. 23 

We went to the Vatican yesterday.  I think you could spend days there and not see it all.  Our guide was very nice and knowledgeable.  She answered all our questions and told us what we didn't know to ask.

We had some time before the tour, so we walked around the neighborhood.  Since we had been in the direction of the train station several times, we went the other way to the shops south and east of the hotel.  We saw the back of Santa Maria Majjiore and lots of tour buses.

 

Our ride and guide came about 2.  We went through the museums on the way to the Sistine Chapel.  I took quite a few pictures of the statues, mosaiics, and paintings.  Italians have been collecting and making statues for centuries, and there were a lot.  The guide said that, like most museums, the ones on display don't begin to show everything there is in storage.

 

I think only pictures can show the magnificence of what we saw.  I know my words cannot.  The Sistine and St. Peters are beyond beautiful and magnificent. There was a mass going on, so we didn't get to go in the area of the Bernini canopy, but we could see it.  Remanants of the canonization services the day before (chairs, curtains, barricades) were still in place.  There were a lot of people there!  We walked on the square and down to the metro for a ride back to he hotel.  The metro was crowded too because it was about 6 p.m.  I was very tired.

 

There is a funny thing about the electricity in the hotel.  When you unlock the door to come it, it is dark inside.  You place your key card in a recepticle by the door for the lights to turn on.  When you leave, you take the card with you.  If you are alone in the hotel room and the other person has left with the key card, no lights will turn on while he is gone.  That was okay with me.  I took a short nap while Garrett was gone.

Sunday we ate at a restaurant in the neighborhood.  I had risotto with asparagus and a pork chop.  Garrett had lasagna and a big salad.  We splurged on dessert, tiramisu and chocolate mousse  It was all good.  Last night I had salad and lasagna and lemon gelato.  Garrett had salad, ravioli, and chocolate cake.  We drank a bottle of sparkling water and a small bottle of wine.  We have only been eating 2 meals each day, breakfast and dinner. 

Vienna 10/27

Vienna, Sunday, October 28

I don't know what we will do today.  Yesterday it was cold and rainy all day, but we walked anyway.  We went downtown to the pedestrian district and walked with hundreds of people, all carrying umbrellas most of the time.  We went into Stephansdom, but couldn't see much because of the crowds.  They seemed to think worship services were more important than tourists.  Feature that!  We did get to hear the orchestra and singer practicing for that night's concert.  The tickets were very expensive, so I was glad of a small sample.

 

There was a shop with children's tracht clothing, the traditional clothing of Austria.  It is coming back into style  We had fun looking at the tiny models wearing it.  I had read in a magazine that it was something to look for.

 

I got on the Internet last night and found a fabric store on the shopping street our hotel is near.  I want to check it out tomorrow.  There is also a Swarovsky crystal store downtown that I want to go into; it's a cinch I can't buy anything there, but I'd like to look.

 

This is the 150th anniversary year of the birth of Gustaf Klimt, so there are things everywhere about him.  At least 2 museums have his work on display.  I'd like to go to the Art Nouveau museum.  We have seen copies of his work, especially The Kiss everywhere: cards, prints, umbrellas, even in a pastry shop.

 

Vienna 10/30

Vienna, October 30, Tuesday

I went to the most amazing fabric shop I have ever seen: Komolka. I think much of the fabric was couture; everything from beads and crystals to sewed on roses to feathers to something like the design felting I have seen demostrated. I asked if I could take some pictures for my friends in America and did so.

The feathers amazed me most. I couldn't figure out how they were attached. They were real feathers: blues on blue, reds on red, multicolor on anything. There was one fabric that made me think of the 20's dresses I have seen in pictures with rows of strings hanging down like fringe, but all over, not just at the bottom. I went into the pattern area and saw a book of tracht designs, the traditional Austrian/Bavarian costume, with swatches to show what was used. One taffeta had a hunting scene at the edge.

I also went into a craft shop. It was stuffed with beads, pens, paper, inks, clay, everything.

I didn't buy anything. The fabric was expensive, up to $300 per meter.

