From Vienna to Prague

Last glimpse of the Vienna as my train departed. See you in a few years. Vienna, Dec 15, 2011.

I’ve spent 4 days in Vienna, visiting all those museum, palaces and markets. On day 5, we took an 8:25am train and head north to our next destination: Prague. The train that leaves for Prague departs at a station called Melding. It was served by the metro line, and pretty convenient for where I stayed. I must praise that all the public transportation was so easy to use. (Gosh, wait till you read my experience with transportation system in Berlin).

On The Street of Vienna

Here are a few things I found interesting, while stomping around the street of Vienna.

The best sign I've seen for a store selling tea-related products. Vienna. Dec 13, 2011.

Old musical instruments

Seeing this, I wish I know how to play piano. Museum of Musical Instrument, Vienna. Dec 14, 2011.

I didn’t go to any musical performance during my visit in Vienna. Partly because of the schedule, and partly because I wasn’t a big fan of sitting though a concert unless it’s an artist I know of. So while I was in the city of music, this was the closest I got to the world of music: The museum of Musical Instruments at the Neue Burg. I have to admit that if entry to the Neue Burg wasn’t included in my combi ticket to the Hofburg, I doubt I’d have visited this place. Turned out, it was a nice place to scroll around if you weren’t in a hurry.

Once I stepped inside the Neue Burg, it was slightly confusing, as it had 2 separated entrance to different museums inside. After I failed to locate the cloak room, which might be that small unguarded room next to the entrance, I waked into the entrance to the Museum of the Musical Instrument.

Just look at the ceiling!

Ceiling details at dome Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna. Dec 13, 2011.

I was very looking forward to see Cellini’s Salt Cellar at the Kunsthistorisches Museum. It was one of the first few art pieces I learned about during my art history class in college in California. My teacher played a slide show of this little golden sculpture, I remember thinking that this was just beautiful, and it was made to hold salt and pepper?! However, when I finally had the chance to visit, I couldn’t find it after walking around the whole place. What a disappointment! I might have missed it but I was too tired to ask or walk anymore. So I end up not seeing this great piece. However,my visit at the Kunsthistorisches Museum was still very enjoyable.

The building itself is already a work of art. Once I stepped in, I couldn’t stop tilting my head to admire all those intricate details on the ceiling. Every corner of it seems to have a different set of patterns. I literally stood there and just looked for a good 15 mins (while my mom was busy taking pictures with the camera and then her cell phone…)

Naschmarkt… it was alright.

Little angel found among the apples at the Naschmarkt, Vienna. Dec 13, 2011.

I was going to stay at a place near by the Naschmarkt, fortunately they were out of twin rooms. So I had to stay at a hostel in another neighborhood, which turned out to be the best hostel stay I ever had. Therefore, one morning I had to make a trip down to this outdoor market to see what fresh produce they are selling!

This place wasn’t huge, but should be enough to keep you busy for an hour. At first I saw lots of stalls selling olives and feta cheese, then I saw hummus, spices, fruits, vegetables, bread, nuts, flower, raw meat, cooked meat, seafood…… There’s really a lot to look at, and they even have some restaurants there. However, were there anything special about this market besides it being outdoor?

Klimt and the Belvederes of Vienna

Looking at the Upper Belvedere through the haze. Vienna, Dec 14, 2011.

If you’re visiting Vienna, there is simply no reason for not stopping by the Belvedere Palace. This was the highlight of my stay at Vienna, and I definitely fell in love with this corner of the city. I knew not much about this place besides knowing that it houses a good collection of Gustav Klimt’s work, and “The Kiss” is on display there, so that’s good enough of a reason for me to spend half a day there.

The ticket office was next to the gate on a separate building from the palace itself. There were two men behind the counters, since no visitors were there, I walked straight up to get my ticket. Then they started talking. I ended up standing there for 3 minutes. But what could I do? Could I turn into the rude impatient Chinese tourist who interrupts peoples’ happy lengthy conversation? Anyway, that was the rudest thing I’ve encountered in my entire December trip.

Hofburg, Sissi and their tableware

Sculpture outside the Hofburg. Vienna. Dec 12, 2011.

I love visiting palaces and old architecture. I guess one of the reason is that we simply don’t have much of those in Hong Kong. Whenever I stepped inside a castle or an old church, it was like a time travel for me. I’d imagine how people lived in the past, how they used this space… in their beautiful period costume. Very often, especially inside palaces, you also get to see some exquisitely made items up close.

The Hofburg houses 3 different exhibitions: The Silver Collection, The Sissi Museum and The Imperial Apartment. I went in and see all 3 in that same order. Normally I’m not a huge fan of forks, knives and plates, but plate after plate, I realized everyone of them was painted carefully with so much details. I was particularly inspired by the color story of some of them. This silva collection is quite lovely to see. Not only because of the vast amount of imperial tableware, which helped my mind to imagine how the king dined, but there were quite a few unique items.

Christmas Markets in Vienna

Looing through snowman lanterns to the Christmas markets on Rathauspark. Vienna. Dec 13, 2011.

When I was booking my Finnair winter promo ticket to Europe, I was thinking: There wouldn’t be lots of beautiful sunny day, it would be cold and dark, shops close early, even museums have a shorter visiting hours. If I must do this trip in winter, I should do it in…December! It can’t go wrong with the all Christmas decorations along the streets, and after dark, there would be still a bunch of Christmas markets going on all over the place!

I went into a Christmas market in front of the Helsinki Cathedral during my brief visit to the city, but it wasn’t a really big one. Perhaps it was not yet in its full swing, as it was around noon. So seeing the Christmas markets in Vienna, for the first time, was amazing! There were lots of cute little things: handmade soap bar, objects hand carved out of wood, beautiful candle holder, jewellery, pottery…… It was a wonderful place to shop for Christmas gift. See the pictures below: