Discovering Habsburg Vienna and the Extraordinary Geniuses Who Lived There

Discovering Habsburg Vienna and the Extraordinary Geniuses Who Lived There

Vienna, as a destination of choice for a trip, was an idea that had been buzzing around in our heads for a while. This summer, finally, we wanted to treat ourselves. As usual, it all starts with an online search for flights, and looking at the various sites, we immediately saw that Wizzair had the best offers. Within 10 minutes we had already booked two return flights, about a month before departure, planned for 24 July. To save a bit on the trip, that's more or less the recommended lead time for booking in advance. From there, we move on to searching for accommodation. By our preference, a small, cheap and comfortable apartment is always the best option compared to the 15 square metres of a hotel room, but that's a decision everyone makes for themselves.

We scoured the search engines of the accommodation providers properly, and opted for a one-bedroom flat near the centre; above all barely two minutes from the metro stop. After all, public transport works very well in Austria and, as often happens when you leave Italy and head north, it's decidedly more punctual. At this point, given the range of opportunities the Imperial City offers, and considering that we would be staying barely 5 days (essentially 3 full days), we were forced to put together a little programme to give us an idea of what we preferred to visit and when to do it. I check online whether there are city cards that combine several tourist sites, considerably reducing the cost, and I immediately come across the Vienna Pass and the Vienna City Card. As far as I'm concerned, at least one of the two is indispensable if your intention is to experience the city properly.

Let's look together at the main differences. The Vienna Pass has been formulated in several versions: 1, 2, 3 or 6 days; moreover, on the official site you can also add an extra subscription for public transport of 24, 48 or 72 hours. The Card doesn't come cheap - 107.10€ for 3 days - but you have to consider the high number of attractions to which it allows FREE access. The saving, at the end of the day, is certainly considerable. Which undoubtedly justifies buying it. It allows access to many museums and attractions, simply by showing it at the ticket desk. In some, you can even skip the queue.

For example, it includes the hop-on hop-off on the City Sightseeing buses as many times as you want, the Habsburg sites, a boat trip, several folkloric mini-trains, Madame Tussauds wax museum, a visual-tasting experience in a famous wine cellar, the Ferris wheel, a wide choice of museum exhibitions and much more. In essence, it includes multiple experiences, for a total of around 60, which lets you indulge wherever and however you want, though you won't manage to use them all (at least, not in 3 days). In my view, you have to make a choice up front. But nothing stops you from wandering around with no organisation at all and going in wherever instinct tells you. Here's the direct site:. If the first option isn't suitable for you, an alternative is the Vienna City Card.

It comes in two variants: Red - allowing free access to public transport - and White, with unlimited use of the Big Bus sightseeing bus. Both include around 210 discount vouchers. It costs decidedly less than the Vienna Pass (the 3-day Red: 29€) but doesn't include any free entry. It obviously depends on the kind of holiday you decide to set up. Here's the official page:. A tip: the 72-hour ticket and the weekly pass of the Wiener Linien, the Viennese transport company, both cost the same: 17.10€. The first is valid from validation for the following 72 hours; while the pass is active from midnight on Monday to 9:00 am on the following Monday. In our case, the pass was perfect; bought directly on the official app and used to the full. I recommend you budget for it, because the inspectors, as is only right, do their duty. Back to us. The day of the trip abroad arrives.

Departure planned from Rome Fiumicino for Tuesday 24 July at 14.25. On days like these, it's better to be prudent and leave early. It wasn't a day of extremely heavy traffic, but at the end of July, you want to avoid unforeseen events. Finally the plane takes off, albeit almost an hour late. And this risked throwing off our plans, making us live the first moments after landing with a certain anxiety, considering that we found the Vienna Pass office in the centre open by a whisker. Oh yes: because in this beautiful city, almost all shops close around 6 pm. So forget about being able to go into a shop at sunset, as in Italy. Luckily, many supermarkets are an exception and several stay open until 19.30 or half an hour later (very few, beyond that time).

