Autumn Break Continues: Vienna and Salzburg

We took an early morning flight to Vienna on 10/30. After checking in to the Courtyard Marriott next to Schoenbrunn Palace, we were on our way.

Out of all the European capitals, this is my favorite. The sights, architecture, culture, the food, the music, the desserts - I was in sensory heaven. The Viennese certainly know the good things in life!

Moving around Vienna could not be easier. Trams, trains and buses get you where you want to go and transportation is quite efficient. You can buy day passes or take it trip by trip. As always, any city is best seen by walking so we only rode public transportation in the early morning and then in the evening.

We headed straight to Stephensplatz where the ever imposing St. Stephens Cathedral towers above the Kartnerstrasse shopping district. Built in 1147 and enlarged through the centuries concluding in 1511, it is too large to capture it in its entirety. St. Stephen's is the seat of the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Vienna. In Austria as in Warsaw, you can find a church practically on every corner. Each church has different architectural styles. St. Stephen's is a combination of Romanesque and Gothic architecture. The church is built of limestone.

Within the cathedral, several chapels are dedicated to different saints. Most interesting are the catacombs that lie beneath the church. There are several crypts. The Ducal crypt holds 78 bronze containers containing the viscera of 78 members of the Habsburg. Their hearts are buried in a crypt within Augustinekirche. For those wondering, it was common for people to request that their internal organs be removed before burial in order to preserve their bodies. This tradition dates back to ancient Egypt. Within the catacombs one will find rooms filled with skulls and bones (a big pile of them) belonging to victims of the bubonic plague. Thing 1 was creeped out and interested in them at the same time. We had to remove Thing 2 from the church due to her need to talk loudly.

Some religious relics contained in St. Stephen's include a piece of table cloth from the Last Supper and the bones of St. Valentine. Mozart's funeral was held in the Chapel of the Cross within St. Stephen's on December 6, 1791.

Speaking of Mozart, one of his only surviving apartments is around the corner from St. Stephen's. He lives at today's Mozarthaus at Domgasse 5 from 1784 - 1787. We took a short tour and a bite of Mozart Cake and coffee before moving on to the Haus der Musik. If you love music and have small children, this interactive museum was an enjoyable diversion from the other museums. The kids were able to learn the waltz, listen to different musical genres, conduct the Vienna Symphony through an interactive baton and much more.

We continued on day two with a visit to Schoenbrunn palace. Schoenbrunn Palace was the summer residence of the Habsburg royalty. It is not just a palace. Schoenbrunn is also home to the oldest and possibly largest zoo in the world. At one time, it was the private Habsburg menagerie. You can easily spend two days here.

We went on the Grand Tour of Schoenbrunn that includes 40 rooms. The tour mostly focused on two houses of the Habsburgs: Emperor Franz Stephan and Empress Maria Theresa and Emperor Franz Joseph and Empress Elizabeth of Bavaria aka "Sisi."

At the age of 6, Mozart's father, Leopold, arranged for Mozart and his sister to perform for Empress Maria Theresa in the Mirror Room. After the performance, he reportedly jumped on the empress' lap and showered her with kisses.

The Palace itself was impressive and the history of the Habsburg was quite intriguing. Especially the legend of Empress "Sisi." "Sisi" as she was known was married at age 15 to Franz Joseph (23 at the time). While most people were fascinated by the couple, the couple were not as close as people portrayed them to be. Despite the emperor's love and devotion to Sisi, history and records of her personal records show that she felt trapped in her marriage, despised court life and was obsessed with her weight and preservation of her beauty. Sisi lived her life separate from the emperor, occupying herself with her own travels. She was sometimes away from the palace for years at a time

Among the many interesting displays is the carriage museum that contains magnificent carriages owned and used by the Habsburgs over the centuries. The most impressive were the coronation and the funerary carriages. Another must see is the Gloriette where you can attain a picturesque view of Vienna. We got there at sunset and it was absolutely stunning.

