from wien, with clouds_

Again I must apologize for taking so long to get this post up. The whole blogging process is quite time consuming so you all should be grateful for seeing this. You can show me your appreciation by either showering me with gifts or leaving good comments, so pick one. But now, my mid week trip to Vienna, or Wien, to those crazy Austrians. Also, be aware it’s a long one.
We arrived Wednesday afternoon to a rainy city. Regardless, we had an agenda, so after getting settled with accommodations and had a quick meal, we headed to MUMOK, the modern art museum. I was really impressed with the building. I took plenty of shots, but I chose not to include them because it is still difficult to understand it from just one or two images. The artwork, I must say was a little sub-par. Two floors dedicated to the one American artist form Cali, and most of it was pretty off the wall photos, videos and other weird experiments. One floor dedicated to mostly Russian artists and another floor with a grab bag of pretty famous artists, which was the area I liked best. After that we got some Viennese coffee, because they are so proud of it. Typically it is served on a silver platter and always with a glass of water. Wandered around for a bit, and made our way back to our hostel planning on getting some food and drink at a grocery store, only to find that they all close at 7; All of them. We know cause we walked for miles trying to find one that was open a little later, but it was nowhere to be found. So we just found a restaurant, I had a delicious bratwurst, and we all went to bed happy.
The next day we got up early with hopes of a glorious day. Needless to say, they were soon crushed, but we trudged on. First we went to the gasometers(above). 4 huge, well gasometer buildings, whatever they are. They were shut down many years ago, but renovated and added to by a group of architects, including jean nouvel, to house a mall and residential units. Next we went to Hundertwasserhaus (above), which is this crazy residential building designed by Friedensreich Hundertwasser, who claimed that the straight line was a betrayal of human individuality. The building incorporates a lot of sustainable techniques, and was also just cool, besides the fact that the place was crawling with tourists. Next we went to Schonbrunn palace, which was the summer home of the Hapsbergs. I know who they are because from the 1500s up to the 1800s, they ruled over the Czech Republic as well as many other adjacent territories. We didn’t see inside the palace, because the price was not right, but we did get to see some of the huge and extravagant gardens (below). This is where I was really sad it was not sunny and warm. After that we went and saw St. Stevens cathedral, which to my delight, happened to have an Austrian breakdance group performing outside (below). At this time, late in the afternoon, finally the sun started to show. We walked around the Ringstrasse area for a while until it got dark. Then we topped the evening off by taking a ride on the RiesenRad, a 65m high ferris wheel, built around 1900. It was lovely, but not quite worth the 8 euros for the 20 min. ride.
The next morning we packed up and headed back to prague on a gorgeous day. I guess these things happen though.