We had breakfast at the "Café Museum" just around the corner from us. They aren't a museum about cafés (too bad), but rather a café near museums. We also didn't get the full Viennese café experience as we opted to sit outside (Viennese cafés are known for sumptuous interiors with dark wood paneling and red velvet seating, which this one supplies). The waitress was grumpy-yet-helpful, an odd combination I commented on to Sarah. She said her guidebook says that's part of the experience: café waiters are always grumpy. I had Eggs Benedict, and finally had the opportunity to try an "Einspanner" as my coffee. This is supposed to be an Espresso Doppio topped with whipped cream, and they definitely gave me a huge wallop of whipped cream, but I suspect them of putting an Americano under it: that coffee just wasn't up to the incredible potency of regular Viennese espresso. Sarah had orange juice and a croissant.
We've had fantastic weather all week, sunny and rain-free the entire time. Cool evenings and moderate days - one day it topped out at 27°C, but that was the hottest it's got. Just amazing.
We returned to Stephansdom, this time to go up the north tower elevator. The south tower is also available ... but Sarah had an aversion to the ~400 steps to the top. Holy shit that roof ... Stephansdom is rightly famous for the roof done in colourful tiles (visible for miles), and here we were a few metres from that and with spectacular views of large parts of Vienna. That was a blast.
photo: Stephansdom roof
Our next stop was Hundertwasserhaus. We figured out what tram line ... and when we got to the stop, the sign said it was due in "28 minutes." After a few minutes of loitering and a little investigation, we discovered there'd been an accident up the line. So we walked. Hundertwasserhaus is an apartment building, but a particularly interesting one: it was designed by an artist as a protest against cookie-cutter residential buildings. It's ... colourful. And non-linear. It's very weird and very eye-catching, and definitely worth the walk.
Our next stop was Schönbrunn Palace (quite close to the Technisches Museum I visited yesterday). Sarah got us the "Classic Pass" online, which allowed us access to the state rooms and the private apartments inside the palace - which I enjoyed more than the similar Sisi tour a few days ago. I think this was bigger and more ornate, but I also wasn't as tired - and sadly, that has a lot of influence on how I (or most people, I suspect) view a place. We then went out into the massive grounds to the Privy Garden and Orangerie (both disappointing). We walked up the hill to the "Gloriette" building, and its upper deck with incredible views over the grounds, the palace, and parts of the city. Then a walk back down to another section of the grounds which included a "Japanese Garden" - which I put in quotes because it was small and rather poor. It's technically correct, but ... I guess I'm a Japanese Garden snob. I love them, and I've seen a lot of them in Japan. Our whole progress through The palace took from 1230-1700.
photo: The Orangerie
One of the beer establishments on our shared Google Map was relatively close by, so we went to Medl-Brau Penzinger Gastof Brauerei. This was probably as far afield as we've been in Vienna. The area had roughly 50% new buildings (as opposed to the core's 95% old buildings), and felt very gray - as well as quite quiet for a residential neighbourhood early on a Saturday evening. I had the "Dunkles" beer (0.5 litre) and the Berner Schnitzel (pork and ham topped with cheese, not breaded), both reasonably good, not great. One positive was sitting in a courtyard on benches in something that looked a prototypical beer hall: it was ... very Austrian.
We returned to the hotel, then walked the couple blocks to the Albertina to start the Long Night of Museums. They had a long but fairly fast line - €15 for all-you-can-eat museums from 1900 to 0100(?). The Albertina is partly in (another) lovely palace, and contains both Michaelangelo and Durer drawings, and a more recent section with (from my guidebook) "Monet, Degas, Cézanne and Picasso." It was very busy, and because of time pressure, the whole long-night thing, and tired feet, we gave it somewhat less attention than it deserved. But we did check out some beautiful works of art - among them one by pointillist Paul Signac, and another František Kupka.
Our next stop was the Rathaus. I love to call it that: it's German for "City Hall." We went because contained within that epic castle/church-like structure is the City Library. And, we discovered, four courtyards of varying sizes. Of these, at least a couple are used for parking and bins, but the central one is lovely with a fine architecture and a sculpted garden.
We had some trouble navigating this very large building they hadn't bothered to signpost, but eventually found the library. Three stories of books, in the classic old European style: ring platforms joined by spiral stairs. It was relatively small as these things go, but packed with books. I noticed German dictionaries for 25 or 30 different languages, Encyclopedia Brittanica, and at least one Asterix and Obelix book (on display, I might add). Eclectic.
Our next (and as it turned out, final) stop of the night was the Naturhistorisches Museum. Which is directly across a large square from the Kunsthistorisches Museum, and appears to be a physical mirror - down to the grand staircase that sweeps up from the entrance, to the hole in the ceiling of the entryway up to the next floor. And they're both freaking huge. We both immediately gravitated to a sign that pointed us the minerals display - which turned out to occupy multiple large rooms, and be displayed in classic wood-and-glass museum cases from the 1920s. And for minerals ... why bother updating? It looks great. But as we're both interested - and there was a big crowd - it took us a while to work our way through. And then the galleries kept going, into meteorites, then early life on Earth, dinosaurs, etc. Sarah had only one wish after the minerals: the Venus of Willendorf. I acknowledge its historical importance, but it held little appeal to me. Once we found and saw the Venus (which is indeed very small), we were both about done with the evening. I was a little disappointed in our lack of stamina, but between our semi-advanced age (or mine, perhaps I shouldn't accuse Sarah of same), the big crowds, and having already put in a fairly full day of touristing, we were finished.