Category Archives: Austria

Marathon

The rain that deluged Vienna the day before I welcomed because I was able to time it with some museum visits. But you need a lot of rainy days to cover Vienna’s treasure trove of museums, one seemingly better than the other.

So when I woke up in the morning and saw clear skies I left for an extensive walk in a city that I did not see till 1990. And the marathon was for sure the unexpected surprise because when you travel you worry about many other things than the next marathon.

The beauty of it is that you can watch the marathon from various point of the city and admire its monumental architecture in the same time. And it’s no effort to detour your walk because the organizers marked the running path to follow the beauty of this fabulous city.

The arrival was in front of the city hall after the runners followed the ring and were welcomed by pumping music, lots of crowds and of course a lot of police who were watching the crowds.

Locals and lots of tourists were packing the avenues, many caring posters encouraging the runners while others had cow bells banging them continuously. But overall it was nice, sunny Sunday morning and people went out with families and lots of babies and toddlers having just a relaxed time in a very quiet, relaxed and safe city.

My last day in Vienna in my European periple. I wanted for a long time to travel in Eastern Europe by train. In the USA we always fly from one point to another and train seems to be there a thing of the past. Of course there is no incentive to improve trains like in all things in the States where business trumps the interest of the people. And more than anything I wanted to travel in Eastern Europe since I have been in Croatia many years ago. It’s more lively, less stressed, people feeling that even if they may earn less, live a more relaxed and connected life. Of course when you come from New York it seems that everybody in the world seems relaxed 🙂 When I descended in Budapest’s Keleti lots of young, nice guys and girls stayed behind. Were they going to Ukraine or maybe they would stop somewhere along the way to the border? Or maybe they were going to enroll to defend their country of the invasion created by the maniac (Ras)Putin? Or they were just visiting the country they love but they cannot live in it because of the terrorist disaster created by the Russians? I could not know their intentions and all I followed was those stupid debates in the American congress to give them arms to defend their country and with it our way of life. And this war is also a marathon, a marathon of life and death but at whose end you don’t win a medal but a country and a way of living.

Modernism

Most of the people know Friedensreich Hundertwasser as a remarkable painter. An artist whose graphic designs seem to dive into a more profound spirituality of the visible and inspire the viewer that admires his work. His colorful spirals dominate his many collections, twisting and turning, like delving in an absconded realm that he could effortless see even if we try pointless to figure it out its meaning.

Hundertwasserhaus Museum, Vienna, Austria

His architectural designs try to avoid straight lines – “the straight line is God less”, he said – embedding in the rooms unregulated irregularities. He strives for a humanity in harmony with nature, with trees growing in windows and flowers coming out of the floors. These trees are called tree tenants and he had an entire manifesto regarding their use and right to be there, cohabitating with humans in windows and balconies.

Besides, Hundertwasser was a philosopher and mainly an activist for ecology in a time when this was not a cool thing to do. He wrote letters and manifestos, speeches and public performances criticizing the doctrine of permanent growth that is so alive mainly today, the wasteful society and the ridiculous conformism of the society. Probably he would die again to see the fake corporate culture spread across the world.

The Romanian poet Eminescu lived here during his stay in Vienna

Not far from Hundertwasserhaus Museum is the place where another modern, this time the Romanian poet Mihai Eminescu lived while studying in Vienna where not having yet the baccalaureate exam he was accepted as an extraordinary auditor. The word went that Eminescu seemed to lack money. I don’t know how the neighborhood looked in his time but for sure now it is a very spiffy location.

Modernism in Vienna’s turn of the 20th century arrived on top of ruins and devastation caused by the war. The empire collapsed forced by huge inequality and poverty of the masses and acute tensions among many of its nationalities.

The exhibit at Leopold Museum presents this remarkable advent of the new modernist current in all its aspects, a wealth of artistic and intellectual achievement. At the time of this explosive movement towards modernity Vienna was the city of contradictions that lived side by side: nobility and liberals intellectuals, magnificent building and the squalor of the slums, Zionism and anti-semitism.

