Monday, 01-July-2024


After an equestrian tour, three churches, and a crypt, I was ready for some SCIENCE.

Now… where had I seen some SCIENCE recently? Ahh yes – the Art History Museum!

Well… sort of. You see, dear readers, the Art History museum has a twin. Literally, a twin building, immediately across the gardens, built as a mirror. Art History, presented as one part of a twin pairing with Natural History. Kind of a neat idea, isn’t it?

I thought so. So did Emperor Franz Joseph, who opened both buildings simultaneously in 1891. Guess I’m in good company, huh?



I walked over. Bought tickets, had a slice of Vienna cake and a coffee, and then ventured into the exhibits.

Holy crap were there exhibits. Rows upon rows, ranks upon ranks. Minerals, gems, meteorites, fossils and placards.

I tried my best to focus and enjoy and learn, but… I’m going to be honest here. I got pretty saturated. There was just so much to see, so much to enjoy and to appreciate and to just take in. Descriptions of how gems formed, detailed analysis of the mineral deposits found in Austria and abroad and how they impacted history. A full walkthrough of an ancient salt mine, in more depth than even the Wieliczka mine got into. Plants and animals and even an Animatronic Dinosaur! Placards in German and English, some in just German…

I walked, I learned, and I became overwhelmed. I enjoyed it, until I didn’t… and then I simply walked. I didn’t stay longer than I wanted to, but I will admit that the last few rooms and exhibits definitely went by a bit quickly.

Thankfully that was expected and planned for, though, and those final rooms were examples of taxidermy animals from… drumroll please… North America! That wasn’t an accident either – I’d made a point to save those for last, just in case I got overloaded… so they made for a nice little send-off before I headed out, and set my sights on dinner…