Vienna, Part 2 | BPV2023

May 23 - 27:
Vienna, Part 2
(Free time)

We stayed several days after the group tour ended, leaving us with a lot of free time. Because we did so much, we have categorized the information on this page by theme rather than day.

We roamed all over Vienna, taking in art museums, opera, palaces, catacombs, dancing horses, and Art Nouveau. We even had time for cake and coffee.

Jungendstil (Viennese Art Nouveau)

Butterfly House

The Schmetterlinghaus (Butterfly House) was built in the Jungendstil (Viennese Art Nouveau style). Once a palm house for the imperial family, it is now a hothouse teeming with butterflies.

Karlsplatz Metro Station

As part of our Jugendstil tour of Vienna, we visited the twin pavilions of Karlsplatz, designed by Otto Wagner. Sadly, the buildings had been majorly tagged by graffiti. Regardless, the Jugendstil details still shone through, from the curving gold-painted decoration framing the main arch to the folded-leaf cornerpieces.

Secession Art Museum

The Secession was the hub of the Jugendstil movement, formed around the turn of the 20th Century. Gustav Klimt is its most well-known founder, and his Beethoven Frieze, in the basement of the Secession, is one of his best-known works.

Anchor Clock

We visited the Anchor Clock at 12 PM to watch historical Viennese figures march across the clock face in their daily noontime parade, accompanied by organ music.

Cultural Delights

Burggarten

We stopped by the Burggarten, fomerly the imperial family's garden and now a public park, so Lindsey could pay homage to Mozart, whose statue greets park visitors.

Albertina Museum

As a former Habsburg residential palace, the Albertina is expansive. We were lucky enough to see a Breugel print exhibit a mere day before it ended. Pieter Breugel the Elder, a Dutch Master of the 16th Century, is one of Lindsey's favorite artists, and she was adamant that we visit the museum before the exhibit closed. The photo here is a close-up of Breugel's "Sloth" from 1557.

Vienna State Opera

We waited in line for an hour and a half to buy standing-room-only tickets, which go on sale eighty minutes before a performance. As you can see from the photo, our ground-floor cheap tickets (18 Euro each) still offered a great view.

We saw Donizetti's Don Pasquale, a dramma buffo. Standing for three hours was not exactly comfortable, but it wasn't bad. Every assigned spot also had a little monitor that provided an English translation of the opera, which was invaluable to understanding the plot.

Lipizzaner Stallions

The Lipizzaner Stallion performances sell out months in advance, so we got our tickets very early. Here we are, waiting for the performance to begin. Photography was strictly forbidden during the show, so we have no photos of the fancy, prancing white horses to show you. Suffice it to say, the horses were well-trained and talented: trotting in formation, kicking on command, sidestepping, and jumping on their hind legs.

Schönbrunn Palace

Schönbrunn Palace forbade photography of the interior, so we can't show you the glittering galleries, sumptuous salons, and rich rooms of the palace. As the summer residence of the Habsburgs, Schönbrunn was the height of excess. We purchased the Grand Tour ahead of time, as recommended by our Rick Steves guidebook. It included a tour of 40 rooms with a free, highly informative audioguide.

After our tour of the palace, we strolled around the gardens, enjoying the roses and perfectly manicured shrubs. We then headed across the Great Parterre, an expanse of symmetrical garden behind the palace dominated by a monumental fountain of Neptune, who triumphantly holds his trident among a stampede of men on mer-horses.

Further behind the palace and up a steep hill lay the Gloriette, a colonnade that offered spectacular views of the palace grounds.

Coffee Culture

Café Central

During a coffee break on our group tour, we took the opportunity to grab a quick cup with some other group members at the famous Cafe Central, once the intellectual epicenter of Vienna.

Treats at Café Central

Vienna is known for its desserts, and the ones at Café Central looked a picture.

Café Central interior

Among the columns and history, we enjoyed a verlängerter (similar to a cafe Americano) and an Almdudler (a non-alcoholic herbal lemonade that Lindsey particularly favored).

Café Sacher

We went to Café Sacher to try the eponymous torte. We were early enough that we had the entire cafe to ourselves.

Sachertorte

The dessert Lindsey had been waiting for: the Sachertorte, a chocolate cake layered with apricot glaze. It was just as delicious as she expected, and she was a little sad to finish the last bite.

Art and Architecture

Kunsthistorisches Museum

The Kunsthistorisches Museum was designed to house the Habsburg's formidable art collection. As a showcase, the building itself is unsparing in its grandeur, both inside and out. It is a museum befitting an empire.

The museum is handily split into two wings: Northern European art and Italian-Spanish-French art. With a helpful map from the information desk that showed the highlights of the gallery, we were able to effectively tour the museum in a couple of hours. However, we were really only there for one thing: more Pieter Breugel the Elder. The museum had an entire room devoted to him, and Lindsey made several laps.

