I actually didn't feel so excited about the Vienna trip during the 11 hours flight from KL but...
Vienna took my breath away. The old buildings here are magnificent. I didn't think it was possible to be enchanted by any building but the Rathaus (City Hall) and Stephensdom (St. Stephen's Cathedral), I have never seen anything like them.
Apart from losing my heart to those two buildings, I managed to get to a few other historic sites and soaked in the cultural atmosphere. I managed to get tickets for a ballet performance at the Staatoper (Opera House. Magnificent building, inside and outside, during the day or during the night) and orchestra performance at Hofburg. The concert hall is simply breath-taking.
Actually for the three days in Vienna, I had many breath-taking and heart-stopping moments. The old part of the city is simply... beautiful.
I also went to the Schonbrunn Palace, the former summer imperial residence for the Kaiser and Kaiserin of Hapsburg empire (Emperor and Empress of Austria). This place is HUGE. You can easily park 70 cars at the front porch. And the Schonbrunn Garden, I wish I had a garden this large. No problem at all if you were to hold a garden party here. In fact, you can hold several parties at the same time as it is that huge. Ahem....needless to say, I was pretty busy taking photos. I find this activity very addictive, to my surprise. I couldn't seem to stop myself from taking pictures of everything.
I had many leisurely walks through the numerous parks here. It was great. My feet were killing me at the end of each day and I would sleep soundly through the night but after a hearthy breakfast, I was ready to do it all over again. Among the parks that I went to - Stadpark (City Park), Volksgarten, Burggarten, Rathaus Park and the Botanical Garden.
I felt like I was walking through the enchanted forest while I was at the Botanical Garden. It was about 10 in the morning. All was quiet and for the most part, I was alone in the garden. Bumped into an occasional jogger but apart from that, I had the whole place to myself.
Schonbrunn Palace and the Imperial Apartments at Hofburg were grand. I have always wondered what it was like to be royalty and to live in magnificent palaces. Now that I have seen two upclose and personal, my opinion is that these places didn't look comfortable to live in even though they are so grand.
And I was actually sad while I was there. You see, these two places were the residence of Kaiserin Elisabeth. She was said to be the most beautiful woman in Europe (in her youth, which is around 1850s), married well (to the future Kaiser Franz Josef), had three children and generally lived like a queen.
Her glorious hair was ankle-length and it would take up to 4 hours just to do her hair. But from the things that I read while I was taking an unguided tour of those palaces, the overwhelming impression that I got was that she was very unhappy in her marriage and her life. According to one of the reading material, the Emperor worshipped her but six years after their marriage, marital crisis loomed, the emperor was said to be having affairs and the empress suffered depression. Till the end of her life (she was assasinated in 1898), she felt restless and travelled extensively. Perhaps she was trying to run away from her unhappiness ? I felt sad for her because even though she had everything that I always thought was important for happiness (great beauty, rich husband and luxurious lifestyle) she was still unhappy. Sad, isn't it ?
I also tried out the famous Sacher Torte at the Sacher Hotel. I wasn't particularly impressed by this chocolate cake but it is... different. Vienna is famous for its coffee houses as well but as I'm not a coffee drinker, I did not sit by the roadside cafe, order a cup of coffee and watch the world go by as I sip my coffee.
I have made up my mind that I MUST visit Vienna again someday as this city is too beautiful for just one visit in my lifetime. Of course, the financing of this second trip is still to be worked out. In the meantime, one must dream.
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