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.

Ready to go 10/18

I think we are about ready to leave for Rome and Vienna.  I am packed and have stopped the mail and papers, taken care of the bank, gotten our passports, and fixed a small lunch to eat in the airport.  Celeste is taking us out there and driving our car back to their house.  I have cleaned out the fridge and the disposal.  What else?  Carl and Celeste will get some edibles.

Our first plane takes us to Houston with a couple of hours of layover.  Then we board the big Lufthansa jet for Frankfort, then Rome.  Our travel agent Amy has done a wonderful job of getting our documents and plans made. 

I have always wanted to go to Rome.  Just think of all the old stuff there is to see!  We can't do it all in a week, but we will try for the high spots.  We have a driving tour on Sat. morning and a Vatican tour on Mon.  We both plan to take a lot of pictures.  I'll try to keep you informed of what we see and do.