Chapter 50 - A Day in Vienna

I recently had another opportunity to revisit my favorite city. Brigitta Palkovich, a co-worker of Bob's, invited me to go to Vienna for the day with her and her daughter, Christina.

We stopped by the University of Vienna first so Christina could pick up some material for her law course.

The University of Vienna was founded in 1365 and is the oldest in the German-speaking world. Currently, it has 74,000 students at more than 60 locations in the city. Students from more than 130 countries attend lectures each year.

This is the building we entered.


It's quite stately and magnificent inside with beautiful marble columns and staircases.




I love this kind of detail that you see in buildings all over Vienna.


These lights add to the old-fashioned air of the place.


We went to the Nachmarkt for lunch. It's an outdoor area with many international food choices. Flea markets and Christmas markets are also held here. On the white screen on the building they show movies on summer evenings. The building is the Rathaus, a gothic style edifice built from 1872 to 1883 that serves as a combination of the seat of the Mayor of Vienna, the City Council, and since Vienna is its own state in Austria, the offices of the Governor and the Assembly of the State of Vienna. The building also contains the famous Wiener Rathauskeller Restaurant.


This building at another side of the Nachmarkt is the Hofburg Theater created in 1741 by Empress Maria Theresa. Three Mozart operas premiered here. The theater was moved to a new building in 1888. In 1945 the building was largely destroyed by Allied bombing and resulting fire. It was restored in 1953 to 1955.


My charming guides for the day, Gitta and Christina.


This is the beautiful Belvedere Palace. The Lower Belvedere was built in 1714 by Prince Eugene of Savoy; this is the Upper Belvedere built in 1720 to 1723. Today the palace holds the Austrian Gallery, a very extensive art collection that includes the works of the famous Austrian artist, Gustav Klimt (1862-1918) who was a symbolist and leader of the Vienna Art Nouveau movement.


The palace has state rooms, marble galleries, ceiling and wall frescos. The Austrian State Treaty that formed modern Austria was signed here in 1955. The back of the 20 Euro cent coin features the Belvedere.


This type of detail work is magnificent. It was Empress Maria Theresa who first named it "Belvedere" in 1752. The word is Italian and means "beautiful view."


Another example of the detail work. Of course I wanted to take some pictures of the inside, but indoor photography is banned. They had security cameras everywhere, and, besides, I always follow the rules. One of these days I'll get brave and ignore them, but this wasn't the day.


The garden was designed in the formal French style and is currently undergoing restoration. At the back of the picture in the distance you can see the Lower Belvedere where additional artwork is displayed. Gitta and I considered it but decided our feet had had enough.


Okay, so what are these? Not winged victory. All I could figure is that they are some kind of she-sphinxes.