The Vienna I thought I knew…

So this is the Vienna I thought I would see replete with Hapsburgs on horses and fantastic buildings.

   

We got a nice tour of the Schönbrunn Palace but as is usual with these places, I was not allowed to photograph the inside.  It was lovely though.  You’ll have to take my word for it.  

Then Evan and I went off to the Belvedere to see Klimt’s The Kiss.  Oh, boy!  That was a thrill!  And the Belvedere, which was once the summer palace of Prince Eugene of Savoy, is just beautiful.  After we went through the gallery and saw a few Klimts and other wonderful works of art.  We took a break in the café where I had a slice of Klimt Cake.  They wouldn’t let me take photos of the original but I got a few bites of the reproduction.  

In the Belvedere Gardens.

My Klimt cake.

We took the subway back to Stephansdom and visited St. Stephen’s Cathedral and went on a Catacomb Tour.  The parish of St. Stephen’s dates from the 1100s.  The striking thing about the interior of the building is the solid colored stained glass windows that wash the walls with mottled color.  Just beautiful!  But we found the Catacomb Tour very interesting as we got to see metal containers that held the innards of the old Hapsburgs (their hearts are in silver containers in another location) and bones from many who succumbed to the Plague piled in vaults in the walls.  

Here’s Evan at Schönbrunn Palace doing the royal wave.  I have to give him a lot of credit.  I thought he wasn’t too good with directions but I was wrong.  He can read a map with the best of them and has a way with subway systems that would rival any city dweller.  Had it not been for him, I might have taken a wrong turn somewhere and would be wandering the Russian steppes at this point.  Thanks, Evan!