Vienna, Austria - Walk from Opera House to Belvedere Palace

My mission for the day was to walk to the Belvedere to see the works by Gustav Klimt.  I looked at the map and it was less than a mile from my apartment to the main building.

A brief note from the night before because I don't have enough photos to actually post an individual blog post:  I crossed the Opernring in front of the Weiner Staatsopera (Vienna Opera house). This was near the apartment.

Cafe Museum where I met two IIBA Austria Chapter board members the day before.

 The Hop On Hop Off tour buses stop a few steps from the apartment building main door.  You can buy tickets from the vendors standing near the bus.

 And now let's start the walk to the Opera house.   The fog was hanging very low throughout the city and there was a slight drizzle.  I grabbed my umbrella and started off by walking on Walfischgasse and turning right on Schwartzenbergstrasse.  Yes, read the street names and feel my pain!  There is a little mall in here if you need to get essentials and other things. I then walked to cross Kartner Ring.

Here is where I learned about the green bike lanes.  You have to be careful walking across these because it is a bicycle freeway! You walk where you are supposed to walk, bikes zip along, and cars have their space.

 McDonalds in a fancy building.

 Schwartzenbergstrasse splits in to two Schwartzenbergplatz roads.  I stayed to the right. This building is the "House of Industry",  one of the most outstanding examples of an architectural style called "Late Historicism". It was built between 1906 and 1909 and is one of Vienna's last squared stone masonry buildings.
More on the architects and building materials at this website:
http://www.iv-net.at/b1354m111/the-house-of-industry/

 This is the "Akademietheater" (academy theater), a performing arts theater and the smaller of two theaters in the Burgtheater organization. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akademietheater

 Karlskirche dome in the background with a close up of the beautiful and fancy work.  Karlskirche is a baroque cathedral.

 This is the French Embassy.  It was built to glorify the relationship between France and the Austro-Hungarian Empire of the beginning of the 20th century, and to assert and influence the power of the French republic. It was designed by Georges Chedanne, a famous architect of the Galleries Lafayette department store and the Elysse Palace in Paris. Construction began in 1904 and Chedanne surrounded himself with the most representative artists of Art Nouveau.
(Source: https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ambassade_de_France_en_Autriche)

 There are a few policeman (hard to see) standing in front of a memorial to the victims of the Paris shootings.  I have a few pictures in a later post that I took when I walked by the embassy on my return trip.

 Christmas trees for sale at the tip of the Belvedere Garden space.

 This memorial fountain is Hockstrahibrunnen. It took me a while to research this and I resorted to translating a German article.  Well, this is a high beam fountain and was built at the completion of the Vienna high water supply sources.  365 small fountains around the edge represent the days of the year.  Six fountains coordinate with the seven days of the week.  Twelve high beams (this must mean that they are capable of shooting really high) coordinate with the months.  24 low beams coordinate with the time of day and 30 rays in the middle of the island with the days of the month.  The fountain was dry when I visited.  You can see a functioning photo here:
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hochstrahlbrunnen#/media/File:Wien_-_Hochstrahlbrunnen_bei_Nacht_-_blau.jpg

The statue and wall behind is Heldendenkmal der Roten Armee (Heroes' Monument of the Red Army) is a Soviet War Memorial to commemorate the 17,000 soldiers who fell during the Battle for Vienna of World War II.

 I turned around and took another photograph of the French Embassy, and the crosswalks with the bike lanes and traffic merging.

 The other street corner.

And my walk continues...I am halfway to my destination.

Vienna, Austria - Daily Overview

The rain drizzle had stopped over night but a low fog hung over the city. My iPhone weather app said that the sun would come out midday.

I walked almost a mile to the Belvedere Palace to see the Klimt exhibit. You couldn't take photos of the artwork, but they had an enlargement of "The Kiss" for people to take selfies.

This view of the Gardens is from the back window.

I wanted to use the elevator but couldn't tell if the sign meant "people don't get in the elevator."

So I opened Google Translate to read the sign. Oh! This is the same sign by every elevator that I get on.

I finished all three floors in the upper Belvedere and decided that it was time for a snack break.  I had an espresso with foamed milk and a piece of apple strudel. And a lovely view.

After my snack break I walked through the gardens to the lower Belvedere. There was a special Klimt exhibit (as if the other one wasn't special enough!), along with two other artists. No photos allowed, except in the common central rooms and hallways and gathering spots. This is one of the ceilings.

I walked through the entire lower Belvedere and looked at all the paintings and drawings and sketches. And then walked the half mile towards the apartment and a new-to-me café (coffeehouse), caught my eye. It was still foggy and chilly. I decided to have a late lunch and then eat dinner at the apartment.

This is a Sacher hot dog. With gravy! And a side salad. 

The waiter put a breadbasket at my table. I thought that it was included with the meal a.k.a. USA style. But no. It was an additional cost and he charged me for two even though I ate only one. I paused and asked for my second little loaf of bread to go. 

There are more photos that I will post showing the gardens and the Belvedere area. See you later!

Vienna, Austria - Pensionne

My apartment for a few days while in Vienna chasing views of Klimt art. I am in the area of the blue dot, down the street from the Opera House (pretty blue roof) and Sacher Hotel, the home of the Sacher Torte. 

I am on the fourth floor. There is an elevator (yea!). 

View from the window. 

View inside. Two rooms plus a kitchen / laundry and full bathroom. The one room (red) doubles as a bedroom living room. 

Vienna, Austria - Laundry and Internet

I don't know how I would get by without Internet access. I decided to use the apartment washing machine. How hard could that be? I put my clothes in, my wonderful Purex laundry sheet, closed the lid and pushed a button. The washer then began to clank every 30 seconds. No water flowed. I pushed a few more buttons to change settings but no change. Here are my options:

If you don't read German, you see my problem. I decided to try the Google Translate app on my phone to see if it would help. (Machine continues to make a noise but no washing.)

You can see the screen shot below that the translator made a world of difference in understanding the panel. 

But still no functioning washer and no OFF button. So I pulled the plug, 

made a cup of coffee and Googled the make and model number. I found a downloadable user manual!

I read the instructions and the part that I missed was to close the drum door. Drum door? What drum door? Oh, that drum door!

Locked and loaded, buttons pushed and the machine is now fully functional. 

Vienna, Austria - Christmas Market at Schönbrunn Palace (Part 2)

I made my way around another quarter of the market before my alarm went off as "time to return to the bus".  It was very nice to see the crowds enjoying the market.  I bought a hanging metal star and I noted it on the photo.

I had my point and shoot camera with me and walked the market to take some photos.  The colors looks a little odd because I lightened the entire scene so that you could see more of the details of the market.  I also included the sign above the booth in this series..  See if you can guess what they are selling. The photos are arranged so that you see the entire booth first, and then if I could get a closeup, it is beneath the full booth photo.

Papermache products.

 Plush toys.

 I bought one of the star baskets with the dried fruit to hang in the kitchen.  I thought that I could get this home without breaking or damaging it.  It made it home safe and sound and now hangs above my sink in front of the kitchen window.

 Items made from horns?

 Artwork

This was a good market with a lot of booths.  It is a distance from the central part of Vienna where the boat was docked and where I eventually had an apartment for three days. The Palace is in the lower left of this map and the boat was docked in the upper right.