Displaced Beachbums

When ever I think of our trip to Vienna over the Labor Day weekend in 2001, I think of it as the last “age of innocence” trip we took. The week after we returned was the attack on NY and Washington and we all know what it’s like to travel now. Not that it stopped us one bit ~ we liked Vienna so much and, since we weren’t about to let some murderous group of terrorist scare us into not traveling, we did a return trip to Vienna for the Thanksgiving weekend in 2001. And FM ended up running the Vienna Marathon in May 2002.

Vienna is so seeped in history and culture which I couldn’t get enough of: the elaborate palaces, churches, the famous choirboys, the Ringstrasse, coffee houses, the Danube river, museums and, of course, the famous music.  Below is a photo of FG sitting on a kangaroo which is Austrian humor for the geographically challenged tourists who think they’re in Australia. REALLY! There were t-shirts in the shop which said “You’re in Austria.”

Vienna’s history is fascinating and I prefer the late 1800’s and early 1900’s ~ the time of Empress Elisabeth.  She was such a romantic yet mysterious figure.  If you’re going to visit Vienna or just want to know more about it, I recommend watching The Third Man and reading The Reluctant Empress and, my favorite, A Nervous Splendor.  A Nervous Splendor covers the years of 1888/1889 and talks about some of Vienna’s more famous sons including Crown Prince Rudolf, Sigmund Freud, Gustav Klimt, Gustav Mahler and chillingly ends with the birth of Adolf Hitler.

The photo below is the Reisenrad (Ferris Wheel) located in The Prater which is a large amusement park. The ferris wheel was built in 1897 and is about a 10 minute ride. Talk about a nervous splendor. Actually, the real fun started when we caught the U-bahn (subway) back to our hotel.  FM likes to race for the trains, not realizing after all our travels, that I HATE running for a train. I’d rather wait for the next one. Anyway, he and FG jumped on the U-bahn and, as I tried to get on, the door closed on my arm. I was able to get my arm out but the doors wouldn’t open. All I could do was wave as they pulled away. Poor FG, who was only three, was so worried about me.  Thankfully, I paid attention when FM talked about the train schedule and I knew what stop to hop off once I caught the next train (which was only 7 minutes later).