Well I am home from another summer in Germany. My last days in Vienna were great and of course on my last night I sat around thinking I wish I did not have to leave. I went to Schonbrunn on Wednesday and had a very nice day. It is very easly to get there, You take the A4 subway line out of Karlsplatz and simply get off at Schonbrunn. I bought the Grand Tour for 15.50 euro which entitles you to go through all the rooms. I had about an hour before my entrance time and so I went for a walk in the gardens which was nice. The rooms there are all set up and if you are at all familiar with Habsburg history you will enjoy it. If you are not familiar with the Habsburgs then it is just another palace to go through.
At about 5:00 pm I took a walk over to the bistro/cafe right off the main street up to Michaelstor at the hofburg and next to the Levant restaurant. I just sat for about 45 min and had an Aperol spritz. I know they are sort of a "ladies" drink but I love them. They are so good and refreshing. After I went to my favorite bar, l'ansio, on Habsburg Strasse for dinner . I had tomato soup and lasagna and a salad and a glass of Lambrusco. Sitting there was when I really did not want to leave. But I had to.
So Thursday morning I left for the USA. Let just give this piece of advice about flying, especially from Europe to the US. You do not need to get there early. My flight was at 9:20 am and the boarding was supposed to begin at 8:50 am. At 8:30 am there were 5 people there. I could have arrived at 9:00 and had no problem at all. I realized on the flight home that the first time I flew to Europe was in 1979. In the 33 years since then a lot in life has changed, but not air travel. Flying on a plane now is the same as when I was a kid. The airplane interiors have not changed, the comfort has not changed, the speed or the efficiency of the flight has not changed. I do not get it.
Anyway I do not expect to travel again until the Spring, so I do not think I will have all that much to say until then. If by some chance there is someone other than me reading this, if you leave a comment or a question I may not get back to you immediately but eventually I will.
Friday, August 10, 2012
Tuesday, August 7, 2012
Tuesday 8 August 2012
This is night 5 in Vienna. I am staying as always at the Konig von Ungarn Hotel on Schuler Strasse. This is the 6th time I am staying here and I would not stay any where else in Vienna at this point. It is an absolutley wonderful hotel.. I always stay in room 202 which is a single but is big enough to be a double. The location is great and the service is unbelievable. Of course it costs more than a budget hotel but you get what you pay for and it is not as expensive as a 3 star hotel in NYC.
I have not been in Vienna since Easter 2011 and it has been a long time since I did all the tourist things so that is what I have benn doing. I went to the Hofburg and through the 3 museums there - the Silver/Porcellin Gallery, the "Sisi" museum and the private apartments. It takes about 3 hours and is all very interesting if the Habsburgs are your thing. Personally I have become more interested in the silver and porcellin than ever before. I also went to the Treasure Museum, Schatzkammer, where they have the crown jewels of Austria, Hungary, Bohemia and the Holy Roman Empire. They also have the sacred sword there and a few alleged nails from the cross.
I spent about 3 hours in the Kunst Historische Museum. It is a fabulous collection that can be viewed over and over. I feel like they have rearranged it since the last time I was here. The paintings are now arranged by painter. So, for example, all the Rubins are in one room. Who knows, maybe it was always like that I just never noticed. Anyway, if you are in Vienna you MUST go here. I also went to the Upper and Lower Belvedere. They have special exhibits there and now they have one for the 150 anniversery of Klimt.
I have eaten at many familiar places. Ilona Steurbl is a good Hungarian restaurant on Brunnerstrasse. Da Capo is a popular Italian place on Schulerstrasse. Porterhouse is a steak house also on Schulerstrasse. Achilles is a greek restaurant on Kolnerhof. These are all nice places that are local, serve good food, have great service and give good value. I highly recommend them all. The one new place I found, is on a little cross street called Grunangang Gasse, called La Creperie. It is a French restaurant. I had escargot, a side salad, and rack of lamb, a kir, 3 glasses of red wine and a chocolate mousse. It was all delicious and cost me 49 euro. I ate outside in a pleasant atmosphere and the waitress was friendly snd helpful. I did some other diners speaking English so I don't think that is a problem. Today, after the Belvederes, I had lunch at the restaurant in the park. A lovely place to sit on a nice warm day. You can eat, I had Wiener schnitzel, or you can just have a drink.
I have not been in Vienna since Easter 2011 and it has been a long time since I did all the tourist things so that is what I have benn doing. I went to the Hofburg and through the 3 museums there - the Silver/Porcellin Gallery, the "Sisi" museum and the private apartments. It takes about 3 hours and is all very interesting if the Habsburgs are your thing. Personally I have become more interested in the silver and porcellin than ever before. I also went to the Treasure Museum, Schatzkammer, where they have the crown jewels of Austria, Hungary, Bohemia and the Holy Roman Empire. They also have the sacred sword there and a few alleged nails from the cross.
