Before Feb. 24, I had not been to Vienna in 50 years. The first trip was in 1967, between my junior and senior years in college.
My father generously paid for me to participate in a two- or three-week tour of Europe. It was a bus tour, with a sprightly, handsome tour guide named “Jella” (silent “J”).
Our group consisted of 44 girls and four boys, and I think Jella got to know one or two of the girls pretty well. As for me, I drank a lot of beer; fell hard for a tour participant from Buffalo; and really didn’t pay enough attention to learn much about Europe. (Once back home in Kentucky, the relationship with the girl from Buffalo soon faltered.)
About all I remembered of Vienna was the splendor of the Schonbrunn Palace, the former imperial summer residence of the Hapsburgs, who ruled various parts of Europe from the 13th century to the early 20th century.
This trip was different. Patty and I, along with another couple, toured Vienna as it should be toured, going from one part of that great city to another on public transportation, visiting museums and palaces, attending the opera and enjoying local dishes like Wiener Schnitzel, bratwurst and “apfelstrudel.”
Our trip, which ended Saturday, also included stints in Salzburg, Budapest and Prague. The most gratifying part of the trip was spending time with our son Charlie, who is in the midst of a one-year internship with a U.N. agency in Vienna — one of the U.N.’s four headquarters cities, along with New York, Geneva and Nairobi.
In seven months, Charlie has learned a lot about the European lifestyle and, among other things, has visited Berlin and Budapest and gone skiing in the Alps.
Naturally, I took a lot of photos and managed to not drop or break my trusty little Lumix. So, this week, I’ve got two sets of photos for you. The first set is from Salzburg and Vienna. The second will be from Budapest and Prague.
Now, as Jackie Gleason used to say…And awaaay we go!
Not modern buildings but a fortress — Hohensalzburg Fortress, built in 1077 — dominates the Salzburg skyline.
If it affords an imposing view from below, the fortress itself offers wonderful views of the city and the Salzach River…
…and of the nearby mountains.
Charlie joined us in Salzburg after taking the train from Vienna. He and I enjoyed a cigar on the fortress grounds.
Street scene, Salzburg
Usually, it’s the smells of a bakery that beckon; in this case it was light and loaves.
A good-looking group for sure: Patty and Charlie and our traveling companions, Edie Quinby and Paul Cochran, old friends who live in the Bay Area.
Vienna’s main train station. (In Europe, Vienna is Wien, pronounced “Veen.”)
Statue of Mozart, Vienna’s favorite son, next to the back side of the Austrian National Library, which also was the “New Imperial Palace” of the Hapsburgs
The gracefully curving “New Imperial Palace” from the front.
Street scene, Vienna
Walking and sightseeing requires energy that a good, healthy Viennese lunch can provide.
St. Stephen’s Cathedral, with its soaring south tower
Even from the shorter, north tower you can see Vienna’s most prominent structures, including the 57-story Donau (Danube) Center tower (left) and the huge ferris wheel at Prater amusement park.
That ferris wheel, up close
The majestic Schonbrunn
Feeling regal at the Schonbrunn cafe. “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses…”
How to get back to the city…We spent a lot of time poring over maps with colored, squiggly transit routes.
Trams and the “U” (underground) are Vienna’s primary modes of public transportation. You never have to wait more than a few minutes for either.
On the “U”
Fashion and affluence are abundant.
Charlie and Patty, outside the U.N. complex
The Danube, or “Donau”
The spectacular Vienna State Opera house
For a performance of Mozart’s Don Giovanni, we were seated on the fifth of six elevated tiers. And while it was sometimes difficult to tell from that distance which character was singing, the sound quality was perfect, as you would expect.
**
Added at the request of Jayson Seymour (see comment below), “apfelstrudel” from Salzburg…
**
Also adding this photo of a cafe in Salzburg. Unlike at the coffee houses in the U.S., most people are not checking their email or held hostage by their cellphones in European cafes. The cafe is a place where people read actual newspapers or books, relax and talk quietly. Most cafes have a rack newspapers affixed to wooden rods.
Jim, good to see a post. Just yesterday I checked my inbox thinking I may have missed one.
We saw Prague, Salzburg, Berlin and Munich last March. It was a terrific two weeks. Vienna was to have been on our itinerary for September, but a problem cropped up with a couple we were to have met up with and we thus postponed for a year. Anyway, we look forward to it and thanks for the preview. I’m glad that you are posting once more.
Good to hear from you, Tom…You and Debra will love Vienna. It’s consistently ranked one of the top cities in the world, and when you’re there, it’s apparent why.
…I went AWOL on the blog for a couple of weeks. The explanation is now self-evident.
I look forward to reading your take on the politics.
Great pics, Jim! While you were gone I made it to….Omaha!
How’s the jet lag?
Jim:
Thanks so much for treating us to your wonderful trip.
Charlie is tall and handsome and I know Brooks is beautiful. Two great kids.
How great Charlie is working in Vienna! Wonderful pictures of you, Patty and your fellow travelers.
Good to have you back.
All best,
Laura
Thanks, Laura…As always, great to hear from you and have your input…Charlie got his bachelor’s in physics from Tulsa U and then went into a master’s program at UNLV, focusing on environmental health physics. At the U.N. he’s helping develop a radon remediation program that several countries have signed on to. In August, he’ll return to UNLV to complete his master’s thesis. And this is a kid who struggled in grade school and his first year or so at Rockhurst High. Then he took off. Sometimes it takes a while for the light to go on. Brooks, on the other hand, was an “A” student out of the box.
Two both brilliant and handsome, beautiful kids, Jim. Know you and Patty are proud!
Feel like I’ve been on a wonderful trip.
What about the desserts ?? ! I’m dying to see a pic of a Sachertorte or Sshhtrudel.
You’re truly a cultured man, Jayson. For your pleasure, I’ve added an inviting photo of apple strudel.
We went to the cafe at the Hotel Sachre in Salzburg and had one of their famous chocolate tortes. Damn good. (The hotel and cafe in Vienna are better known, but Charlie said the Salzburg affiliate is actually better because the crowds are smaller and management isn’t pushing you to finish up and move on.)
The great thing about European pastries is they are not overly sweet, which is the problem with most American pastries. (Think cherry and apple-filled Danish.) Also, as you undoubtedly know, Jayson, the bread, especially the baguettes, are fantastic…crispy crust and soft interior. In KC, Farm to Market makes a fairly comparable baguette, and I’m sure there are a few stand-alone bakeries that have good ones. But where there are bakeries every few blocks in Europe, they are few and far between here. As daughter Brooks noted, the big grocers have gone horizontal and taken control, badly, of much of the baking business.
Letter from Vienna.
Welcome back. Your travelogue brings back happy memories of the week we spent there. Looks like it hasn’t changed. :-) Did you ride the Prater wheel? I always think of “The Third Man” and the theme from, when I see it.
Thanks, Gayle…We didn’t ride the wheel. We dropped by there about dusk, on our way someplace else and just didn’t make the time. I think I would have done it, though, because it’s got enclosed compartments, not the open ones with only the bar between you and solo flight.
We also talked about seeing The Third Man when we were there, but too many other things took precedence.
TCM runs it fairly regularly.
About time. I’ve been calling circulation for days waiting for my new column to arrive. At least we get the added value of pretty pictures for our patience.
We’ve been having some circulation problems since we switched over to the new system — clicking on the “send” button. Very confusing.