The remarkable Secessionists and the concept of the Gesamtkunstwerk, or universal work of art brought art to all areas of life. The Austrian Expressionism started exploring the soul extracting feeling that showed a dissolution of the self, a subject kept tabu for generations by exactly that conformity of the society that I mentioned above. A lot of these artists were part of the new bourgeoisie, many of them Jewish who later on had to flee Vienna, leaving behind them a vacuum of creativity.

From painting, to furniture to architecture to sculpture to jewelry and poster design the exhibition passes through all forms of art that made Vienna what was renown for in its heydays. But what is impressive of this exhibition “Vienna 1900 Birth of Modernism” is the breadth of art of all kinds, from paintings to decorative and home use objects brought from private collection to fill three floor of this remarkable museum.

I passed by at the Kinsky auction house in Vienna where it was the pre-auction viewing of a number of Klimt drawings and a portrait of Margarethe Constance Lieser, the daughter of Adolf Lieser. Actually the auctioneers were not sure if the painting depicted her or one of the two daughters of Justus Lieser and his wife Henriette but no matter who the woman was the guy who won the auction paid 30m for it days latter. Anyway I planned to be in Budapest for the day of the auction so I decided to pass on bidding against whatever Arab sheik or a rude Russian disguised as a gentleman. Better a goulash by the Danube…

Wachau

Somehow I was obsessed with Melk. First time I’ve been to Austria way too many years ago I stopped at the monastery mentioned in Umberto Eco’s “Il Nome della Rosa”. In writing his novel Eco found its inspiration in Melk’s library that he depicts vividly with intricate details. His mention of Egypt, a large slice of the library adds the desired element of mystery hidden in the encompassing collection of volumes. One interesting note in the library is the globe that shows America as a continent but with with a separate California as an island. Geological or political prophecy? Walking through the library, you can imagine spotting among the tourists the young disciple Adso di Melk, navigating the intricate labyrinthine of corridors looking for hidden treasures within the shelves.

The story goes that St Benedict left Rome disgusted by the opulent and deprived life that was the norm of the empire’s capital and went to live in isolation where he crafted his theological doctrine. His doctrine was adopted in Melk and for centuries was loosened and tightened with the coming emperors and current philosophies but somehow was able to be steadfast in preserving the catholicism in this area.

But the promised austerity does not show in the palace inherited from the House of Babenberg that established the dynasty that reigned over Austria, then known as the Imperial Margraviate of Austria. Margrave Leopold II made the decision in 1089 and bestowed Melk Abbey upon Benedictine monks. Melk Abbey Museum consists of 11 exhibition rooms richly filled with artifacts showing grandeur and power and less the desired austerity.

Wachau Valley, a charming portion of the Danube is filled by castle and monasteries that hide behind their walls lots of legends. You can cruise it with a boat from the town of Melk stopping in Spit, Durnstein and ending in Krems. There is a Wachau Valley train+boat ticket available for 82 euro. And either is a legend related to a king who died because he did not respect the religious obligations after her queen’s death or a bunch of rabbits stranded on top of a monastery when the snow that reached the roof suddenly melted, they make for cool stories when you cruise the UNESCO protected Danube valley.

Dürnstein’s first historical mentioning is in 1192 when King Richard I of England, famously known as Richard the Lionheart was imprisoned here. The story follows the Third Crusade, where both the king of England and the Leopold Duke of Austria were part.

Leopold imprisoned Richard whose seemingly actions at the Battle of Acre of casting down his standard from the walls offended him. Leopold also accused Richard of orchestrating the murder of his cousin, Conrad of Montferrat, in Jerusalem.

The bottom line is the Leopold threw Richard in the dungeon of Dürnstein Castle, perched above the town, now a romantic ruin The Pope got involved and excommunicated Leopold for capturing a fellow crusader and transferred Richard – the guy was not a choir boy, so he could not have complained of any witch hunt(!) – to Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor, who imprisoned him at Trifels Castle.

