Written December 29, 2006
Today was another beautiful, but blustery day in Vienna.
We started out with a trip to another local cafe for breakfast and were introduced to the cafe’s owner. Judging from the photos of him with notable public figures and in ad campaigns, the cafe and he must be well known. At about 90 years of age, it’s impressive that he’s still so devoted to his Viennese cafe that he plays an active role. He’s the greeter and shows you to your table when you arrive. Since the cafe served only coffee, tea, etc., we were then off across the street to the legendary Tresniewski where hundreds (if not thousands) of tiny finger sandwiches are served everyday. This completed our “brunch”.
We also made it to another local Palace, Schönbrunn, and enjoyed the hilltop Gloriette cafe (in the Palace’s backyard) at sunset. The Palace was striking (as all are), but after you visit a few, the grandeur is expected and their extravagance is underwhelming. Hence, the limited commentary. Then, we made our way back to Vienna proper to see a famous painting by Gustav Klimt, “The Kiss”, at Belvedere Palace and then to the Opera for “Il barbiere di Siviglia” before making our way back to the hotel for our final night’s stay in Vienna.
Speaking of our stay, some of you may imagine us staying in grand hotels during our travels. While all of our accomodations are perfectly comfortable and safe, we generally opt for the local-run hotels and inns rather than the national and interational chains. We feel that we get a more authentic experience this way. In Vienna, we chose to stay in a small hotel (as usual), but, outside of Japan, this was only the second hotel room we’ve ever stayed in without a dedicated bathroom and shower. The first was in Nuremberg (we had an in-room shower, but it was a kit shower and the drain was, well, interesting). Can’t say that I’m a big fan of rooms without “comforts”, but we definitely got closer to the real life local experience. See additional photos from Vienna.
Note: Additional photos from Vienna were posted Friday, Jan. 5. If you viewed the first installment of Vienna photos last week, flip to the last few pages to see the new additions.