On our third day, the Cat took the kids to the Schoenbrunn Zoo for the day while my mother, aunt and I took a day trip west to Salzburg. It was about a 4 hour drive by bus to Salzburg including two stops at Landzeit, an autobahn restaurant that puts the pit stops on the FL turnpike or I-95 to shame. Wiener Schnitzel anyone? And it was good! We also stopped at the Lake District for some beautiful scenery starring the Austrian Alps.

Salzburg is famous for several reasons. Mozart was born and raised in Salzburg. Near Salzburg, in Oberndorf, is St. Nicholas church. It was here in 1818 that "Stille Nacht" was first performed. In English, this translates to "Silent Night." And of course, this area was made famous by the Sound of Music. Some scenes were filmed in the Lake District and at certain sights around Salzburg although the Austrians are not very familiar with the movie. The Salzach River divides old and new Salzburg. In the Middle Ages, the river was used as a trade route especially for salt. From Salzach, you can see Hohensalzburg Fortress on Monk's Hill. Built in 1077, it is the main landmark in the city. A pedestrian bridge allows people to walk from one side to the other without having to deal with traffic. In order to get up to the fortress, you can either hike up the steep hill or take a ride in the "funicular" that will drop you off there in a minute.

We visited Salzburg on 11/1, All Saint's Day, which is a recognized holiday throughout Europe. While not as elaborate as the Polish cemeteries on this day, families were visiting graves, laying flowers and lighting candles. We visited a cemetery where Mozart's sister, Nannerl, and Haydn's younger brother Michael are buried.

Salzburg is filled with cafes and shops along it old streets. One street, Judengasee, which literally translates into Jew's Street, ironically is filled with Christmas shops selling hand painted ornaments and other decor. Number 9 Getreidegasse is the house where Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born in 1756. The Mirabelle Gardens is adjacent to Mirabell Palace across the river from the fortress. The entire area was used in the filming of the Sound of Music. It was here that Julie Andrews sang "Do-Re-Mi" with the von Trapp children in the Sound of Music.

On the way back to Vienna, we stopped at the Landzeit restaurant for dinner and then continued to our hotel. One thing I must mention is that Austria's autobahn like Germany's provide drivers with a great driving experience. The roads are well paved and it seems very easy to navigate so long as you know the words for enter and exit. The trip ran all day and we returned home quite late.

We started our day at Michaelerplatz at the Hofburg Palace, the winter residence of the Habsburgs. Why they had two seasonal residences within minutes doesn't make sense, but then again they were royalty.

The Hofburg is a vast complex of royal apartments, home of the Spanish Riding School, Augustinkirche, that covers a large area between the Graben shopping district and the Museum Quarter. In front of the entrance to the Hofburg, there is an archaeological site where ancient Roman ruins have been excavated over the past 15 years. Next to the Hofburg is St. Michael's Church. Not too different from all the other churches. However, what makes St. Michael's unique is it's crypt. Viennese nobility is buried here. But that is not why it is unique. The special climate conditions in the crypt have left mummified rather than rotting corpses still in their funerary clothes. They are on display in open coffins. Kind of creepy! Unfortunately for us, we were unable to locate the entrance to the crypt and were a bit disappointed in missing the necropolis beneath.

We started our day with the Spanish Riding School. Established in 1572, it's name is derived from the horses used which were bred in Spain. The Lippizaner stallions used today are descendants from Spanish horses. We were able to attend a performace of their morning exercises to music. It wasn't too appealing to me, but the children enjoyed watching the horses prance to the music. We followed up with a visit to the royal apartments and then Augustinkirche where the hearts of the Habsburgs lie.

All of the above was interesting and historical. However, my favorite part of the day was just walking around the city, listening to Strauss and Mozart played throughout the city, enjoying a Sacher torte and strolling through the Burgarten park amidst autumn leaves. I think the reason we saw so much over a short period of time was because we walked so much. We took in the parks, the State Opera House, Heldenplatz (where Hitler made his famous speech annexing Austria to Germany), Demel (the Imperial bakery), Kohlmarket street, the Graben, the Rathaus, the Imperial crypts at the Kapuchin Church, Votivkirche and Sigmund Freud's home. We also took in a carriage ride much to the children's delight. You can rent one for up to 3 hours. It is a nice way to orient yourself to the city. They can be rented next to St. Stephen's cathedral.

