Vienna - Christmas, Castles and Cold - Part 3

Afternoon Vienna Part 1

 

 

1.  Man, I'm having to use a lot of parts for this city.  Sign of a great trip.  After breakfast, I wandered toward the Hofburg palace area. 

 

 

Statue on the way.  Vienna is so pedestrian friendly.  They pretty much clear out the inner city of cars.  It was great to enjoy the city, Wiener style.  (I CAN'T GET ENOUGH OF THAT!!!)

 Along the way, there were Christmas tree stands everywhere.  The whole city smelled like a Christmas tree.  With the light rain all day and cold, it just smelled cosy, even though the temperature made me question my sanity in coming to Vienna in December.



Hofburg palace!  As you walk through the arch, to the left was the Spanish horses arena (didn't see them this time, but next time for sure).  To the right is the Imperial apartments (more on that later).

First, I went to see the Hofburg Treasury.  I had high expectations because I had heard from a friend that it rivals the London Tower treasury, which is tough to do given the history and legacy behind the jewels held there.  My personal opinion was that it was better than the Tower of London because you could get really close to the jewels and take pictures.  Some of the jewels weren't as impressive, but the overall experience was better than the Tower.  RS gives it three pyramids, but I'll let the pictures speak for themselves:

Crown of Rudolph the II (1602 - Holy Roman Emperor) and his scepter and orb:

 

One of many of the emperor's robes, all housed in special lighting for preservation.  The robes were gorgeous - impressive that many of them are from the 1500-1600s. 

Cradle of the King of Rome.  Designed for the son of Napoleon Bonaparte and Marie Louise (Hapsburg daughter).  The eagle on the front is not yet ready to fly, symbolizing the growth period for Napoleon's son.  Sadly, it wasn't used that much.  Apparently it was just for show.

 Anyone need a baptismal fount?  This golden fount was used by the royal family to baptize babies into the family of God.

This is the traveling baptismal fount that was used in a pinch.

Baptismal gown used for the ceremonies.

Bejeweled sword - because it's important to stab someone in style.

Hair amethyst.  It was huge...wish there was a scale object in the picture.  One heck of a broach.  Not sure if that's what it is, but if I was an emperoress, I would wear it as a broach.

Just pretty.  No description.

2,680 karat Emerald.  It's roughly cut to ensure it didn't break. 

492 karat Aquamarine. 

Crown given as a gift by the Turks to the Hungarians, who were part of the Hapsburg dynasty.

What good crown doesn't come with a box?

Gorgeous gold roses.  Why have fresh flowers when you can make them out of gold?  It was a lot of fun to take pictures of.

Anyone need a communion cup?

Imperial Cross - Apparently, the inside contains pieces of THE cross and THE spear that pierced His side.  Not sure how I feel about the 'relic' thing as there is a tendency to create idols out of these objects.  The case was pretty impressive with the jewels though.

First picture - a bejeweled cross.  Second 2 - crown dates from the 900-1000s (probably Otto I - Holy Roman Emperor).  Includes portraits of Solomon and David, as well as symbolism for the 12 apostles (12 jewels on the front panel) and the 8 gates of Jerusalem (8 sides).  The last picture is another communion cup.

Overall, the Hofburg Treasury was awesome.  I know that sounds like a surfer describing a wave, but it was really awesome.  Tip:  Get the audio guide.  I did not and I left my RS book in the bag I checked.  Doh.  Audio guide was free with the ticket, but I missed the stand somewhere.  Wish I would have had that.  But the fact that you can take pictures means you can study up later.

Part 2 of the afternoon coming up....

Vienna - Christmas, Castles and Cold - Part 2

Saturday morning recap:

1.  After getting up early to take advantage of quiet streets and time to get my navigation straight, I wandered the empty streets of Vienna.  Have I mentioned how much I love early Saturday mornings in European cities?  Nothing is open and the streets are deserted.  It feels like a romantic comedy movie could take place right in front of you as you stroll the cobblestones.  Which brings me to another point.  This trip, more than any other in my life, I felt like one big hormone/pheremone, moreso than I've ever felt in my life.  I don't know what it was...actually I do.  It was the combination of Christmas, cold weather and beautiful sights that had me restraining myself from grabbing the nearest Austrian guy and mugging down.  Good thing that didn't happen...I felt like I was a boy crazy teenager, which I never experienced that intensely when I was in high school.  That all being said, the scenery was great.

