The Albertina

 

Gruss Gott,

Summer in Vienna--it's going to be hot and probably humid, but it doesn't get bad until late afternoon. When I was out it was breezy, which was refreshing, but didn't do my short hair any good.

Before we get to the tourist action, let's talk about traffic. Now much of the historic center of Vienna is pedestrianized--so very civilized and an acknowledgement that, unlike my hometown, which is made for cars, this city is made for people. But there are vehicles, and the Austrian drivers are attentive, polite, and careful. I never worry about crossing the street. Even the busses and cyclists are nice to pedestrians. I am betting that this is one factor making Vienna the Most Livable City once again.

Today's target was the Albertina Art Museum. I am still jet lagged, so I wanted something easy that was within good walking distance. I actually took a longer route because I wanted to stroll down Karchnerstrasse, which is one of the main shopping drags in Vienna and in my memory glowed with one K und K pastry shop after another.

Pil, what is this K und K?

It stands for Kaiserlich und Koeniglich. In other words Imperial and Royal as the Emperors of Austria were also Kings of Hungary--and a lot of other places.  And, well, I did find one. I wonder if I'm mistaking the street. At any rate I'm saving the pastry for later.

The Albertina is Vienna's museum of Modern Art. I understand that a lot of people don't like it, and I understand why.  I have artists that I deeply appreciate. For example I like the Fauves--the "Wild Beasts," who went nuts for color. One of my favorites is Emil Nolde.  The Albertina has a distinguished collection of Picasso. I like many of his works. Others leave me cold. The guy had an unfortunate attitude toward women although he painted them often.  One can also find Impressionists (Monet, for example) Surrealists, and some lovely works by Marc Chagall.

But something else attracted me to the place. Yes. There are Period Rooms! The museum was once a place occupied by Maria Theresa and later her favorite daughter, Maria Christina who married Albert, the Duke of Saxony in case you were wondering where the name of the museum came from. 

These rooms tend toward the Rococo. The furnishings are a bit sparse, but what is there is definitely worth seeing. What I don't get is how people--and I witnessed this today--can walk through these wonderful places glued to their phones.

I had a nice stroll home. Stores are closed on Sundays in pious Austria, so I have to make sure I have supplies. But I might be able to get take out as a treat.

Servus.

Der Hofburg--and That Little Bit Too Much of Sisi

 Gruss Gott!

And in Breaking News, Vienna has once again topped the charts of most livable cities. Being here it is easy to believe.

The afternoon turned hot, so I'm glad to be here with my apero consisting of chilled rose and almonds awaiting the Individual Time Trial of the Tour de France.

I got a pretty good nights sleep. The jet lag is not over, but it is much improved, and I thoroughly enjoyed my day out. I obtained on line something called The Vienna Pass. You can google it. Most cities that have significant tourist traffic have a version, and most of the time they are a good deal.  The visitor doesn't have to fumble for cash or credit card at the ticket office--just flash the pass. Sometimes there's a highly-valuable "skip the line" feature. In my younger days, I got the pass to pay for itself in two or three days. No longer, but the Vienna Pass holder gets discounted admission (which can be quite steep, but the sites are worth it) to museums and other goodies. I had mine sent to my phone.

The target for the day is the Hofburg Palace of the later Habsburgs. I got directions and it was an easy walk that took longer than it should have because Someone needs to stop and gawk or else lick windows. I walked through Bougiegasse with all the luxury brands represented, but I was not interested in those windows.

I successfully achieved admission with my phone and Vienna Card. I was surprised because I expected to have to stand in line, but I got there right after opening and got right in. Admission includes an excellent audio guide.

I went to use the toilet and was startled when I nearly ran into an old lady. It was a mirror and the oldster was--me. 

Then I proceeded upstairs to the Imperial Apartments.  I had to proceed downstairs, too, because I'd dropped my ticket and needed to scan it to get in. The first stop is the Sisi Museum. Look. I get it. A lot of people are fascinated by the Kaiserin Elisabeth married at sixteen--probably against her will--to her cousin Emperor Franz Josef of Austria and a lot of other places. He adored her. She liked him, but after a while and the tragic deaths of some of her children, she did not like being Empress.