A step back: before actually reaching Vienna-town, having landed at the airport around 5 pm, we look for the infamous ticket machine where you buy tickets for the S7 light metro, by far the recommended means of reaching the Austrian capital. In fact, anyone who already has the pass or a single-journey ticket (2.40€) only has to add the 1.80€ ticket for the out-of-town zone, which, however, is bought exclusively from the ticket machines. Two of them are located to the right of the passenger exit, at the sides of the OBB office (suburban trains), right near the entrance of the Flughafen Wien Bahnhof railway station. After a certain queue and some difficulty in understanding which was the right choice, we reach the platform. Shortly after, we get on board. One passes about every 30 minutes.

We then change a couple of metros and reach the Opernpassage, where the office for collecting the Vienna Passes is located. Collected, as mentioned earlier, by a whisker, thanks to the kindness of the two girls present. We could have gone back the next day, but it would have made us waste useful time. At that point, we set off on foot towards the Tourist-info, inside which you can find every kind of map and leaflet, even in Italian. Besides some original souvenirs. And where some very knowledgeable staff gave us valuable information on how to organise our holiday. The next destination was our apartment. Just enough time for check-in and we go out again to do the shopping (once again at the last minute) and head to the Prater park, barely one metro stop away. The Ferris wheel - for many the symbol of the city - makes quite an impression.

As do all the attractions of the amusement park next to it (I read there were two hundred and fifty!) but the first evening we limited ourselves to a reconnaissance stroll, since the next morning a loooong day awaited us. Wednesday 25 July. Just as planned, we head by metro U4 towards Schönbrunn Palace, a marvellous Habsburg summer residence. We arrive around 10:30 and, as suggested in the Vienna Pass guide, we go to the ticket office to get the tickets for the Grand Tour, the Prince's Garden and the Orangery Garden. We get lucky and the palace tour is just a few minutes away (but don't count on it at weekends), so we go straight to do the Grand Tour, which covers 40 of the... 1441 rooms of the palace! Walking through those halls, still furnished and set up as when they guarded the secrets of emperors and empresses, certainly creates quite an impression. The audio guide helps us dream.

After about an hour, we go out and, crossing the immense garden, head towards the Palm House, built in 1882. There you can admire Mediterranean, tropical and subtropical plants. This greenhouse is the most extensive, as well as the last of its kind, remaining in Europe. Then a quick hop to the Desert Experience. A site where chameleons, various little birds and iguanas practically moved among our feet. And of course the flora wasn't native either. Fun, despite the 40 degrees and more that had to be maintained inside. Once out and back to a more acceptable climate, we head to the zoo, built in 1752. The first and therefore the oldest in the world! The animals aren't kept in cramped spaces but in very extensive areas, complete with hidden dens. So it isn't always possible to see them all, as happened with the lion (glimpsed through some holes) and the polar bear.

But that's as it should be. It would take almost a whole day to discover it entirely: we don't have one. Having enough time anyway, we're able to appreciate a great many creatures of all kinds. I should point out the many fresh drinking-water fountains scattered throughout the park. It was from that spring, which the emperor Matthias discovered, that the area takes its name. Schon(er) Brunn = beautiful spring. It was only later, over the centuries, that the Palace would be built and enlarged. At the exit of the Tiergarten Zoo, the very steep climb that leads to the Gloriette Belvedere awaits us. Already quite tired, tackling the ascent of the hill on foot, up to the spectacular terrace, was by no means an easy walk; but having reached the top, I must say it was worth it. As the photos taken from there testify.

The view of all the surrounding greenery and a large slice of Vienna repays the trek. At that point, to go and visit the Carriage Museum, which is quite far from the Belvedere, we decide to take the mini-train, also included in the Card, like everything else. A pleasant journey of about half an hour among the woods and little paths of the park, with the guide narrating anecdotes, alternating among the various languages used, Italian too. Here too we arrive just a few minutes before closing. They let us in but warn us about the time available to us: they're strict, as I was saying, but you have to respect the opening hours, rightly so. There you'll find a great variety of means of transport, once horse-drawn.

