Day 29 - Living the Good Life, Vienna Style

Hey Team,

Well, it's my last day in Vienna before I take a night train to Switzerland and a couple of mountains tomorrow.      Full day today as I went to a special Mass (see below), followed by a trip to a museum, a battle royale with a hot beverage, and then a couple of hours of cruising around looking at the sights.  Here's the rundown:

It's Sunday, so I went to Mass this morning at the Hofburg Palace (can't seem to get away from here for some reason).  This is the Augustinian Church and a crypt in here holds the hearts of many of the Hapsburg rulers.  Just the hearts though.  The bodies are elsewhere and a few have some other piece of them in another place somewhere in Vienna.  A little pretentious I thought but to each their own I guess.

Anyway, back to the Mass, they had a full choir and orchestra play the music.  Even thought the priest spoke in German, it was the first time I was ever happy that the service went on for over an hour and a half.

Remember the building that I stood in front of yesterday that I didn't know the name of.  Well, turns out I went there today.  It's called the Kunsthistorisches Museum or as I'm going to refer to it because I can't pronounce the other way, "the building that has the pretty pictures".

This is the main staircase.  This easily was the most beautiful museum I've been in since the Louvre.

It's so gorgeous in fact, that I'm going to give you another shot of the entryway.

This is what happens when you're a Centaur and the horse side of your brain wins the battle with the human side and you poop on the kitchen floor.  Very sad.

This was my favorite painting in the museum.  It was done by Raphael (the Turtle with the red bandanna (thanks for the correction Wilson) for those of you who forgot) and it's called Madonna of Belvedere.  Of course, this guy is considered one of the greatest Renaissance painters of all time.  Notice all of the triangles used to construct this image.  Bonus points for whoever finds "Where's Waldo".

Here we go again.  Beautiful girl, tons of personality and the only thing running through my brain is, "If she only had a head".

OK, who can pick out which one is me?  Anyone? I know. . . I couldn't figure it out either, and I took the picture.

BTW, since I blend in so well, this probably means you should start addressing me with a "Hail Caesar" or something like that whenever we hang out.  I am a just ruler though, so no kneeling before me is required.

This is city hall or as it's called here The Rathaus.  I found this highly amusing that the place where all the politicians in town hang out was called the Rat-haus.

The building compares favorably with Marienplatz in Munich even down to the little red flowers hanging off the windows.  I do dig their courthouses here in Central Europe.

And here's a shot of me almost drinking my first full cup of coffee.  This is a cup of Vienna Melange.  I really thought I was going to get it done, but I choked in the final seconds and gave away the easy victory in the end.




So, that's a wrap for Austria.  Tomorrow is Switzerland and the Alps, and maybe even a snowball or two.  Later. . .