2.  As I wandered the cobblestone streets, I found St Stephen's Cathedral:

Rick Steves gives St. Stephen's 3 pyramids.  This brings up an interesting debate about his ratings.  It's pretty clear that he ranks by the book as compared to what else is in the book he is writing.  For instance, this book is Vienna, Salzburg, and Tirol.  I would say I really enjoyed St. Stephens, but when you put it up against St Peter's (also 3 pyramids) in Rome, it's no comparison.  I think he needs to switch to a 4 point system.  3 was too high when you consider what else in other books he's given a 3.  However, for Vienna, 3 is perfectly acceptable.

 

 

The roof has incredible detail on it.  The original roof was destroyed by an errant bombing by the Nazis in WWII.  The pride Viennese feel in St. Stephen's is pretty evident in the inside, but the roof is the ultimate display of that pride.  Each tile in the restored roof was funded by a Viennese citizen to rebuild.  Pretty cool.  Another interesting point...in English, the capitol of Austria is Vienna.  In German and to most Europeans, it's known as Wien, which means that people from Wien are known as Wieners.  Let the giggling commence.  RS uses Wieners throughout his book and it makes me giggle every time.  Sign of immaturity or sign of being young at heart?  Yours to judge.

 

 

Altar in St Stephens

 



Tomb of Federick III, the father of the Hapsburg dynasty (1415-1493).  Another example of Wiener pride in the cathedral - the tomb was encased in bricks during WWII by locals, saving it from damage.

Close up of the painting at St Stephen's - shows the stoning of St Stephen.

This is the statue work done around the pulpit.  The marble sculpture includes 4 fathers of Catholic theology (not pictured).  The interesting part of this sculpture is the time frame it was created in.  It was on the brink of the Renaissance period, in fact, the Ren. period was already in full swing in Italy, where Raphael and Michaelangelo were busy creating the works for the Vatican and taking full credit for the work.  Prior to the Ren period, most sculptures were done anonymously in order to ensure credit went to the Creator and not a creator.  However, in this borderline Ren work, the sculptor put himself near the floor peering up at the four fathers.  It's a very funny little guy peeking out from under the stairs.  Love it!

St. Stephen's quick video tour

Outside of St Stephens. 

After touring St. Stephens, I grabbed breakfast on the Platz at a Viennese cafe.  They still allow smoking in restaurants and MANY Wieners still smoke.  That was unfortunate, but the atmostphere was just right looking out at the cathedral and the growing crowds and clouds.

St. Stephens will feature prominently in future posts, stay tuned!

Vienna - Christmas, Castles and Cold - Part 1

Apologies for the delay in posting....a little thing got in the way - a flight to Houston!  Best overseas flight I've had...huge fan of economy plus on United.  Other than the food and the smaller seat, it felt like first class.  I could get used to that.  Here's the recap of Vienna:

1.  I booked a flight a few months ago on Austrian Airlines, mostly due to the price, but added benefit, they are in the Star Alliance with United.  So miles were the name of the game for this one.  I really liked the airline...they were kind enough to check my bag even though I arrived at the airport only 35 minutes before take off.  There were issues with the tram in Den Haag...I got stuck on it for 30 minutes, missing the Schiphol train and I had to wait for the next one.  Pretty glad I was on Austrian and not Easy Jet.  Easy Jet wouldn't have waited.

2.  Flight was uneventful.  Vienna's airport is really nice.  They must have just upgraded recently because it feels very futuristic.  It was really easy to navigate for my bag.  I then grabbed the express train to downtown Vienna.  16 minutes on the train, worth every penny.  It was futuristic looking as well...all done up in black and neon green, with semi green lighting.  Strange looking, but really clean and a nice reprieve from the madness at the airport.

3.  After getting to the train station, using my map I got at the map store in the Hague, I found that my hotel was only a KM away, so I made the walk with my bag.  I stayed at the Hotel Am Parkring, just inside the loop of the old town.  I got a single room, which was upgraded to 2 twins.  It was perfect - clean and larger than I expected.  The best part was the view:

The last one isn't the view, but that's what is to the right of the hotel when you walk out.  Just great!  Price was right and the view...oh the view.

