Day 2: Sunday. It’s going to be a much better day today! The
sun is shining and I got an incredible night’s sleep so I am a happy camper. I
asked at the front desk last evening for a recommendation for Catholic Mass
this morning but I wanted something that was definitely not touristy. They
recommended St. Anna’s (or Annakirche), which was a short walk from my hotel
(maybe 43-4 blocks). It is located down a tiny little street called Annagasse
and you almost walk past it at first. It is very simple from the outside and
obviously a place the locals visit. Inside the church was such a change as it
was very ornate and beautiful. Small with only one row of pews down the center
but completely surrounded by marble (?) walls and frescoes. Simply beautiful!
The Mass was entirely in German and there was only about 28 parishioners
attending (including me) but that was ok. I wanted a local experience not
sitting with 150 of my new closest tourist friends snapping pictures during
Mass.
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| Annagasse |
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| Annagasse |
After Mass I went on to the art museum near the State Opera
house. The Kunsthistorisches Museum (say that five times fast!) is the
traditional art museum and at this time was hosting an exhibit of the Faberge
eggs. Sign me up!! Although admittedly not an “art person” I do love me some
Faberge eggs. And as a side note, I found the one I want for my next birthday.
Take note, Mr. Wicked Pissa……
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| Kunsthistorisches Museum |
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| Kunsthistorisches Museum |
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| Kunsthistorisches Museum |
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| Kunsthistorisches Museum |
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| Getting my art and culture on! |
After spending a few hours in the art museum taking pictures
and getting my culture on I headed back to the hotel for a short rest as my
back has been bothering me quite a lot this trip. Walking for long distances
and standing really does me in lately.
I then headed out to take the Ring Tram around the ring of
the central part of the city. I took the “tourist” version of the ring tram as
opposed to the trams the locals take. This is a yellow tram that is
specifically geared towards tourist with a price to match. It was E8 and that
included the audio guide that points out the sites as you go by. But the tram
ride itself was only about 25 minutes and it did seem that was a high price for
what you got. But that’s ok, it gave me my bearings and along the tram route I
was able to check out sites I wanted to return to visit, such as the Wien and
Co wine shop!!!!
After the tram ride I headed over to the Jewish district (Judenplatz) of the city. Not much is
left of the district as it was years ago, but there is a large memorial to the Holocaust
victims that is a large stone monument in the corner near the Jewish Museum.
The museum is one of a two-part museum and this one holds excavated remains of
the medieval synagogue that lies beneath the square. There is also a large
display on Amy Winehouse (provided by her family). That was odd but I’ll go
with it. I thought she was British not Viennese, but hey…
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| Holocaust memorial |
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| Judenplatz |
I then proceeded to cover some ground walking and window-shopping
along some of the side streets. Sometimes just walking around and checking
things out and people watching is the best fun! Mental note: everyone here
seems to love ice cream. It seemed like everyone was walking around with ice
cream cones in their hands all evening. Gotta love a city that loves its ice
cream!
And apparently this photo that I took is actually of a famous place and I didn't even know it! It is called Schonlaterngasse, which translates into Pretty Lantern Lane. It is in my guidebook and I didn't realize it when I took the picture. I'm cool like that.
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| Pretty Lantern Lane |
All in all a much better day than day! A little art and a
whole lot of religion completed today’s festivities. I figure that when the
great performance review in the sky comes up: I’ve got two of the bases
covered!
Tomorrow? The Wine Tour!!!!
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