One of my trips to the Balkans and Eastern Europe started
in Vienna. Being a favorite European city,
I had a fit when I learned I was booked on a circuitous route arriving in
Vienna very late in the afternoon. I wasted no time getting on the phone
requesting to speak to the travel department. I was informed that was not
possible and after arguing, I finally said, “Lady you do not understand. Vienna
is my favorite city. This is my fourth visit to the city and I know what I want
to do, to see and where to go and I do not want to waist most of the day in an
airport. I will call you every day and pester you until I can talk to the
travel department.”
When I was connected to the travel people the gal was sweet
as can be.I got the routing I wanted without difficulty. I, along with a half
dozen other people on the trip, were actually at our Vienna hotel a little before
9:30 AM on arrival day! Of course our rooms were not ready. Everyone else
wanted to lounge around the lobby trying to sleep. I checked my bag at the
desk, asked for a map with the hotel located on it and was off. We had had a
hotel change and now were located a bit farther from Stephenplatz than
originally planned. It was good to stretch and to walk at my own pace on a
cloudy overcast day.
I almost never sleep on planes, but I do resist the temptation of wanting to nap on arrival day.If I stay up and active and then go to bed early I have no problem with jet lag after a good first night's sleep.
On a previous visit, St Stephens was covered with
scaffolding and closed. This time I was happy to get inside this lovely Gothic
church. Afterward I hit the stores on the plaza for the couple of items I
wanted and to especially buy a good supply of my favored Mozart balls. By the
time I finished with my errands I realized I was actually hungry, even though
it was not quite lunch time in Vienna. I did not want to take time to find and
eat in a restaurant. I remembered having seen a McDonalds on a previous visit,
so I scooted down a side street to use the restroom and have a quick bite to
satisfy my hunger pangs.
Then I back tracked a short way to make it to the Anchor
Clock. Ankeruhr, built between 1911 and
1917, is situated at Hoher Markt, the oldest square in Vienna. The Art Nouveau designed clock forms a bridge between two parts of the Anker Insurance
Company buildings. The clock itself is adorned with mosaic ornaments. In the
course of 12 hours, twelve historical figures or pairs of figures move across
the bridge, Joseph Haydn and Empress Maria Theresa among them. Music from the
various eras accompanies the figures. At noon each day all the figures parade
by. It started to mist but I made it on time with only a 3-4 minute wait for this
tourist spectacle which is a special kind of Viennese High Noon! 
Happy
with my morning’s progress I
sauntered
back to the hotel got my room and off loaded my purchases. It was not too long a
walk to see the Hudertwasser House,
built in 1985. The unusual building was then and still is a bit controversial.
The 50 social apartments range from 300-1000 square feet. Each apartment is individual
in design and the exterior of each is painted a different color creating a
patchwork effect. Planted on top of the roof in three feet of soil are 16
gardens. The architect believed buildings displaced woods and gardens and that
something should be added back. Not a bad concept!
Before returning to the hotel to
await my LA buddy’s arrival I scouted out the immediate neighborhood looking
for a restaurant for dinner.
We chose a nearby Italian restaurant
where we enjoyed a wonderful and leisurely meal. On the way back to the hotel
we stopped at a street vendor for ice cream. The vendor understood little
English. I opted for what looked maybe like micro chocolate chip ice cream. As
we walked away, a young man standing behind us who had overheard my attempts to
learn the flavor started talking to us. “That is opium ice cream,” he said.
In unison we exclaimed, “What.”
“You know from the poppy, like they grow in
Afghanistan,” He continued.
Then the light went on in our heads, “Oh. You mean
poppy seed.”
“Yes, yes.”
Sure
enough that is what it was. Laughing I said, “Now I can go home and tell
everyone I ate opium ice cream!”
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