We had a Mozart cake and coffee downtown just after noon because we planned to go out later with Garrett's friend from Fullbright days. The cake was heavenly. The coffee was too. The cake was 2 layers of chocolate with a filling of pistaccio nougat and milk chocolate frosting--fondant that tasted like fudge. Oh man!!!!

I had planned to go to the Secession museum in the afternoon, but it was something of a disappointment. The only Klimt was the Beethoven Frieze, down 2 sets of stairs and up one. Because it is a frieze, it is installed at the top of the wall, so you have to climb it to see it. It was along 3 walls, and there was a guide to explain. It was strange.

Gernot took us to a restaurant that featured wild game. Garrett and Gernot had venison, and I had rabbit. It was a new experience, but good; the meat was dark, in a sauce and with potato dumplings. I couldn't begin to eat it all.

Garrett and I shared a dessert, crepes with plum conserve and poppy seeds and whipped cream, and Gernot had poppyseed cake. We rode back to our hotel on the bus.

Vienna 10/28

Vienna, Monday, October 29

I was very self-sufficient yesterday and went to the Bellevedere Palace Museum by myself on the bus.  I asked at the desk which one to take and the stop and walked there by myself as Garrett wanted to do his own thing.  There are 2 museums in Vienna with exhibits featuring Gustaf Klimt because it is 150 years since he was born.  It was fairly cold, but I wore my fleece vest and my windbreaker with hood.  I wished for mittens and a scarf.

 

 

The exhibit was wonderful.  They had set up one half of the first (read second here) floor just for it.  The walls had been marked with quotations from his diaries and the words of others about him (in large letters like the ones you can buy at home to put on your walls).  It made it easier to understand the stages of his life.

In the beginning he and his brother had commissions to paint inside theaters and churches, rather regular art work.   You could see as you went on through the rooms how his work changed after Ernst died to become more and more Nouveau and excentric.  He and some contemporaries founded a movement called Secession.  I hope to go to that museum today or tomorrow.  The picture is a display we saw in a pastry shop window because I couldn't take pictures inside.

 

I should have gotten the audio to go through the rooms, but didn't.  When I got to the last room, there was a curator and a large crowd at The Kiss, and the man was explaining the painting.  Unfortunately for me, it was all in German.  The painting is magni-ficent with gold leaf or paint on much of the surface.  He also used gold on many others like Judith and Sophie.  Many of the paintings are very large.
 

I went through the other rooms quickly (spending some time at the Napolean on his horse by David), and looking out of the windows at Vienna spread out below.  I also went into the museum shop for some cards since I couldn't take pictures.  To get back to the hotel, I just took the same bus and got off at a place I recognized.

 

Garrett had already finished his ramblings, so we went back to the cafe where we had had coffee the night before.  He had a plate-sized schnitzel, and I had a fresh sausage dish called chevapcici (I know that is spelled wrong because it is Hungarian or Polish or Czec).  Both were delicious and too big.  We had intended to go back later for coffee and dessert, but it was too cold and we were not hungry.

Vienna, October 27, Monday

This morning there is a mix of rain and snow, and Accuweather says it is    -1^oC, about 30^oF.  It will only get to about 3^o today, but will warm up in the coming days, warmest on the day we go home, about 9^oC on Thursday.  I guess we should have come earlier in the month and gone to Rome afterwards.  I think we will buy mittens and a cap for Garrett and a scarf for me today.  It won't be that warm.

 

Rome to Vienna, 10/25-26

October 25, Rome

We went last night to the same trattoria and had the special, antipasto and entree with salad and potatoes; both of us had roast chicken.  It was really good.  We got some stamps and gelato before returning to the hotel.  Later in the evening we had coffee/tea and dessert at a cafe near the church.  There was a lot of traffic there at the cafe.

 

This morning we packed up and are now at the airport, a huge one.  We are going by Austria Airlines to Vienna in about an hour.  One of the drivers we had earlier came to pick us up in a Fiat Ducat van.  It is a fair distance to the airport and the streets are rough until you get to the highway.