You can even admire the mini-carriages of the little princes and the imperial hearse, the one used for the last earthly journey of all members of the imperial family, including the very famous Sissi and her husband Franz Joseph. You can also appreciate the first motor car of the dynasty itself and a Formula 1 car, owned by Ferdinand of Habsburg: the Formula Renault 1.6. With the tickets we had been given that morning, we decide to go and see the Prince's Garden and the Orangery. In the latter we even attended an unexpected violin, clarinet and piano concert. What can I say: two well-tended and unusual places. Could we then skip the maze? It essentially consists of 3 labyrinth structures for children and slightly grown-up "youngsters". The two for adults, frankly: not very easy to solve. Distinctive, all in all, but we made use of it since it was included in the Vienna Pass.

By now it's almost 7 pm. We've wandered for 9 long hours inside Schönbrunn. An experience we'll take away with us. Truly intense and varied. A curiosity: to be able to offer the park in the well-kept state in which we were able to see it, not one or two but 90 gardeners are needed! Tired but still active, we decide to go and do the tour of the Schlumberger sparkling-wine Cellars, which are literally on the opposite side of the city but reachable by metro in about 20 minutes. We begin the guided underground route. Inside there are enormous brick and wood vats and a lovely wine fountain. Here, even today, a nectar similar to sparkling wine is produced, whose bottles - thousands of bottles - are left quietly and neatly to age. Before leaving, a small tasting is provided. And I must say we certainly enjoyed it. Those who want can also buy, at modest prices.

We recommend bringing a long-sleeved shirt; it can come in useful in that coolness. Considering we've done thirty, let's do thirty-one. We decide to grab a bite on the go, because passing by the accommodation we wouldn't have found the strength to go out again. So we headed for the Donauturm or Danube Tower. From the metro stop there's quite a bit of walking to do. The park isn't completely lit and it surprised us a lot, on the way back, to also come across mothers with prams strolling serenely in the darkness. Evidently: either they're more reckless than in Italy, or - more likely - safety in Vienna is considerably greater than in the Boot. Guys, the lift goes up at a dizzying speed, up the 252 metres of the structure. It's almost like a plane taking off. Not to mention the breathtaking 360-degree view you get from the panoramic terrace.

We arrived during the sunset and the spectacle was truly fantastic. Back to base, where we enjoy our well-earned rest.Thursday 26 July. Off we go again. Leisurely and still with a good part of the previous day's tiredness. Objective: city centre. Since it isn't too late, we manage to attend the summer training of the Spanish Riding School at the Hofburg Palace, scheduled every day at 11. It didn't enthuse us: it's an hour of trotting and galloping by beautiful white Lipizzaner horses. The show worth attending is the one held in winter. As soon as we come out, we find the entrance to the Gala Hall of the National Library on our right, and decide to visit it. Inside, in strict Baroque style and oval in shape, is a fairy-tale library with a great many ancient volumes (7.4 million items).

The large frescoes are remarkable, especially in the entrance wing and on the dome; the imperial statues and the ancient globes. There are also several books taken from the Jews during the Second World War. Texts that the Austrian government has pledged to return as soon as possible to their rightful heirs. A short frugal lunch break and then off again, towards the Imperial Apartments, the Sissi Museum and the Silver Collection. In the last of these, the royal tableware used by the Habsburgs during family lunches but also on special occasions is preserved. There are also very fine pieces, donated by rulers of distant lands. Then on to the Sissi Museum, and unfortunately here you can't take photos, just as we had also been prevented from doing on the Schönbrunn grand tour. It must be said that the empress's story is not the rosy one told in the films with Romy Schneider.

Hers was a hard and difficult existence, of a woman who, in many ways, felt she was in a kind of gilded cage. Always controlled, burdened with responsibilities, anxieties and inner struggles until the day of her assassination at the hands of an Italian anarchist, Luigi Lucheni. According to many, her liberation. A route that the displays, the raw accounts of the audio guide, the reconstructions, the clothes and the reproductions of the jewels allowed us to experience with intense involvement. Here too a curiosity: it seems the princess went down in history with the name Sissi through a misinterpretation. The abbreviation with which Elisabeth signed herself, it would seem, was the more logical "Lisi". Wrongly taken as Sisi because of a very sinuous "L", and then turned into the Italian Sissi.

