Oh Vienna!

An early start was needed today, as there was a lot we wanted to see in Vienna.  We caught the 9am bus to the edge of the city, then took the underground in to the centre. 

First stop was the Kunsthistoriches Museum – all the internet guides says it ‘ranks among the finest museums in Europe, if not the world, and should not be missed, so who were we to argue.  A huge marble grand staircase takes you up to the first floor, where the young Gustav Klint worked on a series of paintings here and it is stunning.

From the top you can overlook the very ornate restaurant.

We started in the Egyptian section, then into the Greek and Roman areas.  The collections in each of the rooms were huge but we didn’t spend a vast amount of time looking around the Greeks and Romans, as we had seen a lot of similar artefacts before from our time in the Greek and Italian museums in the summer.  The only trouble with the rooms, there wasn't any signage to the way you went round and the map wasn't much help.

Which way now Mel?

We then headed into the Kunstkammer Vienna, which houses centuries of collections by the Habsburg dynasty of goldsmith work, precious vessels and goblets, sculptures, bronzes, clocks, coins and paintings galore.

This piece of art by Benvenuto Cellini is made out of gold, enamel, ebony and ivory and is marked up as a salt and pepper pot – wow it's beautiful and nothing like the salt and pepper pot we own!

There are umpteen photos we took of the lovely collection but I won't bore you by putting them all on, plus some of the rooms are quite dark so they didn't come out too well.  A lot of the collection, once purchased by the Habsburg clan over the centuries were stored in vaults and only when people visited and they wanted to brag about their wealth and superiority would they bring it out on display.  There is so much of it in this museum, it must have been one huge vault.  All the rooms have ornate ceilings but this painted one was a favourite.

A whole floor in the museum is dedicated to paintings, with a special collection of about 40 paintings by Rubens, celebrated as the greatest painter of the Flemish Baroque.  His paintings may be that of a genius but unfortunately hold no appeal for me and Mel, so we skipped through this quite quickly and onto the other galleries.

A painting by Johannes Vermeer, where it has been speculated (controversially) that he used a camera obscura to help him achieve his photo-realistic effects.  Mmm I guess we will never know.

Vermeer Painting

Mel’s favourite was this one by Giuseppe Arcimboldo.

I like this one called ‘beware of luxury’ by Jan Steen - a lot going on here.

The architecture of the building alone is enough to captivate you, let alone the collection it houses.  I would recommend anyone who comes to Vienna to take time to visit the museum.  We spent 2 ½ hours in here but could easily have spent longer.

Vienna was the seat of a great empire, from Romans to Habsbergs and walking around the city, it enabled us to soaked up the Baroque Architecture, statues and grand buildings.  It is incredible that it was bombed 52 times during WW2 and all the buildings so intact, although thousands of houses destroyed and lives lost.  Apologies but there are a lot of photos to follow, as I struggled to pair them down and some of the Baroque photos taken are a little bizarre!

Rathaus

Closest we could get to the Parliament Building as a 'support Kurdistan' protest was going on outside it and the police had it all cordoned off.  Is he punching that horse?

Parliament Building

Hofburg Palace

There was a big Military display in Vienna and Mel was quick to spot this one – Black Hawk down!

Lot of flags flying outside the Hofburg

St Stephen's Cathedral

The Vienna Market has around 120 market stalls and restaurants and the smells and culinary delights of the cheeses, meats, fish, fruit stalls, etc are delicious.  We had never seen red olives before though!

Beluga Kaviar - how much?!

The big wheel used in the film ‘The Third Man’ and James Bond ‘Living Daylights’

Even the cheap clothing shop H&M gets a posh building here in Vienna!

How cute are these signs on the traffic light crossings – they were a mix of same sex and men and women – it was nice to see no discrimination here!

Coffee and Sacher Cake at Demel – nice treat to the end of the day!

Vienna is a fabulous city with so much architecture and history to soak up that it is impossible to see it all in one day.  So, we will definitely have to schedule a revisit soon.

Sally x