Saturday, October 27, Vienna

When we arrived at our hotel (in a Mercedes), they had no reservation for us but soon worked it out.  The Hotel Savoy is beautiful and elegant, very opulent in design and furnishings.  I’m glad we are here.  It didn’t look like much from the street with about 20 steps to climb with baggage, but the staff is extremely nice.  Our rooms include a bedroom with table and chairs, TV, etc., a toilet, a bath with ceiling mirror, and ample closet space in the hall.

 

The lobby has old-fashioned furniture and a glass case with knickknacks.  You can eat your breakfast there if you wish or read the paper.  The breakfast room uses  white china similar to white Racine, but with garlands.  They do not expect you to go away hungry: several meats including braunsweiger, several cheeses including camenbert, cereals, yogurts, hazelnuts, milk, some Austrian dishes like liptauer and gemeuse salat, eggs, juice, sparkling water, cake.  Someone comes in  to ask what you want to drink and brings it.  There are several kinds of bread on each table.  We find that we only need one other meal each day.

Yesterday we took a city tour with Schonbrun and afterwards stayed to walk in the gardens and see the carriage museum.  It was interesting to see how the trees and bushes of the gardens were trimmed; it lookd like someone had used a ruler.  It was a national holiday, so most of the businesses were closed.   We returned downtown on the subway and found a place to eat about 4:30.  We learned quite a bit about one of the empresses, Elizabeth or Sisi, in the carriage museum and saw some fascinating vehicles and clothing.

 

 

The restaurant is a sort of cafeteria and was full of people.  I think many had the day off with their children.  We could go around the food area and pick from appetizers, salad, meats and vegetables, pasta, breads, and drinks.  Then we went through the cashier and found a table.  Garrett got a huge sausage and veggies for both of us, and each of us choose some salads.  Later we went back for dessert and coffee.  It was good food.

We walked from there to our hotel, about a 30-minute walk, comfortable, and stayed in for the night.  It is much colder here.  Garrett needs a hat.

 

Sunday in Rome, 10/21

It certainly gets dark early here!  We live on the west edge of the time zone, and I don't know where this one runs.  It is nearly dark by 7 p.m. and completely by 7:30.  I don't know when it gets light because my eyes are closed.

The breakfasts here at the Palladium Palace are generous and good: cheese, 2 or 3 cold meats, 2 hot meats, boiled and scrambled eggs, cereal, at least 6 breads, coffee, tea, milk, cappucino, fruits, yogurt.  We don't need but one other meal each day. 

This morning we went back to Santa Maria Maggiore for a picture of Bernini's stone.  There is supposed to be a spiral staircase, but we haven't seen it.  Part of the building is being repaired.  The mass was taking place in the main part of the church; the organ and choir were glorious.  The organist kept playing after the service, a real treat for everyone there.  In one of the chapels a baptism was taking place.  The poor baby was really upset.

 

We took the metro out to San Paolo Basilica.  The mass was just finishing there.  That church has a mosaiic portrait of every pope around the walls.  There is only room for 7 more; what will they do?  Benedict's is already in place.  The church is huge!  They were using only a small part of it.  In addition to the portraits and an excellent organ, there were several statues, mostly of Paul, a door from Constantinople, gardens, beautiful artwork, and an Easter candle stand about 12 feet high.  I don't know how they would get the candle up there.

 

 

 

It was nearly 4 when we got back, so we found a restaurant for dinner.  I had risotto with asparagus and a pork chop.  Garrett had egg plant and a salad.  Then we fell for the dessert menu and had tiramisu and chocolate mousse with cappucino.  We stopped at a bookstore in the train station shopping area, but found no magazines or anything Garrett wanted to read.

 

Earlene, you can't imagaine how many Smart cars we have see here, and the funny thing is that they are often parked perpendicular to the curb and the rest of the parked cars.  They don't stick out any further.