I spent about 3 hours in the Kunst Historische Museum. It is a fabulous collection that can be viewed over and over. I feel like they have rearranged it since the last time I was here. The paintings are now arranged by painter. So, for example, all the Rubins are in one room. Who knows, maybe it was always like that I just never noticed. Anyway, if you are in Vienna you MUST go here. I also went to the Upper and Lower Belvedere. They have special exhibits there and now they have one for the 150 anniversery of Klimt.
I have eaten at many familiar places. Ilona Steurbl is a good Hungarian restaurant on Brunnerstrasse. Da Capo is a popular Italian place on Schulerstrasse. Porterhouse is a steak house also on Schulerstrasse. Achilles is a greek restaurant on Kolnerhof. These are all nice places that are local, serve good food, have great service and give good value. I highly recommend them all. The one new place I found, is on a little cross street called Grunangang Gasse, called La Creperie. It is a French restaurant. I had escargot, a side salad, and rack of lamb, a kir, 3 glasses of red wine and a chocolate mousse. It was all delicious and cost me 49 euro. I ate outside in a pleasant atmosphere and the waitress was friendly snd helpful. I did some other diners speaking English so I don't think that is a problem. Today, after the Belvederes, I had lunch at the restaurant in the park. A lovely place to sit on a nice warm day. You can eat, I had Wiener schnitzel, or you can just have a drink.
Friday, August 3, 2012
3 August 2012
I have spent 3 nights in Passau and I am now in Vienna. I did not get a chanced to write while I was in Passau because of other events. While there I got to see the entire city pretty much. It is not large at all and it seems to me that it exists as a tourist site because tourists come there. All the river cruises dock there and then the seniors get off and are toured through the city and then allowed to shop and have lunch. I have to say that these seniors on these expensive cruises need to start to take a better look in the mirror before they go out and remember how they were raised. Because I can tell you this, not one of them was raised to parade around a city the way that they do.
I can not tell you how many seniors I have seen in capri lenght cargo pants, sports sandels and fishing vests, both men and women! It is terrible. And please, if you are too feeble to walk on your own do not sign up for a walking tour through a city.
Anyway, Passau has some nice buildings to see and going to end of the island where all the rivers meet is a nice walk. The museum in the new Residenz is a waste. Going up to the Ober Veste is a fun morning but the exhibits there are not too interesting. The cathedral is a marvel. I did go on a walking tour of the city. You did not need a reservation, just show up at the cathdral at the right time, pay the 4.50 euro and go. It is in German and I did not see anything that advertised a tour in English.
I ate in some nice places. The first night I ate at Loungerie. It is right on the ped-zone and the food was good, the beer was good, the service was good and the price was right. I had a pork chop that came with a baked potato and grilled vegetables, a side salad and 3 beers. I think I paid about 22 euro. I got the waiter to take a picture of me. The next night I ate right in the middle of Residenz Platz at the Italian place there. I had a salad, 2 glasses of Lambrusco, my new favorite, and a penne with artichoke dish that was outof this world! I can not describe how good this dish was. Again, I think it all cost me about 21 euro. On night 3 I ate at Kronos, a typical Greek restaurant.
Over all I would recommend Passau as what it was for me - a stop on the way. Three nights was plenty and two would probably do. I stayed at the Hotel Residenz right on the river. It is a lovely place. I booked a double room, which always feaks the Germans out. The people there were very nice and accommodating and the breakfast was included. For my three nights and 3 beers and an obstler, I paid 293 euro total. Not bad. I think Weimar or definitly Bamberg would make for more interesting overnight stops.
I can not tell you how many seniors I have seen in capri lenght cargo pants, sports sandels and fishing vests, both men and women! It is terrible. And please, if you are too feeble to walk on your own do not sign up for a walking tour through a city.
Anyway, Passau has some nice buildings to see and going to end of the island where all the rivers meet is a nice walk. The museum in the new Residenz is a waste. Going up to the Ober Veste is a fun morning but the exhibits there are not too interesting. The cathedral is a marvel. I did go on a walking tour of the city. You did not need a reservation, just show up at the cathdral at the right time, pay the 4.50 euro and go. It is in German and I did not see anything that advertised a tour in English.
I ate in some nice places. The first night I ate at Loungerie. It is right on the ped-zone and the food was good, the beer was good, the service was good and the price was right. I had a pork chop that came with a baked potato and grilled vegetables, a side salad and 3 beers. I think I paid about 22 euro. I got the waiter to take a picture of me. The next night I ate right in the middle of Residenz Platz at the Italian place there. I had a salad, 2 glasses of Lambrusco, my new favorite, and a penne with artichoke dish that was outof this world! I can not describe how good this dish was. Again, I think it all cost me about 21 euro. On night 3 I ate at Kronos, a typical Greek restaurant.
Over all I would recommend Passau as what it was for me - a stop on the way. Three nights was plenty and two would probably do. I stayed at the Hotel Residenz right on the river. It is a lovely place. I booked a double room, which always feaks the Germans out. The people there were very nice and accommodating and the breakfast was included. For my three nights and 3 beers and an obstler, I paid 293 euro total. Not bad. I think Weimar or definitly Bamberg would make for more interesting overnight stops.
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