Optics and Exposure

This statue, at the Hofburg Palace, is an engineering feat. The horse is supported on only two points of contact (instead of the three typically required)

The train ride from Prague to Vienna was an easy, although 5-hour long, trek. We arrived in the late afternoon and were greeted at the train station by my uncle Andrew. He took us, via U-bahn (subway) back to his apartment. Upon arrival at the apartment we noticed a booming baritone coming from one of the rooms. His wife, Uta, was in the midst of a lesson with one of her students. This provided a pleasant background to our conversation, and a fitting entrance to Vienna. Our first evening was quiet. We ate a candlelit dinner, caught up with Andy and Uta, and planned out the rest of our week. They took us on a quick orientation walk, so that we could find our way around when we left the apartment, and then we went to bed.

Our first full day was a long one. We left the apartment early and took the U-bahn to the Hofburg Palace. We walked the grounds for quite a while, exploring the Augustinian Church (which contains a rather moving plaster memorial commemorating the death of Maria Christina). From there, we walked around the area of Vienna near the palace until we found the crypt where the former emperors were laid in state. Then, we continued towards St. Stephan’s Cathedral, the seat of the diocese of Vienna. The magnificent cathedral was built in several stages, and had to be repaired after a fire during World War II burned the roof and blew out all of the stained glass. While the roof was fully repaired, the stained glass was replaced with single-color windows (a few red, a few orange, a few blue, etc). This replacement gives the church an oddly iridescent feel, and reminds one of an aquarium.

We continued to tour the downtown area for several hours, and managed to find a beer garden, before making our way to the Opera House to check out the schedule of events (we plan to see a show on Friday). We then walked across the ring road and headed towards the sprawling Belvedere Palace, given by the Empress Maria Theresa to Prince Eugene of Savoy, after he defeated the Turkish Army in 1697. By the time we finished touring the gardens, we were thoroughly exhausted. So we headed to a micro-brewery called 1516 Brewing Company for dinner, and then took the U-bahn back to Andy’s apartment. We arrived exhausted and ready for another day in Vienna.

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