Wien we went to Wien

 

There are some places in life that you have really high expectations of, that you really look forward to, and although they don't fail to deliver, you're always left feeling a little dissatisfied, I often feel this way about Disneyland Paris, McDonalds and Ikea. Then there are places from which you don't expect much, but they completely knock you sideways, like the Italian Circus in Tunisia, Kampala Snake Park and (just occasionally) the hairdressers at home. A third, rare category exists, it is made up of places that you have dreamed about, but are scared to expect much from lest you be disappointed. But they blow you away, and you wonder if maybe, just maybe, you actually dreamed them into a reality, they are that perfect and wonderful. Enter Vienna.

 

Vienna was perfect. From the classical music playing on the underground, to the exquisite and accessible art, the well stocked supermarkets, to the incredible dining options. The city oozed charm and beauty and class, while still being so understated, humble and conservative. It was everything that I had hoped for, and it was effortless.

 

We arrived on Thursday night, to refreshing, crisp autumnal weather and an eerie sense of quiet. This was one of the first things that struck me about Vienna - it's so quiet. Where is everyone? But there is a population of just 1.6 million (less that Botswana) which hasn't grown, infact it has shrunk, since the 1920s. Our hotel was easy to find, and close to Belveredere Park, close to everything infact, so we did alot of walking, even though public transport was everywhere.

 

Our first dinner was at a microbrewery called Salm Brau where we had Schnitzel, Wiener Sausage and Bradtwurst. It was my first time to have pork for a long time, and it was brilliant. There was a distinct lack of vegetables on the table, the meat was served with either bread, some parsley potatoes or a pretzel. This was okay with everyone involved.

We spent the evening just walking around, catching our bearings and enjoying the quiet and safety. Looking for a coffee shop or a late-night tipple, we stumbled upon Hotel Sacher, the alleged creation place of the famous Sachertorte. Well, it would be rude not to, right?

Sachertorte is a famous Viennese cake. It's a chocolate sponge with a plum jam filling and chocolate icing. It was lovely - but honestly I preferred the Apple Strudel (be still my heart).

The next morning we headed straight to the Belvedere Palace right near our hotel. The have a huge, fantastic collection of Gustav Klimt artwork. And they have "the Kiss". You're not allowed to take pictures inside - infact the museum staff were pretty highly strung - I reached in my bag at one point to get some chapstick, and a museum lady almost had a baby: "Ziez iz a Muzeeum!!!" - err yeah, surrounded by such beauty, all the more reason not to walk around with chapped lips, Honey. 

The Kiss was beautiful, the colours and patterns so appealing. It is so tender and awkward and glorious. I loved it. They also had 'The Bride' too, which was a lovely surprise.

So that evening, we got a great Restaurant recommendation from a friend of Jung's for a place serving Tafelspitz, which is an Austrian Beef stew. At first I was skeptical, but I was so wrong. The beef in the stew turned out to be huge, tender steaks. It was all a bit complicated and you even got an instruction card that showed you how to eat it. There was one part where you had to remove the massive hunk of (dinosaur) bone from the stew and spread the bone marrow onto your toast. 

When Jasmin exclaimed, "Great! I LOVE bone marrow" I really wondered how well I knew these ladies! haha!

On Saturday morning, we headed over to the Leopold Museum at the MuseumsQuartier, aside from some great Secession art (including Klimt's "Life and Death") they were also having an exhibition of Nude Men in art through the ages. 

 

So amazing, and it generated our conversations for the entire afternoon and evening - we were all a bit surprised by the rawness of the art - but also we were alarmed at how shocking we found it all. It just goes to show how little the nude male form has been depicted in art, particularly before widespread formal education of women began in the middle of the 20th Century. So the question that we pondered so much is: should we really be blaming modern media for the growth of illnesses like body dis-morphia, when females have been exposed to man's idea of the "perfect female form" for centuries, whereas when three well-educated women go to an exhibition of nude men, they have been so little exposed to such art that they... giggle like schoolgirls throughout...?  

 

 Saturday night was our last night - and we had some little plans, but it started snowing, and our wardrobes just couldn't cope with that kind of coldness. Instead we found a TGI Fridays and drank cocktails until we could no longer walk.

It was beautiful. I already want to go back.