This was one of the best family trips we have ever taken. Vienna is just so charming and very clean. You can tell the Viennese take pride in their city. If I ever get the opportunity to live here, I will move in a heartbeat!

Autumn Break: Krakow and Auschwitz

Thing 1's school has lots of vacation breaks. Despite the fact that Thanksgiving and Black Friday are not holidays here, they get a total of 6 weeks off between their autumn, Christmas, winter and spring breaks. That does not include any Polish holidays (including Easter Friday and Monday). So, this affords families plenty of opportunities to travel throughout the year. With Autumn Break coming up we scheduled a trip to Krakow and Vienna while my mother was visiting.

We flew to Krakow on Saturday morning 10/27, our 6th wedding anniversary. Initially we were going to travel by train, but the time to travel between cities was almost as long as driving there ourselves. We found airfares between all cities that were roughly about $200 USD for all three segments. So, we decided that 1 hour on a plane to each destination was preferable. It worked out well since it gave us more time in each city. The trip was about an hour and with grandma and my aunt in flight we had an extra pair of arms for Thing 2.

We stayed at the Abella Apartments in Krakow. The Abella Guest Rooms and Apartments was a lovely residence very close to Old Town Krakow. The owners were helpful to us and available throughout the day unlike many guest houses where the reception is closed most of the day.

The formal entrance into the Old Town begins at the Barbakan (fortress) before crossing through the Florianska gate. The gate was the entry exit point on the way to and from Warsaw. This leads to Florianska street lined with merchants, cafes, and artists selling their creations. The street leads you to the market square.

Krakow's Old Town Market Square is quite large, double that of Warsaw. The Sukiennice (Cloth Hall) is at the center of the square with cafes, restaurants, residences, and clubs surrounding it's perimeter. The Sukiennice is thought to be the oldest shopping mall in the world dating back to the middle ages. It's still serves the same purpose, as vendors sell all kinds of crafts inside. The Kosciol Mariacki is a lvoely church located at the corner of ul. Florianska. It is quite beautiful inside with lots of religious art abound.

I was quite impressed by how beautiful Krakow is. Krakow was at one time the capital of Poland. It is one of the few Polish cities that was not in ruins at the end of WWII. In fact, it is said that the Communists had no place to build after the war so they had to select a site outside of Krakow to create the industrial city of Nowa Huta which became the ideal for communist propaganda. Ironically, its main square, previously Lenin Square, is named Ronald Reagan Square today.

In the short time we were there, we saw many of the main sites in Krakow. The market square in Krakow is quite large, double the size of Warsaw's market square. The streets leading to the square are lined with shops, cafes, and restaurants. One shop/café that we visited was a "pijalnia czekolada" known in English as a chocolate bar. Yes, you read correctly. At these establishments throughout Poland, you receive a menu of chocolate drinks, chocolate desserts and you can order individual truffles that brought to you on raised silver tray. You can also order coffee and add flavors to the chocolate drinks, like mint or cherry, etc. It was quite a treat.

10 km outside of Krakow and up to 1072 feet (372 meters) below the surface are the Wieliczka Salt Mines. We went down a good 600 steps into the subterranean salt mines. It was a bit cold down there, but it was well worth it. The best part - an elevator at the other end waiting to take us back up. We were led through a labyrinth of passages and caves into sections of the mine that were named for famous persons who have previously visited or famous Poles.

Different scenes depicting Polish stories are carved out of rock salt. A bit like a Wax museum, but far better. One story we were told that was depicted here was that of the Hungarian princess Kinga who was to marry the sovereign of Krakow. She wanted to bring a wealthy gift for her fiancé. She asked her father for a salt mine as a dowry, which he provided. She threw one of her rings into a salt mine of her father and traveled to Poland. Near Krakow, in Wieliczka she told the people to dig a deep pit. The miners found salt, and enclosed in the first piece of salt they mined was the ring of Kinga. Pope John Paul II celebrated mass in a subterranean cathedral here made of rock salt.

