kOur departure from Venice went fairly smoothly except that it was raining. How lucky we were to not get bad weather throughout the trip. We had some rain during our Salzburg visit and it otherwise only rained in the evenings or with little sprinkles in Venice. The rain was fairly solid so we used umbrellas, checked out, bought ACTV tickets for the Vaporetta (water busses) and got on the right bus back to Tronchetto.
Once we found out how to pay for our parking pass and found our car we discovered that I had left one of the windows open so the driver’s seat was wet. This meant I got to absorb the moisture as the first driver.
The trip to Vienna was mostly via the equivalent of our Interstates. The GPS kept us on course and we decided to drive straight through to Vienna with no stops, although there were certainly interesting things to see along the way (Trieste, Graz, castles, etc.) We bought gas and stopped for snacks a couple of times but made the trip in about 6 hours.
We knew we needed gas for turning the car into the agency, so as soon as we got into the city and off the interstate we went to a convenience store. For the life of me I couldn’t figure out how to fuel the car. There was not place to put the credit card. I asked a nearby taxi cab driver how to fuel and he said just pump it. Turns out they just trust you and then you go inside and pay. I guess it’s been so long since we did that in the US it never occurred to me.
Vienna
Driving to the hotel was quite tricky since there are so many one-ways in the city center. In fact, locals have a rough time maneuvering as well. For example, Google directions for driving to the rental car drop off the next day showed 10 minutes to drive and 10 minutes to walk.
Our reservations were at the Hotel Kaiserin Elisabeth which was a nice place right on the main inner city pedestrian mall. 50m away was St. Stephen’s cathedral which is a main landmark (and where Mozart’s funeral took place). We walked around a bit and then met Peter and Gigi in front of St. Stephens. We then went to a terrific and energetic restaurant called DO & CO Restaurant, which is in a modern building on the square with elevated restaurant and glass windows. Apparently it was quite controversial during the building and permitting stages but now most people accept it as a nice addition.
We really like our first impressions of Austria. Many old buildings with old architecture, but in the historical parts of town these were in a nice state of repair and frequently re-purposed for commercial or tourist services. There was no feeling of being run down and the energy was quite high in the sections of towns we visited.
The next morning I struck out and managed to turn in the rental car and Nancy was able to mail a package of clothes and gifts back to the States to reduce our load. She reported it was quite good. The Austrian Post Office had special boxes so she just wheeled a suitcase over, packed the box, selected 10 day delivery and paid about 40 Euros. We thought this was a great approach. We may send one more box before we depart home.
We rendezvoused with GG in front of the Albertina (5 minute walk) after Nancy picked up some Starbucks. This was a grand palace converted into a very nice art museum. It was showing a special collection of Klimt sketches he used in preparation for his vast works. The sketches did a great job of showing his evolution and phases of art. (link)
We then met for lunch at the Zum Schwarzen Kameel which I spotted is on some people’s Top 50 restaurants in the world. The previous night and today I wanted Weiner Schnitzel, but was told I had to wait for dinner that night, as it was their specialty.
We then went to the Belvedere which was the palace built by one of the most effective military leaders of his era, Eugene of Savoy. Apparently Eugene offered his services to Spain and France and was turned down, reportedly because he was short and ugly and was not accepted at court. However, the Austrian empire used him to great effect and he amassed a fortune over-running his enemies. The house was given to the state upon his passing and is now used as an Art Museum and beautiful gardens just outside the central rings of Vienna. The Belvedere has a large collection of Klimt paintings including the famous Kiss.
That night we went to Plachuttas Gasthaus zur Oper , again 5 minute walk from our hotel. I was finally allowed to sample the Winer Schnitzel and it was excellent, but the portion was huge. On their website they state:
The Art of the Perfect Wiener Schnitzel — At the restaurant you’ll find an exciting symbiosis between Viennese tradition and modern design with a culinary focus on the Wiener schnitzel.
I was told that Austrians vote this as one of the best in town. Peter tried to explain to me why, but I was too busy gorging it down to follow the recipe/formula.
