The Opera House the Treasury and the Last Supper

Friday May 31, 2019

After our adventure through the dark side of Vienna in the '50's we came back to the 19th century and a trip through the Vienna Opera House with our guide Susanne.

Of course this guy gets a prominent place on the wall. After all, Vienna is one of his many home towns.

Habsburg Treasury

The Habsburgs lived in many palaces all over Europe. When things got scary in one spot they just moved on to another palace. That all came to an end in 1919. The Habsburg palace in Vienna was turned into a museum to house all of the treasures that the Habsburgs couldn't steal on the way out of town. Much of the collection goes back to the Holy Roman Empire.

The two most important items in the family collection are the Agate Bowl and the Narwhal horn.

The Agate Bowl is unique because it was
cut from one piece of agate. The bowl has
markings on the bottom that some think spell XRISTO (Christ)
in the grain of the stone.

Narwhal horn
Thought to be the horn of a very horny unicorn

The Last Supper

Well, we got one more chance for a free meal on Rick Steves.

The venue was The Depot, a short U-bahn ride from the hotel.

Everyone had a great dinner and talked about doing it again next month.

The owner wasn't very picky about our bar bill so I think Andrea may have slipped him a few extra Euros from the budget.

Either that or he believed me when I said that I'd keep an eye on his mother and sister who live in Chicago.

It was a wonderful trip with many great sites, interesting history lessons and (mostly) good weather. As usual though the best part of the trip was the people we were with. Rick Steves tours are kind of self-selecting for the kind of folks you want to travel with. Our fellow travelers were kind, polite, interesting to talk with and made the trip a real pleasure.

And they could really put away the wine.

Thanks to all and keep travelin'

The Third Man

Thursday May 30, 2019

Andrea decided to violate the 'two museum a day' rule today and took us to the 'Third Man Museum' run by our old buddy Gerhard and his wife.

The Third Man is a famous film noir about post WWII Vienna shot in 1949. Gerhard has a room in the museum with posters about the movie. He has an antique projector that he uses to play a two minute clip from the film.

The movie is an introduction to the museum which is all about Vienna after WWII and during the Cold War. There are lots of posters, pictures and documents about what happened during these years. Because Austria was a neutral country, both the Soviets and the Allies used Vienna as a spy outpost.

Gerhard explains it well but it would take days to cover everything he has collected.

Museum patrons listening with rapt attention.

Well worth breaking the 'Two Museum' rule.

Besides, it was Rick's idea.

Vienna at last

Tuesday May 29, 2019

Our hotel in Vienna is the Pension Nossek. What it lacks in flashy, modern hotel features it makes up for in location, location, location.

This is the view out our window onto the Graben which is the main drag in Vienna.

Not much happening late at night but during the day this place rocks.

Well, it did have one or two flashy hotel features like a wall radio.

And Mozart lived here!

Our local guide this evening is a guy named Gerhard. He's got a lot to say so he's a fast talker. You better keep up.

Kendra keeping up with Gerhard.

We took a pleasant walk with Gerhard mostly around the main part of town and the former Habsburg mansions which are all now museums. He knows his history and makes it interesting.

Gerhard talkin' 'bout the Habsburgs.

The Habsburgs all got kicked out of Austria after losing WWI. Don't worry about them though, they took the checkbook when they left and their descendants are living large with a low profile all over Europe.

Mauthausen Memorial - WWII Concentration Camp

On our way to Vienna we stopped at a WWII memorial. Mauthausen was mostly used as a work camp. There was a gas chamber and cremation ovens here but they weren't used much. The inmates were beaten and worked to death in the rock quarries near the camp. The exhibition is well done and very informative with detailed documentation and photos.

Here is a plaque that sums up the feelings of the families of those murdered here.