We then also visit the Imperial Treasury, where the clothes and jewels of the various dynasties are kept. We find treasures of every shape and size, including crowns in pure gold, set with precious stones of all kinds. There's even an obsidian staff that the nomenclature indicates as a 16th-century "unicorn horn". We then head to the Capuchin Crypt, which holds within its walls the monumental tombs and the imperial remains. You'll find sarcophagi and coffins, for the most part placed side by side. This unusual sequence of tombs in the half-light also created a strange feeling in us. The only monumental tombs isolated from the others and placed in a different room are those of Franz Joseph, flanked on one side by his wife Sissi, with whom he remained deeply in love all his life, and on the other by his only son, who died by suicide: Rudolf. We're pleasantly tired.

It's about to start raining and we quickly hop on an Hop-on Hop-off that takes us along the Red Line route, allowing us to appreciate the Ringstrasse (the city's central ring) from above. We get off near home and decide to rest a bit. After dinner, we go for a ride on the Prater Ferris wheel. During the week there are certainly fewer people, so we only have to wait an acceptable amount of time. At the weekend, I suppose, to get on this attraction you need to arm yourself with saintly patience. We notice that some of the wheel's cabins can be rented for a romantic candlelit dinner or for company meetings. We don't ask the price, but I don't think a few dozen euros would be enough.

The ride is slow and relaxing; from the top you can see the immense surrounding garden - once a Habsburg hunting estate - but also historic Vienna and the amusement park, completely lit up with bright lights and colours. After another intense day, we return to the apartment to recover our energy. Friday 27 July. First stop of the day: the Sigmund Freud Museum. Inside there are some objects and furniture donated by his daughter Anna to the foundation that runs it, including the hat, the bag, the waiting room and the study. Freud in fact emptied it when he was forced to flee to London, as a persecuted Jew, taking with him the famous couch too, the symbol of psychoanalysis. When we came out, the queue outside the apartment (access is by limited numbers) was substantial. Arriving fairly early was a good decision.

We then go to the nearby Pasqualati House, one of the houses where the genius Beethoven lived and composed unmistakable melodies during his stay in Vienna (including the opera Fidelio, the Fourth, Fifth, Seventh and Eighth Symphonies). There are several photos, some scores written by the musician and various information about him. We head to the MAK Museum of Contemporary Art. Here you can find permanent exhibitions, including one on Rococo Baroque-style furnishing; the exhibition on the Asian world (Japanese, Chinese and Korean); another on 16th and 17th-century carpets. As for the temporary exhibitions, mention must be made of the one on 300 years of Viennese porcelain and the projects of the architect Gustav Peichl.

It was also really fun to wear the Google Glass and move in 3D in the context of Klimt's "Magic Garden", through a particular virtual-reality experience prepared and created by the filmmaker Frederick Baker. The attraction is part of the commemorations of the 100th anniversary (1918-2018) of the death of the 4 most famous artists of Viennese Modernism: Gustav Klimt, Egon Schiele, Otto Wagner and Koloman Moser: "Vienna, between beauty and abyss". Within this context there's also the temporary exhibition on level 1, dedicated to the architectures of Otto Wagner. Evocative too is the atmosphere created by the interplay of lights, cloths and shadows that, in an alternation of chairs, stools, armchairs and benches from particular forges, stands out in a dreamlike setting.

Another strong point of the museum site is the MAK DESIGN LAB, a workshop full of experiences that are nothing short of eccentric, which certainly doesn't leave you indifferent before the artistic experiments expressed there. Among these, the futuristic reworking of foods and everyday objects, whose purpose is reinvented to become something to reflect on. There's also the collection of industrial textile products made during the Habsburg empire and the exhibition of the 100 best Austro-German posters of 2017. Beyond the works kept inside, the museum building itself is architecturally significant. At this point we return again to the centre of Vienna, to visit the Stephansdom and Mozart's house. St. Stephen's is a fantastic Gothic cathedral. Gigantic. You can choose to reach the two bell towers, the catacombs or the treasury museum. Unfortunately we didn't have the time.