 

Roma 10/19-20

October 19, 2012

We are flying from from Frankfort to Rome; outside the window I can see the most amazing sight: the Alps of Switzerland.  When I read Heidi as a child (or maybe Dad read it to us), I pictured the green fields on the mountains and the rugged, snow-capped peaks.  I can see them from the plane with a river and some lakes.  The captain came on the speaker to say we had just passed over Zurich.  Now we are out of the mountains, so I see cultivated fields

The part of the airport we were in in Frankfort is new, according to the Lufthansa magazine, but I don't think much of it.  We must have walked over a mile from Terminal 2 to 1A.  There were no passenger carts except the ones going the other way.  For a long time there were no moving sidewalks either.  We had to go through passport control and security again.  By the time we got to gate A32, I   very hot and tired.  It took about an hour.  Both of us got hand scanned.

Now I see some lower hills and some towns.  One may even be a city.  Both seem to be built along a river.  Oh--more little towns.  It looks very picturesque.  I wish I were down there.  We seem to be slowing down.  Maybe we are about to get to Rome. There is a big lake too. (I'm still having trouble with this little keyboard.)

They told us the Lufthansa airbus we rode yesterday carried 500 passengers.  I think all the seats must have been filled.  The first and business passengers were upstairs.  I was VERY crowded in the middle seat with Garrett on one side and a stranger on the other.  I couldn't go to sleep for a long time, and it was a short night.  The food was pretty good. They served wine at no cost.  By the time the attendants got back to row 87, the chicken was all gone, so we had pasta with salad, bread, and tiramisu.  For breakfast there was omelet with veggies, fruit, and bread.

We are flying lower now.  I can see the lake.  The terrain has changed again.   The fields are like England and look like they are separated by hedgerows.  There are areas of woods and vineyards and orchards.  It is really pretty.  There are single houses like farms and rows of houses made of brick or stucco and finished with red tile roofs.

When we arrived at the airport, there was someone waiting for us.  On the way to our hotel the driver pointed out some of the sights.  We got settled and have walked around near the hotel and train station before getting a bite to eat.

I am so sleepy I can't type.  More tomorrow.

 

October 20

We had a driving tour this morning in a Mercedes with another couple.  The driver spoke pretty good English, but the other man was strange.  He was down on Catholics, the Mafia, and gypsies; he was a grass seed farmer from Oregon.  He was very interested in how much property is owned by the Vatican. 

We stopped at the top of the Spanish steps, and later at a church and gate at the bottom.  There was a good view of the city, and it was a beautiful day.  There was already a big crowd at Trevi fountain by 10 a.m.  We went into the church there for a few minutes.  Celeste,  I have already taken some pictures of scooters for you.  One had 2 front wheels.  I haven’t seen any Vespas yet.

 

Inside the Pantheon, there was a small band with drums that marched out just after we entered.  I read that the dome on that building was the largest built at the time.  As the builders went up, they made the top lighter by leaving a sort of closed honeycomb and lighter materials.  It is finished with an open oculus for meditation on the sky.  Rain can come in there.

We spent some time at Piazza Navona.  The sun was very bright and hot on the hordes of people there.  There were several painting vendors.  I think Rome and Egypt must have had something going; we have already seen several obelisques.  I love the trees here in Rome.  We have seen tall pillars of evergreen and pines that have flattened tops, some the guide called platten with white trunks and pretty foliage.  At Garibaldi square we saw the wolf with Romulus and Remus.  At the Pallentine we stopped for pictures.  The crowds at the Coloseum were huge.  We may try to go there early tomorrow.

 

We passed St. Peter’s basilica and saw paintings on the front of the 6 people who will be beatified tomorrow.  The Spanish-speaking nun a our hotel said the Pope will do the ceremony tomorrow morning and appear on the balcony.  It looked like there were big screens set up for the people outside.

We rested after lunch and went to the church of Santa Maria Maggiore, said to be decorated with gold from the New World.  It certainly is beautiful.  Some of the side chapels had services going on, and a mass started before we left.  Hordes of visitors were inside.  At one chapel the people began to sing “Amazing Grace” a capella as the white-robed priests left.