Category: Uncategorized
-
“Vienna Waits For You”
July 19, 2024: The Hofburg, Sisi, Sausage and Sachertorte Today we went to the Habsburg downtown palace, the Hofburg. This is where the Imperial/Royal Family lived when they weren’t summering at Schönbrunn. It’s also the home of the Sisi Museum. As previously noted, Emperor Franz Joseph ruled the Austro-Hungarian empire from 1848 (he was 18…
-
“Vienna Waits for You”
July 18, 2024: The Leopold Museum, the Heuriger Experience The Leopold Museum, founded by Rudolf Leopold, opened in 2001, with more than 5,000 pieces of art on display. To be sure, there is a bit of controversy about how Rudolf (a physician by training) obtained his collection. He has been described as a “too passionate…
-
“Vienna Waits for You”
July 17, 2024: Schönbrunn, Naschmarkt, and Karlskirche We took the UBahn this morning to Schloß Schönbrunn, the Habsburg summer palace. We took a self-guided tour of the State Rooms, a small portion of the former imperial palace: These included the Lantern Room, the Great Gallery, and the Hall of Ceremonies. You will note, as we…
-
“Vienna Waits For You”
July 16, 2024: Vienna (Our Jewish Heritage) Today was the day we’d planned to see all the Jewish history/heritage stuff. First stop was the Stadttempel, the main synagogue of Vienna. We were really looking forward to this, since Stef had discovered some family history that linked her to this Shul. She has some information indicating…
-
“Vienna Waits For You”
July 15, 2024: The Belvedere As part of my Vienna fixation, I’ve been re-reading the mystery series by Frank Tallis (a British psychologist), which has been serialized for television as “Vienna Blood.” It involves a Viennese police detective who teams up with a Jewish psychiatrist (who is also an acquaintance of Sigmund Freud). Together, they…
-
“Vienna Waits for You”
July 14, 2024: Walking Tour, Tram Tour and Dr. Freud Today, we took Rick Steves’ self-guided walking and tram tours. Walking tour first. We started out at the world-famous Opera House (not my photo): Here’s where the greatest of stars (e,g.,Gustav Mahler, Herbert von Karajan, Maria Callas, Placido Domingo) have made their marks. The pavement…
-
“Vienna Waits for You”
July 12 – 13, 2024: First Foray Into Vienna Arrived in Vienna on Friday, July 12. Decided to eschew the taxi or Uber, and get to the AirBnB by mass transit. Turns out there is a rapid transit service from VIE to downtown called “CAT” (City Airport Train), which is non-stop and takes 16 minutes.…
-
“Vienna Waits for You”
(Billy Joel) Upcoming Travels with Stan and Stef. Vienna, July 11 – 21, 2024 We were originally going to try for an alliterative title using words like “Waltz” and “Wienerschnitzel.” But then we came across an article in American Songwriter about an old Billy Joel tune, “Vienna Waits for You,” released in 1977. The backstory is that Joel…
-
Greece is the Word
May 22-23, 2024: Santorini, the Last Word Up early Wednesday to go to from Crete to Santorini. The high-speed ferry was notable for the smell of diesel fuel, and the number of passengers (around a thousand). Aahh, tourism! We went straight from the disembarkation to the Koutsoyannopoulos Winery for a morning tasting and a visit…
-
Greece is the Word
May 21, 2024: Elounda, Spinalonga, Kritsa This morning ,we headed out by bus to the Bay of Elounda, 70 km east of Heraklion. In the town of Elounda, we boarded a small boat for the half-hour ride to the island of Spinalonga. On the trip over, we were treated to recorded Greek music (bouzouki and…
Something to Declare 