Vienna, Austria 2018

[ryanlammi]

Over Christmas and New Years 2018-19 I traveled to Europe with a couple of friends. I will link to the other topics once I create them.

 

Munich, Germany: December 21-24

Vienna, Austria: December 24-27

Prague, Czechia: December 27-29

Berlin, Germany: December 29-January 3

Zermatt, Switzerland: January 3-5

Thun, Switzerland: January 5

Bern, Switzerland: January 5

Zurich, Switzerland: January 5-7

 

We took the German rail service Deutsche Bahn from Munich to Vienna on Christmas Eve. We arrived at night, got some sushi, and then went to Midnight Mass at Domkirche St. Stephan (St. Stephens Church) downtown. The biggest thing we learned about Vienna is that every single person seems to smoke. Every bar allows smoking. And everyone in every bar smokes. Aside from that, Vienna was gorgeous. Most people celebrate Christmas on Christmas Eve, so we planned our trip to travel between cities on Christmas Eve. There were still plenty of places closed on Christmas Day, but it wasn't too bad. Most of the cultural institutions were open as normal.

 

Photos from the train station to the church.

 

DSC_1060 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr

 

DSC_1063 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr

 

Frohe Weihnachten

 

Taking the streetcar close to downtown

 

DSC_1071 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr

 

DSC_1073 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr

 

DSC_1082 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr

 

DSC_1085 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr

 

It was really lively downtown for 11pm on Christmas Eve.

 

DSC_1087 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr

 

St. Stephen's Church

 

DSC_1095 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr

 

DSC_1103 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr

 

DSC_1113 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr

 

DSC_1119 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr

 

DSC_1132 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr

 

DSC_1143 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr

 

DSC_1147 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr

 

DSC_1153 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr

 

DSC_1168 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr

 

Christmas Day

 

DSC_1171 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr

 

DSC_1172 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr

 

DSC_1175 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr

 

Another Christmas Market. This is in the Museum Quarter, Maria-Theresien Platz, to be specific.

 

DSC_1179 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr

 

DSC_1180 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr

 

DSC_1182 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr

 

DSC_1183 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr

 

DSC_1184 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr

 

We went into the Kunsthistorisches Museum (Art History Museum) where we saw an exhibit on forged documents and an exhibit curated by Wes Anderson. There was a Bruegel exhibit (famous Dutch painter from the 16th Century), but all times were sold out for that when we arrived.

 

DSC_1192 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr

 

DSC_1194 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr

 

DSC_1202 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr

 

DSC_1203 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr

 

DSC_1205 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr

 

DSC_1217 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr

 

DSC_1223 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr

 

We got tickets to a concert in the Hofburg, the Habsburg Imperial Palace. A classical concert featuring a variety of artists with a focus on Mozart. I didn't take many photos (it was pretty cold and I didn't bring my tripod this day, so night photos didn't come out great).

 

DSC_1225 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr

 

DSC_1228 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr

 

DSC_1229 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr

 

Another miniature Christmas Market

 

DSC_1232 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr

 

DSC_1235 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr

 

DSC_1245 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr

 

DSC_1251 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr

 

We tried to go into this bar on Christmas Eve, but ended up going on Christmas Day. It's called Loo's American Bar. We weren't expecting much, but were caught off guard by the signage and name. We walked in, and it was a really intimate space. Seating for maybe 20 people maximum, and that's sitting really close to your neighbors. The bar is modeled after early American bars in New York City from the 1890's and 1900's. The bar opened in 1908. The interior is a beautiful copper/brown/marble and it's an incredibly inviting space. The upper half of the walls use mirrors to make the space look much larger. They make really good coffee and mixed drinks. 

 

We were talking to a local who said the bar was removed at some point and a museum took the interior pieces to preserve. In the 1980s the bar was brought back with all of the original interiors reinstalled. 

 

DSC_1253 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr

 

You can see interior photos of the space on their website here: https://www.loosbar.at/gallery

 

Now we're back at the Hofburg for the concert

 

DSC_1259 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr

 

DSC_1256 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr

 

Walking around again

 

DSC_1268 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr

 

These little stands had some amazing hot dogs that were stuffed into baguettes and stuffed with cheese. Perfect drunk food.

 

DSC_1270 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr

 

A blurry photo of friends enjoying the hot dogs. I don't remember the name for them.

 

DSC_1166 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr

 

The next day we went to Schloß Schönbrunn (Schönbrunn Palace). This was the royal palace in Vienna and was used as a summer home for Franz Joseph until his death in 1916. You were not permitted to take photos inside, and I largely obeyed that request.

 

DSC_1276 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr

 

And of course they have a Christmas Market set up

 

DSC_1287 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr

 

DSC_1291 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr

 

DSC_1302 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr

 

The Great Hall inside the palace

 

DSC_1303 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr

 

DSC_1305 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr

 

DSC_1318 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr

 

DSC_1321 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr

 

We headed back into the city to go to a Christmas Market in front of city hall.

 

DSC_1362 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr

 

The Rathaus (City Hall) was unbelievable. And of course, they had a Christmas Market out front.

 

DSC_1347 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr

 

DSC_1376 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr

 

There was a carousel outside of city hall as well. It was tough to get a good photo from a miniature tripod with so many people walking by.

 

DSC_1397 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr

 

DSC_1398 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr

 

The next stop is Prague, Czechia!

[ColDayMan]

Those hot dogs are called käsekrainer.  They are good drunk food, agreed.

Great shots.

[mrnyc]

how funny my co worker just went to vienna again for a week and a half not even a month ago. he had been going on about it -- he loves it there.

[Dougal]

I would go to Vienna again just for the strudel.  

 

Personally I think Vienna makes London look provincial.

[ColDayMan]

Agreed, Vienna clearly shows it was once the world's "richest" city at one time.  It's architectural unmatched in Europe.

[edale]

Nice photos, thanks for sharing! My parents just got back from Vienna, and said it was really wonderful. One thing that surprised them was how there is little separation between church and state in Austria, and that the country is heavily Catholic. One of the days they were there, most shops were closed for 'Ascension Thursday'- a holiday I didn't even know existed! Interesting you went to church on vacation. I've of course toured churches while traveling, but have never thought of going to mass. I guess the Catholic mass is pretty standard around the world, so even if you don't understand the language, you still pretty much know what's going on. 

Edited June 10, 2019 by edale

[ryanlammi]

The funny thing is this is probably the first time I've gone to a church service in over 15 years, and this was my first Catholic mass. One person we went with is at least culturally Catholic and grew up going to mass, so he understood the general order of things and would occasionally tell us what was happening as best he could tell.

If it hadn't been a Midnight Mass for Christmas, we probably wouldn't have gone, but it was definitely a cool experience. 

[mrnyc]

my cle friend who lives in brooklyn is on his way to vienna (and berlin) in a week for some art business. he has been before, but we have been looking into it and jibber jabbering about it. it looks like besides historic aspects its also a happening place!