MICHELE'S MUSINGS

Austria

Vienna was a one night stop for us...it is about 6 hours south of Prague by train. It is an expensive and popular destination. We had quite a fiasco finding a room. Ultimately we made due with a room the size of a closet -wide enough for only one cot sized bed which we shared. We laughed, having just left Prague, we paid 3 times the price for 1/3 the comfort. We learned that Vienna was built in the 19th century, thanks to the ruling Hapsburgs. We visited their personal museum built exclusively to house their art collection. Here we learned from a guide/art student that when the Hapsburgs “built” Vienna, they built the museum in Renaissance style to reflect the era of Leonardo Divinchi and Michael Angelo- thought to be the pinnacle of artistic development. Likewise the government buildings are built in Greek style- for the Greeks were the founders of democracy. Churches were built in the Gothic style with high vaulted ceilings and impressive towers-the style of the 1300 -1500’s, when many of the greatest cathedrals in Europe were built. The result is a beautiful city with a feel that it has been evolving and growing over a long period of time. The Hapsburgs were on the wrong side of W.W.I . Their rule ended, and Vienna was left to us as a lasting testimony of the opulence of the Hapsburg dynasty.

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