4.  I pretty much just went to bed that night on Friday.  Long week at work, plus a 2 hour flight equals an early night.  That being said, I found out that Vienna is super safe after dark and I would have had no issues being out late.  I have to say, Vienna was very high on my list of places to see.  It was so high and I was so excited about it that I honestly thought it wouldn't even come close to living up to the dreams.  I will say that not only did it live up, but it surpassed.  I love Vienna.  I could see spending a full week there just enjoying the ambience.  I need more vacation!

Saturday to come....

Blissfully unaware

On Friday, I went about my normal day here in the NL, finishing what has been my best week at work to date.  I felt great getting out and then rushing to catch a plane to Vienna out of Schiphol.  I checked cnn on the train there out of habit and saw a developing story in CT, but no further details. 

After I landed, I caught a train to my hotel and waited in line to check in.  Out of habit, I checked cnn again. What I saw punched me in the gut.  Luckily there was a chair close and I could sit down, because what I read made me literally sick to my stomach.  I'm thankful now for my few hours of being blissfully unaware. 

My facebook is kid central.  I would say that at any given point, the newest baby to pop up in my feed is no more than 1 month old.  And it's been like that for about 7 years, which means that kids of my friends number in the 100s now and are between 0-8 years old.  Most of the posts I saw said something to the effect of "hug your kids tight tonight".  If you have a single lady in your life, remember to let her hug your kids too...let her be a part of your village it takes to raise a child.  God's love and providence is most evident when community is at it's strongest.  Hug your kids tight, hug your fellow believers tight and pray that God will build stronger Christ centered communities where this kind of evil is not recognized.

Also, stop watching the news or clicking stories that glorify the killer.  Read the stories of the victims, get to know the heroes, but stay away from the killer's story.  Any added press only encourages the next deranged person to go bigger. 

Just another weekend in Amsterdam

This weekend, I had a cousin in town for work.  I hadn't met this cousin until this summer at the K family reunion and I'm so glad I did.  She happens to have an office in the Hague that is in the same office building as my company, which is crazy small world!

Anyways, C was a sport and let me take her to Amsterdam.  We met about 10AM and drove to the park and ride to catch the tram into town.  There was still ice/snow on the grass, but all of the streets were clear from this week's snow fest.  It was freezing cold, but being bundled up really helped.  First, we went to Central Station so that I could make sure there was enough money on one of the tram passes to get us around.  There was, so major score!  Then we grabbed the first tram to the Anne Frank house.  The line was a tad long and we were hungry so we found a Dutch kitchen restaurant and tried the Schnitzel.  It was the best schnitzel I've had in the Netherlands by far.  Can't give you the name of the restaurant, but it was right on a canal that leads right up to the AF house.  Definitely a repeat.

We then went to the AF house.  We used our Museumkaart's so that's the second time I've seen that museum on the pass!  I'm definitely getting my money's worth out of that card.  The museum was just as moving as the first time.  I still get chills listening to Otto Frank discuss the discovery of the diary and his first thoughts when looking for a publisher.  It's unimaginable.

After that, we took an Amsterdam stroll.  It was lovely to walk past canals I hadn't seen yet.  We happened upon this scene:

It's a floating hot tub!  Not sure how it works, but how interesting is that?  Did I mention it never got above 32F on Saturday?  I guess it's like the hot tubs at ski resorts.

We then braved the Red Light district, which consisted of one small block of viewing and then getting the heck out of there.  If you come to visit, I'll do it again, but only for like a small block.  It was shady and I just felt bad for those girls.  I totally judged too.  It was my idea to do it - C probably thinks I'm crazy, but at least we can say we saw it now.

We walked the floating flower market, which was nice because they had a shop dedicated to Christmas, which was fun to walk through.  We then jumped on a tram and made a decision to get off where ever we saw something interesting.  Found another ice rink and jumped off for a picture:

Looks like Christmas!!!  Love it.

Then we jumped on a tram to Rijksmuseum, which was covered by the Museumkaart again.  Score!  I really enjoyed it the second time...tons of fun going with a good friend.  Loved the Night Watch again, but can't get enough of the smaller Rembrandts and the idyllic scenes from Amsterdam.  This is my favorite: Amsterdam scene

Then we drove back to the Hague.  What a great day, thanks C!

London Round Deux



London Round Deux:

 

On my second trip to London for work, I spent another weekend enjoying the sites.  This time the focus was more on traditional tourist sites than seeing all of the West End in a weekend.  I also had a travel buddy this time...a friend from Houston was in town for work as well, so I had someone else to consult with about what to see and how to get there.  It was awesome!