She was creditably regarded as the most beautiful woman of her age, an image she took care to milk and which the museum highlights.  I would have put her on meds and found her morbid self absorption tiresome, but mental illness did run in her family. Also a lot of the exhibits in the Sisi Museum are replicas. The labels are frank about this.

I enjoyed the Imperial Apartments more. I have a passionate fondness for period rooms.  One interesting feature was the homey, austere taste of Franz Josef contrasted with his wife's flamboyant taste for luxury.  Their bedrooms and bathrooms tell the tale.

Most of the rooms forbade photography, which frankly did not stop most people, but I want to respect the site. Anyway, it's best to just look around and appreciate the beautiful furniture and decorations.

The visit ends with a trip through the shop. There's something for everyone, but most of it was labeled Schonbrunn, so I figured I could wait.

After I left the palace I took a stroll through the gorgeous Volkpark loving the greenery and the flowers and fountains. Of course, I ended up not knowing where I was, but I am used to getting lost and I just keep going. I walked past a lot of beautiful buildings and just followed my instincts as to the direction. I figured that if all else failed I would find the U Bahn and get home that way. I did find a U Bahn, but I realized I was close to my neighborhood and kept walking. I stopped at the grocery store because I wanted to try the white wine my friend Sartorias mentioned or I hope it is.

This is Stift Kloster Neuburg produced at a major and desperately historical monastery outside of town, which I visited last time I was here and it was a lot of fun. Shall we have a sip? Just keep in mind I am far from an expert. Nice. A bit sweeter than Gruner Verveltner. You are more likely to find the latter in your wine suppler though. 

Servus!

Easing into Vienna

 Gruss Gott!

I got very little sleep and felt pretty lousy this morning, but I did get out and walk around this wonderful city, and it did me good. One place I fetched up was Stephensplatz, which is widely regarded as the heart of the city. I tried to take a picture of the magnificent gothic cathedral Stephensdom with my phone. Better than nothing I guess.  It was not a long walk to get there either. I really lucked out once again in regard to my accommodations. 

To be sure I am paying for the privilege. This is high season, and Vienna is an expensive city, but what a place! Vienna is a perennial victor in the most livable cities rankings. It's beautiful, easy to get around, and social supports are in place.  The only grumpy Austrians I've run into are beggars. The others seem quietly happy all the time, and they certainly are very gracious to visitors. I have already had to ask for help, and people could not have been kinder.

I have been here before and am looking forward to returning to some great sites. In fact my first appearance as a travel blogger was Vienna back in 2009, and you can read the posts. You will notice that I consumed sugar and sausage like a champ. I also got around a lot. Well, the years have taken a toll, and I can no longer do that. I will HAVE to have pastry and sausage at some point, because it's rude to come here and refuse Viennese treats, and if anything, I am an extremely polite traveler, but mostly I need to stick to a more or less Mediterranean Diet, and I can't tourist for eight hours straight either.

Vienna is Sugar City. Seriously. Candy is EVERYWHERE--for us tourists, I guess. Even my well equipped grocery store has a candy section--quite large--on Every Single Floor, and as I strolled around I saw many stores dedicated to candy--some of it looking--well, not appetizing.

I visited an ATM. They recognize foreign cards and ask which language you prefer. I had to go back to the grocery store because I needed more bread. It was so good, I ate the bread that was supposed to last me days. I had it thickly spread with hummus this morning.  Tasty and healthful, right?

And here's a special treat for one of my readers. I was too jet lagged yesterday to notice, but her old hangout when she was an exchange student is just a few doors away.

Hoping to get more sleep tonight, so stay tuned for some real tourist action tomorrow.

Servus!

Wilcommen im Vienna

 

Gruss Gott!

The photo is of my neighborhood. I think we can all appreciate a statue of Guttenberg.

I'm a bit wilted and jet lagged but glad to be here and settled in. Do Austrians do apero? They, like other Europeans, like Aperol Spritz, so I'm going to continue my habit. Right now I'm drinking water to cure the dehydration.

My rides to the airport always show up early, but I've learned to anticipate that and be ready. I joined the Twenty-first Century and had my boarding pass delivered to my phone, so all I had to do was print out the luggage tag and drop off my bag. Security was a bit of a pain. The last two times we did not have to take off our shoes. This time we did.

