Art History Museum

Making our own circle line

After breakfast in comfy room, equipped with a dining table, we headed out to explore Vienna by tram.  We had read that it is possible to do somewhat of a circle line by combining trams 1, 2, 71 and D.

We attempted to do that but the best views were what we had already seen on tram 71 yesterday from the hotel to the City Hall.

Our attempt so go further wasn’t particularly fruitful, ending in somewhat more regular parts of the city.

The big exception was discovering the Votive Church, which was stunning from the outside.  For me, it was up there with Notre Dame de Paris.  If I hadn’t seen the Cathedral yesterday, I would have easily thought that this was Vienna’s Cathedral.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t open for a few more hours and even then, at a cost of EUR8 per person.

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Kunthistoriches, Art History Museum

We decided this morning that we would visit one museum in Vienna and that the Art History Museum would be the best choice.  Getting there at midday, Kim lined up to get EUR4 senior discount off the standard price of EUR23.  While he did that, I bought my ticket online to save EUR2.

The museum had three floors with parts closed off for temporary exhibits not included in the standard ticket and also for works.

We started back-to-front on the lowest level, visiting the Habsburg collection of golden paraphernalia, then Greek and Roman artefacts and finishing with the Egyptian collection with included sarcophagi galore.  We were meant to have done it the other way around.

The next level up was mainly paintings, some of which were stunning.  The top floor had murals about Habsburg rule in Northern Africa.

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Rest of the day

After a couple of hours in the museum, we took the tram back to the hotel, stopping at the large Billa Plus supermarket to grab sandwiches and salads for lunch.

It was around 1500 by the time we sat down to eat.  After the outing in the 34 degC heat, we were both tired.  Kim fell asleep while I dozed.

Our intentions to go out in the evening, perhaps back to Prater Park, were washed down the drain by heavy rain.  We popped out briefly to grab a little more food from the supermarket for dinner before it closed at 2000.

We learnt that Iran had attacked US bases in Doha (and Iraq) in retaliation for US bombing of various nuclear sites in Iran.  Qatari airspace was closed down and UAE airspace followed shortly after.  Such awful news in recent days.

Recycling

In Austria and Slovakia, we noticed that PET bottles and cans have deposit on them that are enough to make me want to take them back for recycling.

In Austria, one can put them into automated machine in the supermarket which then issues a barcoded voucher which can be redeemed as payment towards new purchases.  If redeemed at a kiosk, one scans it (like for a purchase) and then inserts it into another receptacle (with a separate barcode reader) to prevent re-use.