Wow. Just wow. Probably my seventh or eighth time in Vienna and still wow. We used to be able to catch the 15:59 train out of Ingolstadt on a Friday afternoon for a long weekend in Vienna when we were living in Germany. What a privilege. The city remains one of my favorite places in the world. It helps that I still speak some German of course!
The city is so clean, so well organized, so easy to get around. The buildings are so beautiful. The art is amazing and abundant. It is somewhat affordable for locals as a year long card generally costs about the same as two visits to that museum. I don’t want to add up how much I spent on the nine museums that I went to, but it is totally fine, that is the way it should be. If you are privileged enough to travel you can pay a little more to support the arts and infrastructure. Note a week-long pass for unlimited use of the metro (U-bahn), bus, trams (Strassenbahn) and local S-bahn (Schnell or fast train) only cost about $19, and if you live here a year long card is available for about $400 (1 Euro per day=365 Euro per year). I was never checked a single time to verify that I had a valid pass. It is understood that you do if you are riding on board. Crime (like riding without a card) is very low in the German speaking world because it is against the law! I still cross against the light at intersections when safe however, I am an American after all.
The museum curators did a great job of highlighting the issues of the day, many of which have been the issue of the day forever it seems. Under-representation of women and minorities in the arts (lots of great exhibitions to counter this) and climate change and reconciling the past (Nazi era and other).
Klimt and Schiele. That would be enough of a reason to come to Vienna. In my entire life I have only once seen a traveling exhibition of their work (Schiele in Washington DC once 25 years ago). But, there is so much more art than that. There is so much new work and other artists of all eras. And the newly redesigned (and even free) Vienna city museum was very interesting as well. And naturally it has a few great Klimt and Schiele pieces too!
And then there is the Kunsthistorischesmuseum der Stadt Wien (art history museum or Fine arts museum). For me, it is one of the top museums in the world. The building is perfect. The floors are wooden and creak when you glide around on them. The wood is also a nice break from all the concrete and marble which play havoc on the body. There are several large rooms with large works on the walls and large central circular seats to rest upon. You can pace yourself and rest when needed. The central staircase entry area of the building is simply breathtaking (see the post photo). The entire structure is centered on a multi-floor circular opening looking down upon the beautiful black and red and white restaurant plucked from another era. I was transported back in time as I treated myself to a half liter beer. Having always battled anxiety and all the other stuff this was the first time I ever allowed myself to sit in this sacred space. I have been such a silly boy for so very long! One’s attention is torn between the art, the building itself, and the beautiful views out the window of the surrounding opulence. This could be my happy spot. I hope I can return here again someday! I also hope you can too!
Currently I am on a train from Vienna to Prague, another jaw-droppingly beautiful place. And you can curiously find delicious Czech beer everywhere! On the train, for example, you can buy a ½ liter Pilsner Urquell for one Euro ($1.10). It costs more than that in the stores anywhere outside of the Czech republic and would easily be $10 or more on a train or plane or museum or other attraction in the US. It would be almost impossible to resist a $1 cold Czech beer if I weren’t in the middle of a long trip through Europe and already looking forward to my self-imposed dry month upon returning.
This train apparently originated in Budapest (also wow). I did not get there on this trip but have visited a few times over the years. Being able to take a 100 mph train between these three cultural capitals is a gift. We just need to figure out how to enable everyone to be able to get on this train. The world would be a better, happier, safer, more fair place if we could.
