Yesterday, I’d had the opportunity to wander the gardens of Belvedere Castle – enjoying the views, the air, and the lovely sounds of the water features burbling away.
Today, I wanted to tour the castle itself.
I’ll admit that, after the emotional tribulation of the Vienna Museum, I was feeling a bit overstimulated and burnt out. Cafe Central had helped, since chocolates and hazelnuts always help, but… well, sweets and lattes could only carry the day so much.
They did give me the energy to forge onward, though, and so onward I forged into the heart of the castle. Perusing art, history, paintings and carvings. Modern and ancient, from the exhibit on the top floor dedicated to contemporary art to the tiny crucifix from the 12th century that is the oldest piece in the collection…
It was neat, but honestly not that much of a standout of a gallery. I enjoyed it, to be sure, but… Well, I’d go back to the Art History museum, or Natural History museum, in a heartbeat. But the Belvedere Castle… I think I’m good on, now.
Have I mentioned that Vienna is slightly well ornamented, possibly to the point of being ostentacious, and well within the realm of opulence?
Well.
Turns out, the Hapsburgs are buried here, in a private crypt safeguarded by a private monastery. Turns out, new (joking) life goal – have my own order of monks.
As I was walking back from a lovely lunch, I noticed a sign for “The Crypt of the Hapsburgs” in English, along with the German version of “Kapuzinergruft”. I hate to say it, but I grew up hearing “Kaput” as a kind of joking way to say something’s broken… so while I logically know that it’s just the root of the name of the monastery…
Well, I definitely had to stop in and see what it was.
It was… it started normally enough, with a few small caskets that seemed fancy, but not overwhelmingly so. There was also a sign, mentioning a quote from one of the Emperors who was quoted along the lines of “everyone is equal in death”, which seemed a little inaccurate when I walked into the next room and saw a casket roughly the size of a mid-sized sedan, or a little bigger than a nominally-priced New York City apartment.
Still, it was interesting to walk through the crypt and see the caskets and how they varied over time. Those that were still actively venerated with flowers and offerings, and those that apparently hadn’t been visited except for dusting and tourists like myself.
It was a bit of a quick trip, for me, since none of the placards were in English… though I did stop at a few spots to do a translation to read a little bit more. Frankly, though, that was few and far between. In general, I simply wandered and appreciated the ornamentation and sculpture, along with the architecture of the varying rooms and the general “feel” of the area.
It was definitely interesting, and absolutely worthy of a quick stop-by.
Also, interestingly, the Hapsburg line has NOT ended – the most recently interred member was last year, in 2023, and there are quite a few currently living members:
Saturday, 29-June-2024, through Thursday, 04-July-2024
Vienna.
Ancient seat of the Hapsburg Empire.
A city of high ceilings, soaring architecture, and gilded palaces. Sweeping gardens, soaring domes, and expansive museums were everywhere – A golden history alive and well in the current day.
There were also other reminders. Two imposing flak towers, left standing when they proved too challenging to demolish. Indirect references to the cities previous Jewish population. Veiled references to the historic traumas that the city, or more accurately its peoples, had experienced.
I found that I loved Vienna at first, though after learning some of its deeper and more divisive history I found that love turning a little black. Vienna still holds a place as one of my favorite cities on this adventure, at least so far, though there’s a bitter taste that was left after learning of the levels of inequity, lost promise, and antisemitism that checker the city’s past.
Let’s actually flip the script a bit here, and talk about food first.
First and foremost – I adore Austrian cuisine, I’ve learned. Schnitzel is amazing, delicate-yet-hearty breakfasts are glorious, and good coffee over slow meals is critically underappreciated in the United States. Seriously – I ate Schnitzel four times, I think, and three of those meals were from the same place. I don’t know why… but something about the crispy crunch and savory chicken is just… so good.
Schnitzel Konig – I adored this place. Simple, easy, and delicious. Great price, and excellent both eating in and taking away. Turns out – I adore schnitzel. Who knew?
La Bes – A lovely small-ish bakery near where I was staying. Great coffee, excellent breads and pastries. Couldn’t ask for more.
The Legends – A good spot for breakfast, again right near where I was staying. Not anything particularly special, but a solid start to a solid day.
Kunsthistorisches Museum cafe – A cafe in the art museum, what more could I ask for when I got hungry while visiting the art museum? Honestly, it was really good, and not that overly expensive, so… would recommend as part of the museum, so you can have some downtime between exhibits.
That’s Amore – Solid Italian spot right near where I was staying. It wasn’t bad, but was exceptionally slow… possibly because of the World Cup which was monopolizing everyone’s attention. Still – I’m trying to slow down a bit and enjoy myself, so this was a good excuse to be relaxed.
Schachtelwirt – I stopped in here for a quite bite of lunch, and wasn’t disappointed. Good Weinerschnitzel, solid sides, quick and simple.
Cafe Scalina – Simple and solid breakfast near where I was staying… fried eggs, latte, some pastries… nothing too exciting, but good fuel for the day.
Tomochan Ramen – This was a neat stop. I noticed them while exploring the nearby Belvedere Palace, and figured that I could go with a nice bowl of ramen. What I didn’t expect was that it was also a Halal restaurant… and so the Ramen didn’t include pork. I got beef instead, and it was surprisingly excellent!
Cafe Central – Now this was a special place. A very old cafe, from 1876, this cafe has hosted illustrious thinkers such as Freud, Trotsky, and many others. More importantly to me, it very likely hosted my Grandfather back when he was a young boy living in Vienna. The ambiance was amazing, the food excellent, and the sense of history and “why yes, I am exceptionally fancy, thank you” was incredible. I didn’t include any pictures here, since they’re going to be getting their own entire post!
With our bellies fed with excellent food pictures, where do we go from here?
Vienna wasn’t a small city, and I found myself using Electric Scooters for most of my excursions into the city… at least to get to the general area of my destination, before finishing up on foot. The scooters were pretty tightly controlled, in regard to where one could park them, but at this point that’s been pretty common from what I’ve seen.
People follow traffic laws, as one would expect, and navigating around the city was frankly a breeze. Many people spoke English, though I did get to flex what little bits of German I do know without any condemnation of rudeness.
Simply put, the city was staggering. Everything was ornamented, everything seemed to exude the opulence and royalty of Vienna’s past, and people seemed to simply live that life. I didn’t see too much modern infrastructure, but then again I didn’t venture particularly far outside of the old-town area. I’m sure that I’d be able to find hip areas of urban art and modern stylings, if I had felt the desire to look… but as it was, I simply enjoyed the history and historic opulence of the older portion of the city.