Main Staircase

The Kunsthistorisches building itself is a work of art. The main double staircase features artwork by Gustav Klimt, among other artists. We spent some time just admiring the ceiling.

Inner Hall of the Museum

The museum was laid out well, with plenty of places to sit and ponder. The collection was vast, the rooms showcased the art beautifully, and the couches were comfortable. This was easily the best museum we'd ever visited.

Breugel's "Children's Games"

We have a 2000-piece puzzle of this painting. We were thrilled to see it intact and not in a couple thousand pieces.

Arcimboldo's "Summer"

Here is yet another painting featured in Nintendo's video game Animal Crossing. This one is the jolly painting.

Breugel's "Hunters in the Snow"

Another Breugel masterpiece. For players of Nintendo's Animal Crossing, this is the scenic painting.

St. Stephen's Cathedral

We explored the entire cathedral, from the lowest catacombs to the tallest tower. Photography was not allowed in the catacombs, so we can't show you piles of bones or jars of Habsburg guts, but it was allowed everywhere else in this photogenic cathedral. We bought the combo ticket, which Rick Steves described as "overkill". We thought it killed just the right amount. We also followed the "Vienna Cathedral of St. Stephen's" tour on Rick Steves' Audio Europe app, which provided a thorough history of the cathedral, inside and out.

Pulpit of Saint John of Capistrano

In the 15th Century, St. John of Capistrano preached against the Ottoman invasion from this pulpit outside St. Stephen's. The statue, dating from the 18th Century, shows St. Francis trampling a vanquished Turk.

Cannonball

Above the "16", an Ottoman cannonball is lodged in the wall of this buttress.

Nave of St. Stephen's

Lindsey included for scale. Most people seemed not to want to pay the entrance fee to access the nave, so we had the entire cathedral to ourselves. It was worth it to get close-up views of the high altar and iconography.

Mozart Chapel

Mozart's children were baptized here, in this little chapel off the transept. The entrance was blocked, but we were able to peek our heads (and cameras) in.

Portrait of the Architect

High up on the wall, one of St. Stephen's main architects peeks out, surveying his work.

Wiener Neustädter Altar

This elaborate triptych dates from 1447.

Chapel of Prince Eugene of Savoy

Though the entrance was gated, we were still able to peek in through the bars. Prince Eugene is buried here, under the tomb hatch in the floor.

St. Stephen's High Altar

The focal point shows the stoning of St. Stephen, who was falsely labeled a blasphemer and killed for his teachings.

Close-up of the Pulpit

This intricate pulpit is packed with so much symbolism it can only be fully appreciated close-up. At any distance, it's difficult to pick out the many details. Here is a sandstone portrait of St. Gregory, who sought to convert pagans to Christianity in the 6th Century.

St. Stephen's South Tower

Don't let the smiles in the photo fool you: we were exhausted after climbing 343 steep, winding stone steps. At the top was a viewing platform with a full view of Vienna. The day was so clear, we could see for miles. On our way back down, we tried to encourage people who were heading up. They all looked very weary.

Eating in Vienna

Though Vienna is better known for its desserts, like Sachertorte, Kaiserschmarren, stollen, and apple strudel, we still ate well. Vienna is not known for its street food, but we found plenty of little kiosks with delicious offerings, for a snack on the go.

Bitzinger Sausage Stand

Here, James tried käsekrainer, a cheese filled sausage that is a Viennese specialty. We found this at Bitzinger Wurstelstand, right outside the Albertina Museum.

Happy Noodles

Our second hotel was a block away from Schwedenplatz, in the northeast corner of the inner town. This main train station had a row of kiosks that offered various cuisines, from kebabs to lo mein.

Pension Dr. Geissler

For breakfast, we ate the standard Austrian fare of bread, cold cuts, cakes, and coffee. Being an eggs-and-bacon kind of household, we needed to adjust to the breakfasts of Austria.

Orient Occident

This restaurant served a mix of Asian and traditional Austrian dishes. James had chicken satay with jasmine rice, while Lindsey chose the käsespätzle (cheese spaetzle). Lindsey tried her German on the server, and he said her accent was better than some Austrians (!).

Heuriger Schübel-Auer

For our last group tour day together, we ate a buffet dinner at a heuriger (wine garden) on the outskirts of Vienna. Lindsey finally got her apple strudel, which she had been looking to try. Flaky and apply, it was a delight. Jana took a group photo at the end of the meal.

Charlie P's Irish Pub

Around the corner from our first hotel, we found this Irish pub. James filled up on a burger and fries, while Lindsey went for the fish and chips. Not Viennese, but still tasty.

Follow our Vienna tour on the map!

Click on the square icon to load the map in a new window, or click on the square with an arrow in it to see the legend.

Blue marker = Imperial tour

Red marker = Culture tour

Purple marker = Free time

Green marker = Food and lodging

Vienna, Part 1

Bratislava

May 23 - 27: Vienna, Part 2 (Free time)