Reluctant Blogger: RELUCTANT BLOGGER 16: Vienna

I've just returned from four days in Vienna visiting Jeff on tour. It's a city that I have wanted to go to for many years. I was expecting a large version of Salzburg, however found instead a big city more like London or Paris, but with a much more relaxed, confident, and generous air. The 22 degree heat helped create a favourable impression, I must admit!

Vienna is full of cultural opportunities, and is very well set up for the cultural visitor. The Museum Quarter houses most of the big art galleries and anthropological collections all within one block. Very near are also to Hofburg – the residence of the Austrian Imperial Family for six centuries, the Volksoper and the Statsoper, as well as many other large and impressive performance venues. The city parks are many, and the wide boulevards give the whole city a feeling of grandeur and space.

The Johann Strauss memorial in the main city park

There are some stunning buildings too. I visited the three main Hapsburg palaces – the Hofburg, Schönbrunn, the Summer Palace, and Belvedere which now houses a fine art collection including many works by Klimt. These palaces don't quite display the utter decadence of those we saw in St Petersburg last year, but were pretty gorgeous nonetheless.

Belvedere and its elegant gardens

The other art gallery I visited was the Leopolds Museum, a fine new building in the Museum Quarter which houses a large collection of paintings by Schiele (a new artist to me and one I loved) Kolomon Moser (also new and wonderful) and more Klimt's.

The Schatzkammer (treasury) of the Hofburg houses an amazing array of crown jewels and paraphernalia, including coronation vestements from the 12th century and the stunning 10th century crown of the Holy Roman Empire.

The 10th century Crown of the Holy Roman Empire

In search of more heady Klimt glitter I headed for the Secession, a building which houses his Beethoven Frieze. This piece, originally designed for the main exhibition space upstairs, is now housed in a disappointing sub basement room where it can barely be seen. One enters through a side basement door and must go through the rest of the basement before descending further to the Frieze room. I spent a good 20 minutes (as did many other visitors) looking round the basement at what seemed to be a very strange art installation designed to look like a sleazy sex club. It took me quite a while to realise that no, it really WAS a sleazy sex club though mercifully shut for the afternoon. Bizarre!

The golden-topped Secession building

Part of Klimt's Beethoven Frieze

I didn't get to see the famous Spanish Riding School but did see the horses in their elegant stables.

A real highlight was the magnificent Prunksaal (State Hall) of the National Library, formerly part of the Hapsburg Palace. There isn't room here for all the pictures I took of this gorgeous room or the treasures on display in it.

The Prunksaal

I also had to do the real tourist staple – the Riesenrad ferris wheel. Still a very charming thing to do.

The Riesenrad

Finally, Cafe Sperl – the favourite coffee place of Lehar and Hitler (though not together), the interior of which has not changed in many decades. Real faded grandeur and a treat.