Vienna - A Beautiful City With a Complex Past

Gerri and I arrived in Vienna on a rainy Tuesday. A light rain saw us off in Budapest as if the skies wept because we were leaving. A heavier rain greeted us in Vienna, as if to lament the arrival of these Fleet Footers to Europe!  But press on we must, and we did.

Not having a street address for our apartment was our first obstacle. We had instructions to take a couple of different trams, walk along the tram line until we came upon a super market, and a music store then turn the corner to yet another supermarket where we were to meet a person who would surrender the apartment to us. Rather than schleping our luggage with us on trams, we opted for a taxi cab. The driver looked at us as if we were just some crazy tourists, but understood our needs and drove us to our destination.

We met with the person who was to show us around the apartment and give us the keys. A very nice lady named Inge, who spoke no English yet showing us, who spoke no German, the layout of the apartment and its features. But with pantomime, smiles and laughs we made it all work out and settled in to begin an new day in a new city.

But first, dinner! Gerri and I were intent on finding a nice local restaurant. After walking around and passing up a few different places that didn't seem interesting, we came up the Mariahilferbrau. A popular place with an Austrian atmosphere. The waitress, a very friendly gal in traditional dress sat us down then attended to our dinner order. Gerri ordered  gnocchi with a type of pork compote and I ordered the farmers platter which turned out be a slab of ham, a slab of pork shoulder, some weinerschnitzel, a great saurkraut, and a big ball of something that I can't describe other than to say it was good. I'm sure I heard a voice out there saying "he likes it!" 

The following day, as is our custom, Gerri and I got onto the Hop On, Hop Tour Bus. To us this a great way to get accuainted with a new city. We ride around listening to the narration then go back to the places that we want to explore in depth. Our first pick was the Schonbrunn Palace.

The Schonbrunn Palace was the home of the Habsburgs, a dynasty that ruled for 650 years. It was here that many of the Habsburgs kings and emperors (and 1 empress) were born. Among them was Maria Theresia, the only empress ever to rule in the House of Habsburg. Maria Theresia raised 16 children here. Of 11 daughters one of them, Marie Antoinette, had as you might recall, a special fondness for cake.

As you tour this city it's amazing to learn of the history of this city. Events transpired and decisions were made that had a profound effect on the world even to this day. At one time Joseph Lenin, Marshal Tito and Adolf Hitler lived within a mile of each other. It's not known if they ever met one another, but one never knows and can only. We passed the Imperial Hotel where Hitler was once employed as a handyman, later to return as a VIP guest. We also passed the art academy where Hitler tried and failed many times to gain their recognition and acceptance as an artist.

Thursday greeted us with sunny skies and hot weather. Gerri and I rode the tour bus to what is known as the arsenal. The arsenal was home of the imperial troops and command staff. In today's world it serves a museum displaying armaments, uniforms and other items of a military nature.

A careful tour of the exhibits gives one more understanding of history especially as it affects today's world. From the Thirty Years War between Protestants and Catholics, wars against the Ottomans, right up to the events that led to World War One, Vienna and indeed the Habsburgs have been central to the events.

The assassination of Archduke Ferdinand and his wife Countess Sophie Von Hohenberg in Sarajevo by a Serbian high school student led Emperor Franz Joseph on the path to World War One. The ensuing chain of events then led to so many alliances of differing countries that your head literally spins. Through all this economies and therefore the people suffered. The ultimate resolution of those conflicts indeed led to more conflicts which in themselves led to a continuation of the First World War into the Second World War. It appears the cycle keeps repeating itself.

Today is Friday our final day in Vienna. Gerri and I are going to relax, look for a nice cafe downtown to hang out in for awhile and just have a leisurely day. Tomorrow we leave for Prague, a 4 hour train ride away. On our train ride we can reflect on what we've learned in Vienna namely the Habsburgs were a mess, while they did attempt some worthwhile works, they had their share of missteps. We also learned that Hitler, Stalin and Tito probably hung around the same coffee houses to share their political discourse and that Sigmund Freued loved cocaine. With all that said, Vienna is a great city to visit if only to learn more about history, but they also have great museums, coffee houses and ice cream!

Budapest - A City United

Today marks our 5th and final day in this beautiful city. Gerri and I have spent the last few days on the Hop On Hop Off buses while noting the sites that we would want to explore. With so much going on in this capital of the Republic of Hungary, it's difficult to settle on just one area. In the past couple of days we have found ourselves at the ancient castle, once home to kings, would be kings and the Hapsburg dynasty. Budapest came into existence with the uniting of Old Buda, Buda, and Pest, to become Budapest.

Nevertheless we leave our apartment, next door to the Budapest Opera House, each morning and allow our senses to direct our day. Of our apartment, we can say that it's in a stately old building that is reached from an inner court yard. The apartment is comfortable, with some of the idiosyncrasies one might expect from a building built at the turn of the 19th century. But it affords us a great place to lay our heads down each night and be entertained by the operatic rehearsals while we enjoy our morning espressos.

Our exploring has enlightened us of the struggles that this country has endured for centuries. The Magyar tribes migrated from Central Asia and settled in the Carpathian region establishing a pagan Hungarian country. The first King was St. Stephen, who established a Christian nation around the year 1000.  Pope Sylvester anointed St Stephen as King and also sent bishops so that King St Stephen could maintain the dioceses that he had established. The good old King busied himself with spreading Christianity in his kingdom until his death in 1038.

The early days saw much turmoil with pagans, Christians and outside invaders all trying to exert control over the country. One unlucky guy tried to establish a coup against the ruling landowners by assembling a small army to march against them. But wouldn't you know it, they acted against him and helped the landowners. His reward was a seat on a burning iron throne with a burning iron crown. Ouch!

Crossing the Elizabeth Bridge over the Danube river we made our way up to Gellert Hill which is the highest point in the city providing magnificent views of the entire city and also the site of the Citrodella, a former fortress. The Citrodella was key to the defense of the city from the earliest days up to World War II and the Cold War. Being the highest point in the city, Gellert Hill also had the distinction of being the site of executions. One unlucky bishop found himself afoul of the pagans who put him in a nail studded barrel and promptly rolled him down the hill. 

In one of our walks we came upon a pictorial history of Hungary while under Nazi occupation and later, under Soviet occupation. A poignant part for me were pictures of the revolution in 1956 as I can recall seeing some of it on the evening television news when I was a child.

Today Gerri and I plan to spend our last day in this city, which we have grown affection for, by seeking out the last of the places that we missed before such as Heroes Square. As modern as Budapest is we have felt very at ease here. Street traffic as busy as it gets, does not seem to be as crazy and hectic as we have seen in other cities. The police presence here is very minimal. There does not seem to much if any conflict in the streets. In short a very pleasant city to visit!

Our dining experiences here have been great. From traditional Hungarian fare to a Georgian restaurant that we discovered. Everything has been delicious!

Tomorrow we leave for Vienna! I can't wait to visit the local coffee houses there!