There are now non-stop flights to Vienna! I do not like changing planes. I do it, but there's always a chance of a missed connection.  My premium economy seat was roomy and comfortable. I had a pleasant seat mate and I even got a little sleep, which does help. Dinner was kind of meh, but the Austrian wine served was very pleasant, and we got a good breakfast. The charming flight attendant even offered me lemon for my tea. Yum!

One interesting thing. Air turbulence has been in news recently. Airlines have always recommended that passengers keep their seat belts fastened at all times, which is something I do. On my flight keeping seat belts fastened was presented as a requirement.  Good.

I had to wait around for my luggage, but I did have the company of my pleasant seat mate in Vienna to visit her family.  Having retrieved my bags I set out in search of public transportation. I couldn't find the airport bus, so I took the City Airport Train to Wien Mitte and then the U Bahn to Schwedenplaz, and then walked up to my place--only getting turned around once.

This is Austria, so everything is automated. I'd paid for early check in, and the residence sent me detailed, illustrated instructions on how to check in. I entered the code and pushed the thingy. Nada--or I should say Nichts. Fortunately a kind gentleman who spoke English and had stronger fingers than I do helped me out.

I unpacked and went in search of groceries.  I love google maps. The grocery store is nice, but it's three stories, and I am jet lagged, but I got my supplies. My aparthotel is on a nice, quiet street in a prime location. I'll enjoy my stay.

Right now I'm sipping rose and eating a snack sandwich I snaffled from the airline while watching the Tour de France. I may or may not have a proper dinner later.

Servus!

Journeying in Luxury

 

Buon Giorno,

Here I am at Genoa Cristobal Columbo airport for a very early flight. I'd booked a taxi, and the driver showed up at exactly the right time and informed me by text he'd arrived. We had a smooth trip to the airport, and I popped out to join the Sky Priority line because I'm flying business class. It's much shorter than the usual lines. I was directed to the lounge, but it is not open, so I went through security--very quick and smooth.

I am hungry as I did not get breakfast, but they will feed me on the plane. I just have to wait.  The airport is pretty small, but it does have duty free shops, which were open, and I had a look around. I squirted myself with Hermes Voyager. Very nice. Extremely expensive.

KLM no longer does first class, so I am at the top of the food chain. One fun perk of sitting at the front of the plane is that I got a glimpse of our handsome young pilot.

Greetings from Amsterdam waiting to board. The flight here was pleasant. It was a small plane, so the seats were more like premium economy, but I got a proper breakfast of yoghurt, muesili, and a salad with eggs and cheese. My tea came in a pretty china mug. It wasn't blue and white delftware, but it was painted to look like it.

Schipol has wonderful duty free shops, but my trek to the gate was so long, I couldn't afford to stop. Time to board!

Here is my seat. Because I had this space all to myself, I was able to take off my shoes.

Here are the good goodies that welcomed me aboard.

Instead of the usual gin and tonic, I requested a special KLM cocktail and the flight attendant made it for me. I thought it would just come out of a bottle. It was very boozy, and frankly I did not enjoy it that much. I am more of an aperitif person. The cocktail came with a lovely little bowl of Dutch cheese.

Here's the appetizer--which would have been enough for a full meal for me.

Salmon, salad and asparagus with wine from South Africa.

I had dinner, too, which I ate without taking a photo. More asparagus--it was white as the Germanic peoples like it with ham and more wine. Then came dessert. I picked cheese and was given some ruby port to go with it.

By this time I was stuffed and overfilled with alcohol. Another meal was offered before we landed, but I took a pass on that.

I got some sleep and was very comfortable also reading my kindle. The flight attendants learned all our names, and it was nice to see how the other 1% flew for a change. The little Dutch house at the start of the post was KLM's parting gift. It holds a sample of gin. Frequent flyers collect the different versions. Fortunately I'm not going back to coach. Premium Economy will do for me.

Here I am home again. After being pampered and cosseted for ten and a half hours, getting dumped out at LAX and having to make my way home was a bit of a wrench.

Rollli Days--La Superba

 Buon Giorno

If I ever return to Genoa I'm going to time it better.  Today is one of the spring Rolli Days where palazzi normally not open to the public do open. Of course, the real action is tomorrow, and I have an early flight.