Names of the dead at Mauthausen

Rainy Day in Lake Hallstatt

Tuesday May 28, 2019

Well, today our luck ran out. We checked in to our resort at Lake Hallstatt under leaky skies. Our accommodations at the resort were excellent. Four separate en-suite bedrooms with a large living/kitchen area downstairs.
Bob used all the hot water though.

Lake Hallstatt is a very pretty lake in the Eastern Alps. The lake is surrounded by mountains which keeps the wind down and provides beautiful scenery.

We dropped our gear at the hotel and took a boat ride to the town of Hallstatt. The town is so cute that the Chinese built a replica for the poorer folks in China who can't afford to fly to the real thing. Unfortunately a lot of the rich folks can afford to fly here so it gets pretty crowded in summer.

There wasn't a lot of free land around Hallstatt so the Church ok'd an unusual burial procedure. After you are dead and buried for 15 years, they dig you up and clean your bones. The bones were then stacked up in an Ossuary. We had to see it of course.

This one is unusual because the names of the dead are written on the skulls.

The last burial here in 1983 was the lady with the stripes. You can see her gold tooth. I think she was a biker.

Sadly, no gift shop.

Down on the Farm

Tuesday May 28, 2019

Today we hopped on the bus with Jos and bid Auf Wiedersehen tschüss to Salzburg. We are on our way to Lake Halstatt but on the way Andrea our guide had a surprise stop at a 'Bio Farm' aka organic farm.

Our bus parked at the Bio Farm.
The guys in the clean suits are there to inspect the place to make sure it stays Bio

The farm is owned by Maria and her husband. They mostly produce raw milk from Jersey cows. The milk is turned into cheese and sold in their cheese shop. Maria makes soap and cosmetics from the whey. She also makes preserves from the fruit trees, runs the cheese shop and gives classes on cheese making in her spare time. With her kids and the farm I'm guessing she doesn't really watch much TV.

Maria explains cows to the city slickers.

Joyce and Kendra to the TSA officer....
'Why no sir, I haven't handled any livestock or visited a farm on my trip'

A Night at the Opera

Tuesday May 27,2019

Naturally a gang of classy, culture aficionados like us couldn't miss the Mozart Dinner Concert in the baroque hall of St. Peter's Church in Salzburg.

Short review:

Good food
Beautiful room
Expensive wine
Great singers and musicians

Nice costumes also.

She's not buying whatever he's selling

Of course everyone dressed in their finest jeans and Columbia trail shirt - except for these folks.

Salzburg for Some Salt

Monday 27 May, 2019

Our friendly driver Jos delivered us to the Salzburg Austria in fine condition. Jos is an excellent driver. He also keeps a cooler full of beer on the bus in case we get thirsty on the road.

Lots of musicians living in in Salzburg. It gets crowded on the bus when the bass players and the cello players go to work.

It's custom made for every mother's son to be a violin player in Salzburg.

They's playin' since they's babies, get work before they's two.

Salzburg is the home town of Ludwig Amadeus Mozart. They are very proud of that fact. It seems like he lived in just about every house in town.

Salzburg was originally a city of salt when salt was one of the most valuable commodities in the world. With no refrigeration, salt was the only food preservative available and Salzburg had plenty.

Nowadays Salzburg is also famous for music and art (and tourists).

Tourist in a church.

Some art - Giant Cucumbers in the park and a real artist.

Salzburg is also home to a large medical community. Vickie is looking for a doctor.
She doesn't like this one.

Local tour guide and part time enforcer Brigette

Traveling cemetery critic inspects Petersfriedhof Cemetery

Ludwig and the Luge

Sunday May 26, 2019

Checked out of Munich for a trip to Salzburg. Nice ride today with a couple of great stops.

First stop is Neuschwanstein castle built by King Ludwig II. Ludwig was not into that king stuff, he just wanted to build fantasy castles which he did for a while until they declared him insane and shipped him of the the farm. A couple of days later they found him dead in the lake along with his psychiatrist.

This is a photo of the castle Ludwig built in the Bavarian Alps.