From Austria with love

Today we had another huge day with so much to see and so little time to see it. We started our day with a walking tour with a mob called Vienna Explorer. Our guide Natalie walked us through Old Vienna for two and a half hours. Our first stop was Maria at the Shore Church

Maria of the Shore Church is one of the few surviving gothic style churches in Vienna. It is said that there was a wooden church at this place in the 9th century which served as a place of worship for fishermen and sailors, although this has been disputed. The church is first mentioned in documents from 1158. The present building was built between 1394 and 1414 in gothic style. The first reference of the church was in 1137 and then again in the 1200’s, so yes it’s old.

We then headed to the Jewish Quarter, and I simply can’t imagine how 180,000 people lived day in day out in constant fear. 65,000 Austrian Jews were killed, so about a 1/3 of the Jewish community during the war. There is a wonderful monument in this area, a flat concrete building with no handles on the doors to symbolise the concentration camps. Sadly there is a guard at all times stationed here.

We then headed to St Michaels Square, which is part of the broader Hofburg Palace. St. Michaels is one of the oldest churches in Vienna it was completed in 1792 and is of the Romanesque style, we didn’t go inside this one so here is a picture from out the front.

We went past one of Mozart’s 68 residences in Vienna, I’m not sure if he was couch surfing or just a really bad tenant. Natalie told us about the first time that Mozart played in the Austrian Court as a small boy where he met the Royal Family including Marie-Antoinette. The story goes that Mozart proposed to the Marie-Antoinette and then received a kiss. I’m not sure how true it is but it’s a good story.

Did you know that if you die in Vienna they say you are taking tram 71. This is because for more than a century tram 71 has been linked to the central cemetery. Way back in 1873 the tram was how bodies were transported for burial mostly at night time. You will be pleased to know that since the second world war the tram has only transported the living… I am thinking this is one form of transport we will be avoiding on this trip just in case.

Another potentially useless piece of information I discovered today was that you are allowed to walk around stalkers in Vienna, unless some one complains. Yep we are keeping our kit on 😀.

The tour was a wonderful engaging commentary from a local, who gave us all of the facts and figures in relation to a modern Vienna. Yep it’s a theme I love a good walking tour.

As promised we did go back to St Stephan’s today, Steve did the big climb (346 steps) whilst I watched in a very supportive way from down on the ground. Upon his descent we discovered that you could catch a lift on the other side of the church to an open viewing platform (oops), which we are doing tomorrow. We did visit the crypt below the cathedral and it is 6 euros well spent. Our guide was very enthusiastic which made it all just a little more creepy. At one point he explained the process when someone dies before they are entombed, and lets just say I am pleased we hadn’t eaten yet.. yikes. Within the crypt senior Catholic officials continue to be buried as well as those who are VIPs of the community and aren’t on tram 71. Once you get through this bit it’s down to the catacombs, where people were just thrown during the awful periods where the plague was running riot. It’s just a little bit gruesome but fascinating.

After a late lunch I spent the afternoon at the Kunsthistorisches Museum. The Museum was built in 1871 by Emperor Franz Joseph the first to be a museum, which was at the time pretty unusual. I was in seventh heaven. To mark the centenary of Gustave Klimt’s death in 1918 they have erected internal scaffolding that allows you to take a closer look at his paintings that are part of the main staircase. Theses paintings were not all Gustav Klimts work, as this was a collaborative piece with his brother Ernst and a friend of these Franz Matsch also contributing magic. I unfortunately didn’t have Steve’s great camera for these photos just my phone so I hope that they translate okay.

As well as Klimt there were so many wonderful pieces of art – paintings and sculptures. I could have stayed much longer as I missed a whole floor but sadly I was kicked me out, as apparently at closing time people want to go home to their families, gee wiz ! As well as the incredible artwork they actually encourage you to sit and look at the artwork in comfy chairs. There are lounges all over the place – what a great idea and so civilised.