2014 Poland, Austria, Germany Tour: DAY 8 - FRI 9/26

Today , we decided to see more of the Jewish quarter, not too far from Sigmund Freud's house. There was a big article in the N.Y.Times recently highlighting some of his favorite cafes and restaurants, along with an old psychiatric insane asylum, etc. Marty checked out the area on the map, he was the leader today.

We started out at a U Bahn station close to our house at Pilgramgasse.

We could have gotten a snack at the local McDonalds, but there was a line...yeah right!

The trains are very civilized, quiet and clean...and so easy.

On the U-Ban this little girl was holding on the same bar as us, staring up, and so cute, I couldn't resist taking whe picture. Her mother got annoyed and told me not to do that and to destroy the photo.

Schwedenplatz was where we got off near the Jewish quarter. So far so good...

The station is right along the Danube canal that feeds into the Danube River.

Here is what looks to be a stage for summer concerts, with a little square bit of sand for a beach. It looks much like the quai along the Seine in Paris.

As we cross over the canal we see what looks like a huge ship, which is actually a restaurant right above the water. It must be quite nice in summer or when the sun is shining, but today is cool and overcast.

Marty always sniffs out any bike shops along the way. This was a good one.

As we get closer to our destination, the best bakery/cafe/restaurant in the Neighborhood, we know we're in the right area when we see these local kids walking by. They were so cute.

We arrive at our first destination, Ohel Moshe Backerei, only to find it shuttered tight. The sign on the door with the hours of operation indicate that it should be open, but there is no explanation...curious. We walk to the corner and there is another Kosher food shop, but it is shuttered tight too. I don't know what made Marty realize this, but all of a sudden he said: "It's Rosh Hashanah, of course they're closed!" OY VEY!!! Everything's closed around here!

We stop some men on the street and they confirm why everything is closed.

So we walk around just to see what else is there.

A book store...

A toy store...note the yarmulke...

A dirndl shop, the Vienese country attire...

And further afield, an ad for one of our exports, in German of course.

We look at our map and see a Jewish star several blocks away, so thinking it might be some outdoor monument, we start walking. we walk and we walk, through a very drab, uninhabited area, not exactly knowing where we are going. We dont mind being lost...for a while, at least.

We pass the Headquarters of the Austrian Energy Company. Rather unattractive.

We see a young woman resting her sewing machine on the ground while waiting for a tram...

We continue walking, but as far as they eye can see it's extremely dingy and drab. We're beginning to get frustrated, our feet are starting to hurt, we're getting hungry and we need to find a nice cafe for a rest and some sustenance. We finally get to a U Bahn station, a very welcome sight right now. We look at our map and decide to go back to our go-to destination, Naschmarkt, and this time go to a Chinese place called Li's Cooking and have a nice big bowl of soup. It is just what the doctor ordered. We're back on track now and ready to do some more exploring.

The Secession Museum, an Art Nouveau building completed in 1898, is located nearby, and since we haven't done any art museums in Vienna yet, off we go. This is where Gustav Klempt's Beethovan's Friese is exhibited.

Gustav Klimt's famous 'Beethoven Frieze' is the centerpiece of the building. In 1902 Klimt painted it for the Secessionist Movement, a new art form, aka Art Nouveau, intended to celebrate the composer. The painting was meant for this celebration only, and so the frieze was painted directly on the walls. It has been moved and preserved and now on permanent display at this Secession Building. The painting spans three walls in its own room, and illustrates human desire for happiness in a suffering and tempestuous world. We could not photograph the actual painting. Here is one small frame copied outside the main room.

There is a lot of gold leaf in the frieze, and there was a demonstration of how it was done when the painting was restored.

There are other works in the museum. These works are by Diana al-Hadid entitled 'The Fates.' Everything simulates something dripping.

This work is by Cinthia Marc Elle entitled 'Dust Never Sleeps.' It's in a dark room with a floor made of black dusty soot that you cannot walk on...there are guards telling you to walk along a narrow wooden walkway nearby to see the work...very weird.

Then there is this experimental art area where people are actually working on works right in the museum. Currently there is a project called Utopia.

Here is the main studio where the artist are curating their upcoming works. Note the woman standing at the right collaborating with the guy on the computer. We heard them speaking Italian, but did not talk to them because we were too busy looking around. Will refer to this woman again in tomorrow's Blog post.

Then we left to work our way to the restaurant where we had an early dinner reservation before going to the Mozart Concert.

Here we are passing one of the many rug merchants, as there are lots of Turkish people living here in Vienna. This man is cleaning his wares.

We get to the Restaurant Plachutta, famous for its Tafelspitz, a boiled beef dish that was Freud's favorite meal. We found it a little bland, but definitely serious comfort food. We got a lovely table outside on the terrace under the heat lamps, a very sophisticated and nice way to dine.

Here's our waiter serving Marty his Topelspitz. You eat the soup part first over thin noodles. Then he serves you the meat from the stew pot, with potatoes, vegetables, and two sauces, an apple horseradish one and a chive mustard cream. The portions are huge!

I went with a September game specialty, deer ragout with fresh cranberry sauce...melts in your mouth delicious!

After dinner, with perfect timing, we walked over to the for our concert (remember we bought the tickets from a Mozart-look-alike guy on the street in front of the State Opera the other day).

Along the way we passed the State Opera where there was a jumbo-tron projecting a live symphony for anyone to watch...spectacular against the beautiful building facade...maybe another idea for Peter Gelb at the Met in Lincoln Center.

Then we arrived at the Golden Hall of the Musikverein where the Mozart Orchester plays. It's another magnificent building and hall. The skyline at night is breath-taking, especially with this turquoise dome in the background.

Sights from inside the Hall...

Our seats were phenomenal, in the first circle above the floor, in the second box directly overlooking the stage...definitely worth it. This trip we remembered to bring our opera glasses from home, but of course when Marty checked his backpack, the glasses were inside! Not to worryl, we were so close that we didn't even need them.