Day 1,390

Vienna

Before we arrived we had done lots of research about Vienna. There is simply so much to see, but we only had 24 hours. For once Tom wasn't holed up in a room editing a film, so we had the whole day to explore. Tom had put together our very own walking tour and by 9am we were off! First up was the Votive Church, closed today, so the masses had stayed away, but the building is simply breath-taking.

The Votive Church

The church was built due to an attempted assassination attempt on Emperor Franz Joseph. In thanks for his life being saved his brother, Arch Duke Ferdinand Maximilian started a campaign to have this church built to give thanks to God for sparing his life. A young 26 year old architect, Heinrich Von Ferstel, won the contract, and by 1879 his work was done. The dedication neatly tied in with the Silver Wedding anniversary of good old FJ and his wife Empress Elizabeth. And they all lived happily ever after. Except they didn't, another brother was executed after attempting to become Emperor of Mexico, his son Rudolf committed suicide, reactionaries succeeded in murdering his wife in 1898, and on 28 June 1914 in Sarajevo, his nephew and heir to the throne Arch Duke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie were murdered. This laid the seeds for The Great War, or WWI. Certainly makes you wish they could simply have just gotten on better with all their distant relatives and realised they didn't have a god-given right to expect half the young men of Europe and many millions more to die fighting to solve their arguments. Rant over!

Onwards to see a rather sad but impressive piece of artwork. In the form of a knight in armour stands the Nail Man, or Iron Soldier. People could pay a small donation to drive a nail head into the statue, creating his body armour. An estimated half a million nails raised funds to help support widows and orphans of WWI. He doesn't stand alone, the idea caught on and hundreds more Nail Men were created throughout Austria and Germany. 

The Iron Soldier’s foot, every nail could tell a story

We needed a bit of light relief and a sit down. Thankfully, being in Vienna, we had plenty of options. I'd done my research here, I wanted a classic, characterful, coffee shop, just not full of tourists. I know, I know, Tom and I are just that, but we've worked so hard to get here, we felt we deserved the best. There are simply dozens to choose from, but I'd been advised to try Café Landtmann. Opened in 1873, it's apparently very popular with politicians and actors, and certainly our fellow diners looked a pretty upmarket bunch. Though famous for its cakes, we opted for a savory brunch option, and quite frankly it was wonderful. Due to a childhood blighted by my mother's inability to cook an egg, I generally avoid them at all costs. Today I braved Eggs Benedict, and they were simply perfection. 

Café Landtmann

Very happy with our choice of eatery we headed to St Stephen’s Cathedral and soon realised this was the ‘place to be’. It was rammed. It took over 400 years to build, started in 1137, and completed in 1578, it's impressive but I think the Votive has more wow factor. It's free to wander about in a section of the inside, and very awe inspiring it is too. Tom wanted to visit the crypt and see several thousand skeletons but the masses of people and grumpy staff put us off. We decided to leave and go see a tree. 

Now not just any old tree, but the Stock im Eisen. It's a mid-section of a tree trunk from the middle ages. Tests on the tree tell us it was a forked spruce which grew from around 1400 and was felled in 1440. Over the years, passers-by had driven in nails for good luck (ah, so that explains the idea of the nail man). It has survived pretty well for around 600 years, and is displayed today behind glass on a corner of the Palais Equitable. Nobody was taking a single bit of interest in it until Tom started taking photos, we soon had quite a crowd looking at it and us, all with puzzled expressions.

Nobody was looking at the ‘Stock im Eisen’ and we got some very funny looks from passers-by

Tom was still in the mood for a crypt so we headed off to see where the remains of the rulers of the Habsburgs lie, the Kapuzinergruft. It is situated in a chamber beneath the Capuchin Church and Monastery. Since 1633 it has served as the principal resting place for members of the House of Habsburg. 145 of them in total, including 12 emperors and 18 expresses. The tombs are works of art, impressive, but at the end of the day it's a family grave. The rich were no exception to deaths in childbirth and the high mortality rates of children. Smallpox took its toll on them just the same. We learnt a lot about this family and their dynasty.  Dear old Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie aren't buried here though, ah well. 

Spooky, sad, thought-provoking

We decided we needed a bit of light relief, and headed to Cafe Camus for a beer. It was full of vibrant young Austrians, but they didn't throw us out. Refreshed, we wandered about some more. 

Vienna sure is impressive, endless gothic churches and baroque palaces, its an architectural mix of classic German and Mediterranean culture, and boy its impressive. We wandered around, avoiding the tram lines, mouths open wide, gazing around us, up to the roof tops and around again. We spotted the Sisi Museum. Sisi, or to give her her formal name, Elizabeth of Austria (Sisi was a family nickname), was born on 24 December 1837. Pictures show her to have been quite a beauty, and for decades she was regarded as the most beautiful Queen in Europe. Sadly she too died by assassination. Whilst on holiday in Geneva she was stabbed through the heart with a sharpened file. So thin and sharp was the blade that Sisi at first felt fine and brushed away people who rushed to her aid. Sadly, shortly afterwards she passed away from internal bleeding. We decided to give the museum a miss, spotted the Spanish Riding School but tickets for that were sold out, which was a relief as at over 100 euros each it was way beyond our budget. 

So nothing for it but another coffee shop, with a cake this time. A final hour or so wandering about until achy feet drove us back to our Airbnb. Vienna, you haven't disappointed us, thank you.