The next morning we took a taxi to GGs apartment. We loaded Peter’s car and drove to to IST Austria. We met with President Thomas Henzinger and learned that they are hard at work building a basic research center to advance basic science. Peter is the largest donor to date and he has a building named after his family. We received a briefing, toured the facility, and visited with some faculty on a couple of interesting projects.
Prague
We then drove to Prague (wikipedia, link) but Peter’s GPS took us into CZ via some highways that went through small towns rather than by the equivalent of our interstates. We decided to stop at the quaint town of Znojmo for lunch. Peter had a rough time finding a place to park and we were struggling to find a good place to eat lunch. We stopped into the tourist bureau and no one talked English. GG went in and found someone who spoke German, who pointed us to a restaurant that had good meal at very cheap prices.
Unfortunately when we came out our car was booted. It cost us 700 CZ francs to get the car unstuck. Gigi was particularly upset since there were no markings in German or English, even though everyone speaks German. The police were fairly cool to us and got into a bit of debate with Peter and Gigi. They seemed unmoved and were not concerned about promoting tourism.
This was something we noticed throughout Prague. The people are efficient and well trained at their jobs, but they don’t seem to have any energy or passion or happiness about service. Our guide later told us that he believes this is a hold-over from communism where people just went through the motions of their jobs in such roles and did not understand great service. Since tips are optional and not frequent for locals there is no motivation to step them out of this culture.
Our hotel was the Hotel Pariz in the center of the old town. Because of the back road we didn’t get into Prague and checked in until 5:30PM. We decided to take a short nap as our dinner reservation was at the Marina Grossetto. Amazingly the hotel desk clerks did not know where it was. They marked it on the map from the address but was off significantly. As we navigated toward it I pulled out my iPhone and discovered the discrepancy with Google maps. We got there just at 7:30. It was a former river boat converted into a restaurant. It was large, diversified, and had a great menu. Service was efficient but not happy and little slow as described. I picked up the tab and it was my largest tab ever for 4 people. About 4,500. Of course, converted into dollars it was closer to $225, pretty reasonable given the quality of food and the various bottles of wine.
The next morning we took a city tour with Filip Votava who was a former tour guide (and whose mother was a former tour guide) but is now a sales manager for the Lobkowicz Collections. Lobkowicz is a noble family who lost all of its holdings to the Nazis but was restored after WWII only to be confiscated a short time later by the Communists. However, after the Velvet Revolution the opportunity to reclaim the properties was permitted. Incredible collections have been restored to the family and is now being put on display or loaned out.
Filip graduated with a degree in history and politics and actually spent a couple of months as a student in Bend, Oregon one summer prior to travel in the Pacific Northwest. His English was great and we really enjoyed talking to him about Prague, CZ, and the various architectures, historical events, and people that shaped Prague. We had a three hour walking tour ending at restaurant just below the Prague Castle (reported to be the largest in the western world).
After lunch Gigi and Peter’s daughter-in-law had arranged a special treat for Peter (and us). We were given a 1 hour driving tour around Prague in a Ford Model A antique car. So after our evening walk and our walking tour we knew our way around a bit, but the driving tour helped consolidate our view of Prague. The weather was glorious and the breeze was nice. Unfortunately, the stiff suspension made pictures difficult.
That night we attend the opera Tosca put on by the Prague Opera Company at the New German Operahouse (one of several opera venues in Prague but reportedly the most attractive inside). Gigi was a former opera singer so she enjoyed briefing us in advance (in our suite over champagne, strawberries, and chocolate) about the opera story and what to expect. The singing was excellent, staging good, orchestra first rate, and the experience memorable.
After the opera, the hotel driver took us to Rybi Trh which was reportedly the best fish restaurant in town. I had tuna steak and Nancy had lobster. It was a great setting at an outside patio just a short walk from our hotel. We basically closed down the place as we were the last ones there, leaving just after midnight.
The next morning we departed back toward Vienna via Bratislava.
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