During off season there is only one boat per day cruising Wachau Valley so from charming Durstein, the best spot of the valley, I took a local bus for a short ride to Krems. The town was first mentioned in 995 but here archeologists found a child’s grave dated as 27,000 years old, the oldest grave found in Austria. During the 12th century, Chremis/Krems was almost as large as Vienna. It looks like a typical Austrian-German town lined up with lots of shops some selling Marillenschnaps, an apricot brandy, Wachau Valley being famous for its apricot production as well as its vineyards.

Innsbruck, Austria

Hafelekar Peak, Innsbruck, Austria

I always liked Austria in spite that it never happened to stay there for a longer time. But every time I passed through things impressed me more than in any other country. A smiling and nice people, amazing cultural tradition that still preserve an aristocratic but casual feeling, great food for decent prices, a “gemutlich” atmosphere, people on bikes going to work, great minimalistic modern design unmatched in Europe all being surrounded by an amazing and deep Central European tradition. I’ve never been traveling in Austria on long hauls but just on short stops in Vienna, Innsbruck, Salzburg or around its borders coming from somewhere else.
Innsbruck, the Olympic city, was a pleasure especially after the rainy weather somehow skirted us. We did not have any hopes after the weather forecast showed three days of rain in a row but in the morning the sun shone over the city. After a chat in the hotel with a group of American kids and teachers from PA and FL who were here on a Bible camp we left to climb the mountain and after several tries in finding our way we bought city tickets (E31) that open you all the city doors for a day and we got on the train going to Hungerburg and further with the cabin to Seeburg at 1905 meters and Hafelekar at 2248 meters. The weather was quite iffy, with lots of clouds traveling on the side of the mountain that blocked the entire view of the peaks. So in spite of the lack of visibility to the mountains we still decided to climb it. The decision proved to be right because on top the view was magnificent with the craggy peaks of the Alps surrounded by moving clouds in a very spooky atmosphere.

Innsbruck, Austria

We shot great footage and walked around on all the peaks deciding in the last moment to walk down to Seeborg on a very steep and rocky road that took a little more than an hour. The clouds were moving continuously and occasionally the view opened over the city for a short while to close up again for a long periods. From Seeburg we took the cabin to Hungerburg and after a short stop in Alpen Zoo we got down in the city center that was beaming with life.

kkOld City, Innsbruck, Austria

The time was short but we were able to fast walk in the old town, adorned with the beautiful buildings renovated recently and conferring an impeccable air to its center. A concert in Hofburg, the old town castle, a quick visit to the Golden roof, a tentative climb in the tower and a pleasant walk on the numerous gasse lost in the medieval atmosphere. In the evening we returned to the hotel where we were able to leave the car for the entire day, booked on iPhone a hotel close to Bolzano and left for Italy. The hotel we booked for the night was in Laives, close to Bolzano. We found the town in a great celebration. They told us that is nothing special just a “festa” for the town, a very Italian event with music, food, drinks, good spirit and dance till midnight.

St Stephan Cathedral, Vienna, Austria

We arrived in Vienna in the night and we zipped to have dinner in Leoopold restaurant, somewhere near Votive Kirche. The temperature dropped amazingly and it felt extremely cold. The people were wearing late fall coats and we just arrived from over 100F… So we ran, more than walk, to get to the pedestrian area and we just took a brief look inside St. Stephen Cathedral

Judenburg, Austria

We flew to Vienna where we rented a car in the airport, a charming small European car so different from the tanks that we drive in the US and planned to drive through various countries in the Balkans, a term that is not very fond for the people of Slovenia or Croatia. But before anything else we watched in Vienna the Euro2012 final match where the Spaniards won superbly. The original plan was to shoot first in Hungary and Serbia followed by Croatia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Slovenia finishing in Vienna. But when you put the available days on paper you realize that is not enough time so we dropped it and drove directly to Slovenia. We stopped on the way in this village in Austria its name maybe giving a hint of the original inhabitants.

Roaming the world

FLYING MONK

Category Archives: Austria

Marathon

Modernism

Wachau

Innsbruck, Austria