September 16, 2011

Day 10 - Vienna

I don't know why I wasn't that excited about coming to Vienna. I really like it here! It reminds me very much of Paris but feels more approachable. There seems to be a sophistication yet it's not intimidating.

We slept in today. Our hotel is quite civilized about breakfast. It lasts until 11:30 and we showed up at 11:15. So far all of our hotels have included breakfast with the price of the room. The ones we have been to are not like the US breakfast buffets. Here they have had few hot items but mostly cheese, cold cuts, fruit, yogurt, cereal, lots of dried fruits and nuts, jams and jellies, and a wide assortment of different breads, croissant, and rolls. Some have had different kinds of pickles, a few sliced veggies, and some sweets. One thing different for me here is that I have coffee with hot milk every morning. At home I'm a Diet Pepsi woman but here the diet drinks suck and the coffee is fabulous!

Rick was in charge of the day. We left Rick Steves in the room. My Rick had mapped out four destinations for us but we only made it to two. We did try to go to the Jewish museum but silly us, we showed up late Friday afternoon and go figure, they were closed!

This impressive building housed the 

Austrian Dept. of Children and Families

While Vienna has the usual incredibly great city transportation system, we chose to walk. Actually, Rick suggested walking and I had no idea how far away we were going, so I agreed. On our way we walked along the Danube canal, saw some pretty impressive government buildings, and lots and lots of stone buildings that looked like they could be office buildings or apartments.

We were on our way to the Museum Hundertwasser (Kunst Haus Wein) Am I the only one who has never heard of Friedensreich Hundertwasser? He is one of Rick's favorite artists. I've known Rick for 15 years and he never introduced me to him.

There are many things about his artwork that struck a chord with me; the colors, the movement, the intricate simplicity. His philosophy about art and architecture got me though. The museum contained four floors that demonstrated who he was, his evolution, politics, and vision for a world where people and nature would co-exist. We couldn't take pictures inside the museum so go to the website and take a look.

He hated the architecture of his time and designed the museum as a studio and living space. The  photos I'm posting show you the outside and a section of the floor in the entry way with an explanation of what he viewed floors should be like. As you can tell, he really resonated with me. I didn't want to shlep around some of his posters and books but I plan to buy some and even use his writings in my work with clients.

I dragged Rick away from Kunst Haus Wein after about 2 1/2 hours because we still had places to go. We walked along the canal some more and found the Jewish Museum but it was closed as I mentioned before and then after another 20-30 minutes of walking we found our way to Freud's house.

Officially described as the Sigmund Freud Museum, it was the building he lived and worked in for 47 years before he had to take his family to England to escape the Nazis. Just prior to their having to leave Austria, a famous photographer and taken pictures of all aspects of his consultation room and office. In the museum each room had the photos going around the room up the wall about 3 feet and then above them were display cases with photos, personal papers and objects. The entrance to his office was separate from the entrance to his family's apartment. His waiting room contained the original furniture donated to the museum by Anna Freud.While psychoanalysis is very much different than the way I practice and some of his theories are not what I believe, I was very moved to be in the presence of the spirit and energy of this amazing man.

When we finished our exploration, my back and feet were shot. It was a gorgeous walk back to our hotel. We stopped by St. Stephen's Cathedral. It was pretty impressive dating back to 1300. We were able to go into the entryway of the nave (more than a football field long and nine stories tall). They were having a mass so we couldn't go any further. There was an organist playing which really was cool!

The cathedral was just a few blocks from our hotel, hallelujah! We got back at dusk. Rick promptly took a nap and I did some laundry (much needed) in the bathroom sink. I had a Luna bar for dinner and Rick went out later, got a bratwurst for himself and some gelato for both of us. We sure ate better when we traveled with Susan and Werner! Between us, we're too lazy to search for a good restaurant and then make up our mind which one to choose!