The roof of this mammoth religious structure has been decorated with almost 250,000 polychrome tiles representing the coats of arms of Austria, the city and the Habsburgs. Mozart's Dwelling, the only one of those in which the musician lived that has survived intact to this day, is even spread over 3 floors for a total of 1000 square metres: on the first, he had set up his home, in a decidedly genteel style. Continuing the tour, you then find some scores (here he composed "The Marriage of Figaro"), the violins he used, one of his garments and historical material of various kinds. The time for the shopping break arrives, to choose a few souvenirs to give to relatives and friends. Once this dutiful station of the cross is done, we rush to the City Cruise, planned on an inner canal of the Danube. An hour of cruising, for complete riverside relaxation.

All around you notice clean, well-kept meadows, with frequent establishments set up for enjoying the sun and relaxing by the river. The stop at the Hotel Sacher is a must, to taste the legendary Sachertorte, which was invented here in 1832, with a filling of apricot jam and covered with dark chocolate glaze. Served with a dollop of cream, it costs € 7.10 per portion. But it was really needed. So we go to the Albertina Museum. We arrive a little over an hour before closing but to visit it properly, you'd need more time. It's rich in works of the highest artistic value. It should absolutely be seen by those who love the genre. It houses one of the most important collections of classical modernist painting in Europe, evidenced by the Impressionist paintings of Monet, Degas, Cezanne and Modigliani; as well as the pointillist works of Signac.

There are many other masterpieces by German expressionists such as Wacker, Hofer and Sedlacek. Among the leading exponents of Austrian art, we find Kokoschka and Egger-Lienz. You can lose yourself before the works of Russian avant-garde authors such as Chagall and the numerous canvases of Picasso; from his early Cubist paintings to the works of the 40s. All signed with his unmistakable and characteristic style. Rich in drawings is the exhibition on architecture, with projects, sketches and selected studies coming from the Albertina's own extensive collection of over 40,000 pieces, including creations by Canaletto, Otto Wagner, Francesco Borromini, Salomon Kleiner and many others.

Moreover, as this palace was a Habsburg residence for more than 100 years, we can visit a wing with 20 rooms furnished and restored in period style, including magnificent chandeliers, finely decorated ceramic stoves and wall coverings that once again breathe the magnificence of one of the longest-lived dynasties in Europe (over 6 centuries of reign). Here you can finally take your photographs as a souvenir of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. In 2018 there is a temporary exhibition celebrating the eighty-fifth birthday of Florentina Pakosta: an artist who portrays the expressions and body language of men in a satirical and unconventional way.

In my view, there are at least two other temporary exhibitions worth noting: the photographic one by the Austrian Alfred Seiland with about 80 of his best, stunning polychrome works, and the other dedicated to the artists of the second half of the 20th century, including Andy Warhol. We recommend you visit the official site to check the collections on display at the time of your trip: Among the museums we unfortunately had to give up for lack of time, I'll mention the Leopold (Klimt, Schiele, Heidi Horten) and the Natural History Museum: the largest by size in all of Austria. There's just time for a nostalgic stroll at the Prater. And we don't miss it. Another relaxing walk in this place is always a pleasure. Then we buy the return tickets. Having a pass valid for the urban zone, you just need the €1.80 supplement, purchasable from one of the ticket machines near the metro.

By setting the departure point as "outside the city" and the destination as Flughafen-Wien Bahnhof, the airport stop, it's done. Saturday 28 July. The last hours before returning to Italy. We set off with our suitcases in tow; we stamp the supplement ticket and head for the metro to take the S7 again, in the opposite direction from the outward journey. In a little over 30 minutes we're back at the airport. Final security checks and we take off for Rome. Goodbye magical Vienna, we'll return to be able to finish visiting everything we weren't able to see in these few days and to appreciate once again what has already remained in our hearts.