 

View from hotel of the London Eye.  This time I stayed on Trafalgar Square, which was great for sight seeing quickly. 

 

 

Before I met my friend from his overnight flight, I headed to Convent Garden to see the Christmas decorations.  It was really awesome.  I also wandered through the market with it's arts and crafts displays.  There was some really neat stuff that I could have spent money on, but wanted to save for the sites later on.

 

 

First up was the Tower of London, which we did a Beefeater tour of.  The Beefeater tour was included in admission and very nicely done.  It was part history tour, part comedy tour.  The kids loved it and there were some chuckles had by all.  Overall though, the Tower of London was a lot more dark and gloomy than I thought it would be.  I guess I forgot about all of the death that occurred there.  The stories behind Henry the VIII were the best and seeing where Anne Boyeln was buried was neat as well.  The tour lasted about an hour and was well worth it.

 

 

The bridge was really neat to see - we didn't walk over to it but we got the appropriate photo opps.  We then walked the Tower wall and found a few of the torture exhibits and prision guard exhibits as well:

Silly things you do on the Tower wall.

 

We also saw the crown jewels, which I had heard were a tad disappointing so I went in with low expectations.  It turned out to be really neat, the jewels were just gorgeous and flashy as they should be.  You can't take pictures in there, which is probably a good thing because I would have filled up a whole memory stick with them.

 

After that, we headed to Picadilly Circus, where I had my first proper fish and chips, which was great.  The season was definitely in full swing on the circus...carolers, lights, people everywhere.  After we had lunch, we left the madness and headed to the Whitehall area for Churchill's War Rooms.

 

This was the best war museum I've seen in Europe, including the Paris Military museum and Dutch Resistance museum.  It's a standout in my mind and probably the best thing I've seen in London to date.  The museum preserves the rooms that Churchill used for his War Cabinet during the height of WWII, including the map rooms and his sleeping quarters pictured above.  It also has a huge modern exhibit on Churchill's life and the history of the war from the British perspective.  It's classy, well documented and a fair representation of the period of time.  I could spend a full day in there just reading through the exhibits.  It also comes with a really well done audio guide for each of the rooms you can view.  It's almost like stepping back into the 1940s in those hall ways.

 

After the war rooms, we walked down the mall to Buckingham and I got another shot of the castle:

From there it was on to Hyde Park, which I didn't do last time:

Hyde Park had their winter wonderland set up for Christmas, complete with this ice rink, which we stayed to watch the skaters for a bit.  The park was PACKED with people, but overall the atmosphere was great.  I felt like the holiday season was in full swing.

 

After that, we took a brief rest to freshen up for dinner.  We had Indian food at an RS recommended place near Convent Garden.  It was great!  Indian food is becoming my favorite, outside of Tex Mex.

 

The next morning, we met for a full English breakfast at a local pub, including baked beans, which seems weird, but it was good.  Then we caught the tube and headed to the British Museum:

 

The museum is kind of like looking through a pawn shop of all of the items the British have stolen over the years.  It's one big encyclopedia Brittanica in 3-D.  We hit the highlights, including the Rosetta Stone, Egyptian mummies, African and Japanese art, and the pieces from the Parthenon.  The best part for me was the architecture of the rooms.  Each room was slightly grander than the next. 

 

After that, we wandered back through Oxford and Regent street to see the lights and then it was time for me to catch my flight out of London City.  I decided to take the tube again, despite having a bag.  It turned out better than when I came in on Friday - that was utter madness trying to get a bag through the lines at the tube.  Much better on a Sunday.  The train though was shut at my tube/rail departure, so I thought for sure I would have to grab a cab from there.  However, a nice tube employee pointed me to the free bus connecting me to the Docklands Rail at another station.  So I hopped on that double decker bus (first one for me) and was driven past the Tower of London in style:

 

 

At the DLR station, I caught the right train (got on the wrong one first, but was able to get off before it took off).  City airport was uneventful.  I actually think it might be easier to get from Heathrow to the city, but the security lines and the ease of use with City is so much better.  Customs took me about 5 minutes at City as opposed to the 30+ minutes it takes me at Heathrow. 

 

Then I snapped these shots as we were taking off....I think this is Olympic stadium!

 

Overall, a great trip which was made better by having a travel buddy!  I could get used to that (hint, hint!!!).