Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!
The expected rain arrived but, luckily, it was just an intermittent drizzle rather than a steady rain. It still made for a damp, rather dreary, day but it wasn’t as bad as it could have been.
I had about 5 stops today and I got to most of them. First up was the Austrian National Library. What??? I know you’re thinking, “who goes to a library on vacation?” Certainly not me, but this place is magnificent. I visited the State Hall which is the tourist spot. It’s not your regular reading room.
I would have never thought to visit here but I saw a YouTube video of the top 10 places to visit in Vienna and this was on it. I only spent about 30 minutes here but am so glad I made the stop.
Then it was a short walk to Michaelerplatz, a city center square and home to, among other things, Hofburg Palace with its Sisi Museum and Imperial Apartments. Hofburg Palace was the home of the Habsburg Dynasty between the 13th and early 20th centuries. The last Emperor to live here was Emperor Franz Joseph and his wife Empress Elizabeth.
The place was wall-to-wall people so I didn’t dawdle too much. I’ve seen a lot of palaces so I didn’t feel the need to read every plaque. There were just too many people. Actually it’s the first place I’ve been to on the trip that was so crowded.
After the palace I went back out in the drizzle and headed to the Town Hall Square. My plan had been to visit the Town Hall but I couldn’t find a way in. This is also where the big Christmas Market is so maybe the tourist entrance was obscured by the booths. Or maybe I just missed it. But so I didn’t waste a trip, I picked up a couple of sweet treats.
By this time it’s raining a little harder. Up until then I hadn’t been wearing gloves because it didn’t feel that cold but now the wind was picking up so I bundled up again. To keep my head dry (no umbrella) I had my hood up over my hat. I’m sure I looked lovely (no selfies) but at least I stayed dry. Well, mostly dry.
My next stop was the Votive Church, which would have been only about a 10 minute walk if I hadn’t run into construction that shut down the sidewalk. I had to walk back a block and around a ginormous building so I spent an extra 5 minutes getting there. Not a big deal except I was getting cold and my feet were tired.
This church was built on the site of the 1853 assassination attempt on Emperor Franz Joseph. He survived the attempt and his brother, Maximillian who later became Emperor of Mexico, called for donations from communities in the Empire to build this church. BTW. Things didn’t end well for Max in Mexico. In 1867, he was executed by members of the Mexican Republic. His memorial was held in the small salon in Hofburg Palace (see photo above).
My last stop was going to be the Mozart House Museum. This part of the trip is when I decided to change my GPS’s name from Gracie to B*tch! I was about 15 minutes away but when I got within a couple of minutes she kept walking me in circles. When I finally heard “you’ve arrived”, once again there was nothing. Then I found a small plaque on the wall of a restaurant. I think this might be a building where he lived or possibly the house he died in. The latter stood until the mid 18th century when it was torn down. There’s a different building there now so I guess this could be it. Or not. I have no idea.
I tried again for the museum and in a few minutes I was in familiar territory… St. Stephen’s Cathedral. It turns out the museum is around the corner from my hotel. Since I was tired (walked over 14,000 steps with just a short rest in the church), cold and very hungry (it was almost 2pm and I hadn’t eaten lunch yet), I decided to go home instead of visiting the museum. It’s close and open until 6pm so I can go anytime in the next 2 days.
Back at the hotel a woman at the front desk reheated my leftovers from yesterday. It was just as good the second time around. After lunch, I decided a nap was in order. Tonight is the Mozart/Strauss concert and I didn’t want to fall asleep during the performance.
Now I’m just hanging around the room until I leave around 7:30. The performance is at 8:30 and it’s only about 15 minutes away, but I’d rather be early than late. Maybe I’ll get a glass of champagne to celebrate Thanksgiving. Or maybe not. Wine usually makes me pretty sleepy. I’ll report on the concert tomorrow as I’ll probably get back pretty late.
I wish everyone a joyous Thanksgiving with family and friends.