Venturing into the Alpine-Carpathian Zone - Stop 2: Vienna

Vienna............. again, a very orthodox destination. The once powerful centre of the Habsburg monarchy, is rich with imperial history and, at the same time, has many interesting museums - including contemporary art museums.

It is a city of music - Mozart, Haydn, Schubert, Beethoven, Johann Strauss and many others...

The Opera House

It is a city of psychoanalysis. Sigmund Freud - he qualified as a doctor of medicine in 1881 at the University of Vienna. (Totally random...lol) 

It is a city of architecture - there are diverse architectural designs: Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque, Rococo, Art Nouveau, Classicism and Revivalism (or Historicism).

The Austrian Parliament is on the far left. It is of Classicism architecture. Classicism architecture incorporates Greek elements. The parliament was built in that design to signify democracy (Greece the birthplace of  democracy).

In front of the Hofburg Palace, at Michaelerplatz, you can see the different architecture designs of the buildings surrounding the roundabout.

The Baroque Hofburg Palace

Katholische Kirche St. Peter

St. Stephen's Cathedral - Medieval Roman Catholic Church

Kunsthistorisches Museum

Vienna is a city that boasts both ends of the spectrum - the modern, contemporary architecture designs contrast and fuse with the historical ones. Like the MuseumsQuartier - a modern museum architecture integrated into a space created around former stables for the Habsburgs' horses.

I found Vienna a bit 'all-over-the-place'. It was previously a small city developed around the Hofburg Palace. The city soon became overpopulated and hence, the city expanded (but in a disorganised way - I feel).

The two things from Vienna that stuck with me are:

1) Schönbrunn Palace: a Baroque palace - the former summer residence of the Habsburg monarchs

Vast garden with The Gloriette (the gate on the hill) in view. I love the gate - so regal.

Fountain in the garden

View from the hill near The Gloriette

2) Empress Elisabeth of Austria (also known as 'Sisi'):

• The wife of Emperor Franz Joseph I, and thus Empress of Austria, Queen of Hungary and Queen consort of Croatia and Bohemia. 
• She was a 'tortured' soul - she got married at the tender age of 16 into royalty - whereby she couldn't stand and sort of rebelled against the formal Habsburg court life. 
• She was of the opinion that we are meant to be free and not be constrained by rules/ formality. Things got worse when her son died. She then isolated herself, wore black all the time and kept away from her husband even! 

I sometimes feel I resonate with her (I am sort of rebellious but NOT a tortured soul for sure! :D). I feel we are meant to be free - explore and learn from life as much as possible. We shouldn't be constrained by society's beliefs or 'run the corporate mill' for years! I truly admire and respect my parents - I mean, how did they do the same thing for 30 over years of their life and have no complaints! I was 3 years in, and couldn't bear it. It triggered me to search for the purpose of life! Lol

Sisi began writing poems as a young girl - some romantic and some sad. Here's one of Sisi's poems for you to get a glimpse of what she was like:

"Oh swallow, give me your quick wings

And take me with you to distant countries.  

I'll be happy to break the chains that hold me

And to break the bars of my prison ...

If I could fly with you

Through the blue eternity of heaven

How I would make thank you with all my being

The Goddess that men call freedom!"

Now, in this central region of Europe, the food eaten are mainly meat (& sausages!) and pastries. I think my body had to produce more insulin, throughout the whole trip, to keep my blood sugar levels low. Khuns, my travel partner, couldn't even stand the sight of the pastries mid-way through! Lol..

The Viennese Apfelstrudel (Apple strudel)

Esterházy torte

Croissant (this is the almond croissant)

An interesting fact: the croissant, which we thought is French, is originally from Vienna! Marie Antoinette, the Archduchess of Austria, brought the Viennese croissant to France upon her marriage to Louis XVI of France (French royalty) and moved to Versailles. Something unlearnt and relearnt!

You can find fish too - but river fish (not sea fish). I love fish, but not the river ones - I find them really 'fishy' (if you know what I mean!)

There is more to Austria than Vienna - Salzburg, Innsbruck, Hallstatt, Graz and many more, where I want to eventually leave my footprint. A 6-month road trip around Europe perhaps? Lol

From Vienna, we boarded the train to the obscure, appealing and cool Budapest!

Auf Wiedersehen in Wien! Helló Budapest!