Shnitzel

It is definitely good to be back on the daily blogging path. Hopefully you all enjoyed that last post, but now we´re back to the short ones.

Today, my second and last day of sightseeing in Vienna, was a decently jam-packed one. To begin with, I had to run to the ATM first thing in the morning to get the cash to pay for my key deposit and second night. Then I was off, on foot, to see the other half of Vienna that I didn´t see yesterday. As I strolled around, I first ran into the Austrian Parliament building, which was surprisingly small and ordinary looking, at least compared to the other examples of amazing architecture in the city.

After passing by the parliament, I was intrigued by a mass of green and came upon another amazing Viennese park, this one called the Volksparken or something. It was a mass of many types of rose bushes and trees, with fountains and views of the surrounding architecture. I walked around or sat around the park for quite a while, giving my day a pleasant crescendo of a start.

Then I was off, ready to find and explore the Kunst Haus Wein, a one-of-a-kind museum housed in a very nature-oriented building with uneven floors and plants growing everywhere inside. It´s exhibits included one graphic artist from modern times, with works that I could not understand at all. I could, however, appreciate somewhat the variants in the color scheme that the artist used. The more interesting exhibit was one by an Austrian artists who specialized in moving sculptures made of refuse. These ranged from machines that twirled a feather around to one that clanged a really loud bell. He also had done some drawings and, more interestingly, city planning. He had made a model of a town where all the houses were Incorporated into hillsides (very hobbitesque) in order to bring humanity back into nature. As unrealistic as it was, it looked beautiful, and we can all dream, can´t we?

Having got my fill of strange modern art for the day, I went off in search of a restaurant called "Centimeter", that my guidebook recommended. It is called this because the customer orders Austrian open-faced sandwiches by the centimeter. Very cool. However, getting to the restaurant was not as palatable as the experience of eating there. I had to take a couple trams and subways, some in the wrong direction, and then walk until I found it. It was worth it, though, I and got a cheap sandwich with three cheeses melted on it. Amazing, and the price was right!

My next destination was across town, at the Schonnbrunn palace, the summer imperial residence of the Hapsburgs. Similar to Versailles, it has a main palace and then a huge garden with fountains and things around it. I grabbed an audioguide and went through the building, where JFK had a famous meeting with the head of the USSR. It was also home to many royal events and weddings. As nice as it was, though, Versailles will always be the best. The walk around the gardens, though, was pleasant and not as strenuous as its French counterpart and I got some great views of Vienna.

By then it was already a little late, so I got on the train home, where I am going to pack for Israel and make final preparations. I was going to stay another full day here when I got back from Israel, but I feel like I´ve seen enough, so I will have to rearrange my itinerary slightly.

So I guess next time I´ll be writing will be from the Promised Land!

Shalom