One has to register and reserve a timed admission, and by time I got around to it a lot of spaces were taken, and since these are normally places of business the tourists on Friday get let in later, so I wouldn't have the energy for a lot of them, so I picked two. Genoa was a republic run by the richest of its citizens, so the government required them to host foreign dignitaries in their palazzi. This was called the Rolli System, and the palazzi open to the public were part of it.

I went out shopping and now I have to figure out how to pack my takings.

I'm back and feeling really tired. I decided to skip the other palazzo.  The visits are free, so I'm not losing out. But the palazzo I saw was lovely!  It's a bank that formerly belonged to Tobia Palavincino.  There's a tour that takes about half an hour, which I understand is typical for Rolli visits. It was in Italian. English tours do exist--tomorrow when I'm on the plane.

Because of having taught Art History, I have a solid idea of what I'm looking at.  The sumptuous ceiling frescos had Greek/Roman mythological themes.  We saw the entry way and then went upstairs to the piano nobile where the state apartments are and viewed the large meeting hall as well as smaller reception rooms and the chapel. All were lavishly and gorgeously decorated and very much worth seeing.

I have very much enjoyed my time in Genoa and better understand her nickname--La Superba--the Proud.  I saw a lot of beautiful sites and ate and drank tasty things.  But stay tuned. This is not my last post. My fabulous travel agent got me a deal and I'm flying back business class! It is an experience I'll want to share with you.

Ciao for now

Galeta: Museum of the Sea

 

Buon Giorno,

First some awkwardness. I don't think I was as badly affected as some because I had already breakfasted, brushed my teeth, showered and washed my hair (noticing that the water pressure was pretty feeble), and done the dishes. Then as I went to put on my contact lenses, I noticed the water was completely off.  And apparently it's going to stay off until tomorrow morning.  I'm going to have to go out in search of dinner, because I can't heat water for pasta. I have heat--no water!

Well, that's not going to stop me from enjoying my apero and blogging.  I had a palazzo yesterday, and I'm having palazzi tomorrow, so something different appealed to me, and it makes sense that Genoa would wish to commemorate and celebrate her sea going past and present--even if she does not go as far as Venice and actually have the Doge "marry" the sea.

The museum is huge and is a project. I got a discount for being old. (Dang it. They always take my word for it).  The ticket includes a visit to a submarine.  I'm a Navy Brat and have seen many a submarine in my time, so I skipped that part.

The informational placards are informative when English is presented, but it is not presented consistently.  Nevertheless, I learned that La Nina was Columbus's favorite ship, and although he had to use La Santa Maria as his flag ship, he did not like the way she sailed. She was not a true caravel.

There are plenty of models, and sometimes a chance to climb aboard one that is life sized. There are a LOT of maps and documents. The museum is really a pretty comprehensive history of the city as so much of its wealth and prestige depended on its ships--privately owned and operated by merchants, who nevertheless were willing to rent them out for military uses.

In Genoa's heyday, these were galleys, powered by oars. The theory is that the ships got their name from the Greek word for swordfish. I'm not seeing this myself, but the galleys were meant for ramming and boarding.  Conditions on board brutal, but not all the rowers were convicts.

One floor of the museum was dedicated to emigration. After unification in the Mid Nineteenth Century millions of Italians, mostly the rural poor left for the Western Hemisphere. As hard as their lives were as immigrants in the Americas, they enjoyed a far better existence in their new homes.

Italy like many other European countries has an immigrant problem, but Genoa seems to have a more generous and welcoming attitude towards them.

Besides my passport and credit cards, there are two things I always carry in Europe, and if you plan a visit I strongly urge you to follow my example. One is a pack of tissue. The other is an collapsable umbrella.  It began to rain as I left my place, and just as I returned in the rain there was a huge clap of thunder.

Apero consists of some Italian rose, some Bresaola (It's cured beef from Lombardy for which I developed a taste when I visited Milan, and I've already had cheese from Piedmont), and to balance out some healthfulness almonds.

I don't know what I'm having for dinner--some form of Focaccia probably and some local white wine.

Tomorrow's post will be much later as I had to book my entrance into the palazzi.

Ciao for now