At our cosy campsite right on the Danube (which means that we really do stand campervan next to campervan like on a normal car park), we get a good night's sleep. The past few days and weeks have been intense. Intense and really beautiful.
Over breakfast, we review our trip to Slovakia and realise that it's a great country. Lots of nature, peaceful people and plenty of really beautiful things to see.
But now Vienna: Looking into the Vienna travel guide (we borrow most of our travel guides from the Onleihe, the digital library) I'm standing like an ox in front of the new gate. There's far too much and I have no idea what we should see. So I leave Gerd the task of tour guide once again. He finds the right underground connection and decides to take a long walk with the aim of ending the day in Vienna's city centre. By the evening, we have well over 25,000 steps on the clock. Everyone!
On the way into the city, I ask my tour guide what the destinations are today. "Wiener Schnitzel" and "Sachertorte" gush out of him without much thought. I see. Today will be more of a culinary day than a cultural one, I think to myself.
But I will be wrong. As soon as we get off the underground, we are enchanted by the Votive Church, one of the most important neo-Gothic religious buildings in the world. Construction of Vienna's Votive Church began around 1866 and took 23 years. The Prague master builder Joseph Kranner chose a particularly hard limestone for the construction. And again we marvel: How did they manage to create such pompous, huge and at the same time delicate-looking buildings with so much ornamentation back then? Who can afford such beautiful and elaborate buildings today? Yes, the spirit of the times is different. And yet we realise: It is wonderful that so many of these old buildings are so well preserved. We certainly enjoy the buildings. And, as is clear in Vienna, there are many of them!
We stroll past the town hall, the opera house and many other really impressive buildings. The city is full, everyone is taking advantage of the beautiful, sunny autumn days for a city trip. We, who once again have no idea when the holidays are, notice that it is mainly the Germans who use the long weekend around 3 October to join us as we wander through the streets.
We decide to skip the museums today, as everything is packed here too and the queues are huge. After weeks of emptiness in Slovakia, it's a bit like human overflow for us. Or as our son would say: mega-socialising, not for me!
So we try to sit down in one of the cafés and just watch the hustle and bustle. Unfortunately, we don't get a seat and if we do, we don't get served because the ordering software for the waitresses in the café is down. There's a queue outside the Hotel Sacher with an expected waiting time of an hour. I feel a little reminded of my childhood in Berlin in front of the "Goldbroiler".
But we find what we're looking for and at some point we sit in a café, come down and realise: Vienna is beautiful. The many beautiful buildings alone delight us. But so many people - no, not for us. A quiet question creeps in: "Are we getting cranky because we're just the two of us too often and for too long and enjoy it so much?"
On the way through the old town, my tour guide takes me to St Stephen's Cathedral. We really want to see it. (I have to admit that I liked Vienna so much many years ago that this time I just go along with everything Gerd suggests. After all, it's his first time here). Here around the Cathedral and Metropolitan Church of St Stephen and All Saints, as St Stephen's Cathedral is "really" called, you can feel not only the holy energy but also the tourist-buy-me energy. A bit of trinkets here, a lot of stuff there. The entrance fee to the cathedral is pretty hefty and I have an idea.
For a few days now, I've been looking to see if there are any classical concerts, operas or operettas in the cities we want to visit that we might like and whether tickets are still available. I don't really find anything, because the tickets are usually sold out weeks in advance. Well, if you're travelling without a plan, you have to live with it.
But as we all know, our lucky angel is travelling with us: tonight, yes, exactly tonight, there is a string concert in St. Stephen's Cathedral. Vivaldi's "Four Seasons". And there are still tickets available. So instead of buying a ticket for the cathedral, we quickly book two tickets online in one of the first rows. It's four o'clock in the afternoon, we're dog-tired, our feet are burning from walking around the city and we decide: Get on the underground, have an hour or two's siesta in Felix to be fit for the evening's stroll through the city with the concert finale.
No sooner said than done: having had a good night's sleep, we later sit in the underground for the third time, this time dressed a little nicer but also warmer. After all, we're going to a concert. And to a church. And churches are notoriously cold.
The atmosphere and the city centre are completely different, we are thrilled. The whole city lights up, you could even say it sparkles. Many street musicians almost make us swing through the alleyways. There is a grand piano in front of the cathedral, which is used in turn by the surrounding Viennese guests, and we experience a colourful mix of music for just under an hour. Rock here, classical there. After one or two pieces, the pianists change. The audience is thrilled, we are beaming. We stand arm in arm and can hardly believe our happiness. Music brings us together. And yes, music also makes us happy.
At some point, we have to tear ourselves away from the grand piano because the concert in the cathedral is about to begin. We are there far too early, but not without reason: we want to see the cathedral as well as the concert. Oh, how beautiful!
So while we sit in our seats and wait, I read a little about the cathedral. And there is a lot to learn. But one thing is not written anywhere: that the underfloor heating sometimes turns the building into a sauna. We take off our warm clothes layer by layer, the same behaviour all around. And we wonder whether we'll all be sitting here naked later and someone will come with an infusion.
The Four Seasons are simply marvellous. The setting is marvellous and it's almost too good to close your eyes and immerse yourself in the music. We really immerse ourselves and later, on the underground, Gerd will say to me that it must have been a nice introduction to the world of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, or as he has now learnt, the Imperial and Royal Austro-Hungarian Monarchy.
The "k" in the first "k. u. k." means "imperial" and refers to the title Emperor of Austria. The "k" in the second "k. u. k." means "royal" and refers to the title Apostolic King of Hungary. Both titles were held by monarchs from the House of Habsburg-Lorraine.
We walk home to our cosy campsite through Vienna at night, happy and exhilarated. And what Gerd doesn't realise is that tomorrow there will be another full load of k. u. k.!
Merci for "travelling with us
We are thinking about taking another break from travelling in the summer and visiting our families in Germany and Switzerland. One of the ideas is to organise a Lecture about our long journey to the Persian Gulf to prepare. If you would like to, what would interest you the most? We will also tell stories here that don't find a place here on the blog. We're thinking of the Bern and Berlin area - simply because we have family there. But other places are also conceivable. Feel free to write to us.
Do you think our travel experiences might be of interest to others? Then you can share the Share post quietly. By e-mail or however you want to do it.
In addition, if you haven't already done so, you can use our Newsletter subscribe. Here you will receive all our experiences in your mailbox whenever we publish something new or once a week on Fridays: live-pur.ch/newsletter
We are also very happy to hear your views, your tips or your questions. Just comment on the post!
No, you're not getting cranky!
It's simply the case that people become too much over time.
I feel the same way.
I also thought, oh dear.....old shrapnel ....😂🤣
But to be honest, I really like being around few to no people now. 🤷
Have a good journey.
s'Racheli
I think the quirky part is meant to be self-cocooning. My daughter said to me the other day: "Mum, why are you talking about quirky in the future tense?" Well, that's how they are, the dear children!
In any case, we notice that we feel much better when we take periods of rest in between.
Greetings with lots of snow - Gerd & Heike