Trip to Vienna

23 December 2007. A day after the border is open for Schengen country, we made a trip to Vienna. We woke up around 4 in the morning since our bus will be leaving at 5 o'clock. I actually prefer stayed in bed, especially during this cold weather. But i am so looking forwad about this trip. Eventhough i am half wake on the way there. I can say it's my premiere trip outside Slovenia cause now i dont need any visa for travelling all schengen countries. Around 9.30 o'clock, we already arrived at Vienna. Actually takes around 4 hours to get here, but before bus stopped to give the passanger to have a breakfast. First destination is Schönbrunn Palace, one of the most important cultural monuments in Austria and since the 1860s has also been one of the major tourist attractions in Vienna.
The name Schönbrunn("beautiful well"), has its roots in an artesian well from which water was consumed by the court: Legend has it that the emperor, when seeing it the first time, had called out "What a beautiful well!".
This baroque complex contains an enchanting park, the Palm House, the Gloriette and a zoo. One of the most renowned Baroque structures in Europe, Schönbrunn Palace began life as a hunting lodge during the 16th century, but was turned into a lavish palace by the Empress Maria Theresa in 1750. Home to the Hapsburg emperors from the 18th century to 1918, the palace was built by the architects Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach and Nicolaus Pacassi. Schönbrunn, the former summer residence of the imperial family, is considered one of the most beautiful baroque palaces in Europe. The Habsburgs resided here the better part of the year in numerous rooms for the large imperial family in addition to representational rooms.Emperor Franz Joseph, who later married the enchanting Sisi and reigned from 1848 to 1916, was born here in 1830. The monarch spent his last years entirely in the palace, which became the property of the new Republic of Austria only two years after his death. Today, the palace is part of UNESCO’s cultural heritage due to its historic importance, its unique grounds and its splendid furnishings. No wonder so many tourist here. Too bad we came during the winter ... we cant see the beautiful garden cause everything is 'sleeping' now. To get inside the palace you need to pay the ticket. There are 2 types of ticket, for small rooms (around 30 rooms) ticket cost 13 euro. And for bigger room (around 37 rooms) cost 23 euro, including some special rooms like hunting room and Maria Theresia's collection room. Its worth to pay cause you will see many historical things inside! We decided to go alone without our tour guide because he will have the explanation in Slovenian. Fortunately when we paid for the ticket we also got the translation devices that explain about each rooms. Of course english for me since they dont have bahasa :-D. Too bad strickly not allowed to take pictures inside. Yet eventhough its not allowed, still there's some tourist that secretly doing it. Of course the securuty woman cought him and angrily remind him :-) Took a bit more than an hour to see all the rooms. You can actually stand too long in one room since so many tourist waiting behind you. So we have quickly move. Then after we finished with the palace, we walked a bit around the palace, to the garden and around. But since they are expecting us to come back to the bus soon, so we didnt spend so much time there. It was so cold anyway.
Second destination is centre old town of Vienna. Along the roads, from the bus we can see so many ancient buildings with nice architecture. So many that we cant remember each of their name eventhough our guide explained them. One thing that attracted me is bikes that parking in the side of the street. I thought they are belong to somebody. But i notice they have same colour. It turned out that those bikes are for renting. You insert a coin (i dont know how much, maybe cost 2 euro or something), then you can take the bike to go around the city. Im thinking ...Wah kalo di Indonesia banyak gak baliknya tuh sepeda, hehehehe .... Another thing is definately the shops. They have lot of nice stuff, mostly branded ... and bloody expensive. No wonder Vienna is known as one of the expensive city in the world. People who live here must be have very high salary :-) Anyway, the weather in Vienna is getting colder. Temperature is around -4. My hands and legs feel numb while we still some places need to visit. Sometimes we have to stop in front of special buildings cause our guide explain something about it. I had to keep moving my body so it would make me feel warm a bit. Not just me, but all the people in our tour group feel the same. They cant wait to go inside the building.
Our next destination is Hofburg palace. Hofburg Imperial Palace is a palace in Vienna, Austria, which has housed some of the most powerful people in Austrian history, including the Habsburg dynasty, rulers of the Austro-Hungarian empire. It currently serves as the official residence of the President of Austria. It was the Habsburg's principal winter residence, while Schönbrunn Palace was their preferred summer residence.
Numerous architects have executed work at the Hofburg as it expanded, notably the Italian architect-engineer Filiberto Luchese (the Leopoldischiner Trakt), Lodovico Burnacini and Martino and Domenico Carlone, the Baroque architects Lukas von Hildebrandt and Joseph Emanuel Fischer von Erlach (the Reichschancelry Wing and the Winter Riding School), Johann Fischer von Erlach (the library), and the architects of the grandiose Neue Burg built between 1881 and 1913.
The Hofburg in Vienna is the former imperial residence. From 1438 to 1583 and from 1612 to 1806, it was the seat of the kings and emperors of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation, thereafter the seat of the Emperor of Austria until 1918. Today it is the official seat of the Austrian Federal President. There's also an old church inside the complex where all the imperial family had the wedding ceremony, including Marie Louise who married without her groom, Napoleon Bonaparte.
Next stop is the famous St. Stephan's catedral. But before that, we had some free time to get some lunch or just have some tea to make us warm. Cause Vienna is an expensive city, we decided not taking a chance to go to some restaurant since we dont want to get some surprise in the bill, hehehe ... So as other people, we just went to McDonald, while some others want to try the famous Sacher cake in Sacher hotel. Well maybe someday we will go there ... :-) Im not in the mood to walk in such cold! brrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!! After half hour, we gathered again with the group. As the plan, we will visit St. Stephan's catedral.
It is the mother church of the Archdiocese of Vienna and the seat of the Archbishop of Vienna, Christoph Cardinal Schönborn, OP. Its current Romanesque and Gothic form seen today, situated at the heart of Vienna, Austria in the Stephansplatz, was largely initiated by Rudolf IV and stands on the ruins of two earlier churches, the first being a parish church consecrated in 1147. As the most important religious building in Austria's capital, the cathedral has born witness to many important events in that nation's history and has become one of the city's most recognizable symbols. Since its earliest days, St. Stephen's Cathedral has been surrounded by cemeteries dating back to Roman times, and has sheltered the bodies of notables and commoners. It has always been an honour to be buried inside a church, close to the physical presence of the saints whose relics are preserved there. Those less honoured were buried near (but outside) the church. We can see many different kind of sarkofagus inside. But the biggest and the fancy one is the one from Maria Theresia. Before we are heading back to Slovenia, we had given some time to see xmas fair where they sell mostly things for chrismast, and of course souvenirs. We also went to city hall to see xmas concert. All and all, despite of being cold, it was a great trip!! Yet i think better to visit Vienna during the summer though :-)