Thing 1 and Thing 2 both enjoyed the mine. Thing 2 loved feeling the texture of the walls. I was waiting for her to try to lick the wall. Thing 1 thought is was really cool to be in a cave 400 feet below the surface.

Krakow is home to one of the oldest universities in Europe, Jagiellonian University. Both Pope John Paul II and Copernicus were students here. Further, Pope John Paul II was the Archbishop of Krakow before he became Pope. Wawel Castle is situated on a Wawel Hill. It was the seat of Polish Kings until the capital was moved to Warsaw. The Cathedral within the Wawel complex contains catacombs with the remains of many of the former Polish Kings and Queens. It is a beautiful site.

On a more somber note, my mother, aunt and I took a day to travel to Oswiecim known to the world as Auschwitz. I cannot even begin to describe the feeling you get as you step foot at Auschwitz. You feel a heavy weight on your shoulders and it is not for the faint of heart. Children under 14 are not allowed which is why we left the kids with the Cat for the day.

The Auschwitz Birkenau State Museum opened in 1947. Those who survived insisted that this site be preserved to bear witness for future generations of the horrors that happened here. Much of it remains unchanged from 1945.

As you walk through the gate at Auschwitz I, you see the phrase "Arbeit Macht Frei" translated into "Work, shall make you free." Thousands of prisoners walked through this gate at Auschwitz each day to long hours of labor. In the evening, they returned exhausted, carrying the corpses of those who had died while a camp orchestra played marches. The camp consists of row after row of concrete buildings each providing a different function for the Nazis. Tours in Auschwitz take you to the different blocks were prisoners lived. The buildings here were built by the Habsburgs for their military when this part of Poland was under the Austria-Hungarian Empire.

Block 10 is where the infamous medical experiments took place. Here Dr. Mengele performed experiments on young children, particularly twins. Mass sterlization experiments were also carried out here. You just can't wrap your mind around that.

Between blocks 10 and 11 is the "Death Wall so named because from 1941-1943, the SS shot several thousand people in that courtyard. Block 11 served as a the camp jail and Zyklon B trials took place here. It is rumored 750 prisoners died in these initial trials. There are still signs throughout the camp with a skull warning people to halt or be shot to death on the spot.

We visited the crematoriums. The smell of death just seems to linger in the air. The special group of prisoners assigned to burn corpses in the crematorium The(Sonderkommando) was temporarily quartered in block 11 away from the other prisoners thereby keeping this a secret which is why the Nazis were able to continue this mass extermination as long as they did.

Each block holds a different exhibit. Each exhibit gives visitors insight into the daily lives of prisoners here. The Nazi's initially used Auschwitz as a camp for Soviet POW's and Polish intellectuals who were part of the resistance. Some Jews were also brought here, but the majority were sent to Birkenau.

Following the Auschwitz I tour, we met the guide at Auschwitz II - Birkenau walking through the Gate of Death. A former SS guardhouse tower is located above the gate and overlooks the complex.

Mid way through the camp is the selection ramp. They divided the strong/healthy from the elderly, ill, pregnant women, & kids. Those classified as fit for work were placed in the camp. The others, 70-75%, were sent to die in the gas chambers.

Train tracks run through Birkenau with barracks on either side dividing the men and the women. The barracks truly resembled barns. One that I will never forget was a barrack with a row of benches with wholes. They were toilets. The Nazis made prisoners use the bathroom together to strip them of any human dignity they may have had left.

At the end of the tracks, walking from the SS guardhouse, is a memorial to those who died here in several languages.

Compared to Birkenau, Auschwitz I was much better kept. People who came to Birkenau were pretty much waiting to die where people in Auschwitz I were used for work and other sick purposes.

It was a very emotional and thought provoking experience. I think everyone should visit at least once to bear witness to these atrocities.

From Auschwitz, we returned to Krakow to prepare for the next leg of our trip: Vienna.