Sunday in Vienna

Another non-touristy day. And an unplanned one, or at least not planned in advance. Dan apologised that in the morning he had arranged to go running with a couple of friends at 9am. I was more than happy to leave it to him (he is of course a very fit young man, as well as being bright and personable and outgoing with an amazingly successful legal career at such an age. I did point out to him that he should appreciate how likeable he is by the fact that by rights everyone should hate him out of sheer jealousy.) 

Anyway, I digress. While on his run he told his friends that he had someone staying with him that was keen on Jugendstil architecture (Austrian Art Nouveau) and they said he should take me to see the Otto Wagner church. So he did.

Now it is not every day that you get taken to a mental health hospital as a tourist. For this is what was built in the early 1900s, a large hospital primarily for the mentally ill, an asylum if you will. The various hospital buildings ultimately being "topped off" by a church, the whole complex being financed by a religious order. All the buildings are worth seeing. 

One sobering section is below. The stakes you see are a memorial to ex-inmates who had the misfortune to be mentally ill when the Nazis took over. Ideal for experimenting upon. And then exterminating.

One climbs through the complex to be confronted by the Otto Wagner designed church. Clearly much more money was lavished on the church than any other part of the hospital. It is an impressive design, with an almost byzantine dome (covered in gold leaf, of course).

 The interior is every bit as spectacular as the exterior.

 Dan (with help from google) found an overgrown path (mind the nettles) that led to a nice little spot for lunch. (Vienna Schnitzel of course)

 Then back through the hospital grounds to catch our bus back into the city centre.

 We popped into the Belvedere, our one touristy place to see. Just beautiful on such a sunny day.

Is this the term for reapplying for EU membership after we see it was a mistake after all?

And finally to our Sunday evening. By now Dan had been reunited with his fiancee (who returned home with more mushrooms than I had ever seen in one place - the reward for foraging in Austrian woodlands). Avoiding the temptation for the world's largest mushroom risotto, we went out to a very smart pizza place for a quick dinner.

Dan looking pleased with his choice.

Our evening's entertainment was to go and see an American indie band in what Dan promised was a very cool venue. He did not lie. In a very alternative space between railway lines and the river. Below is not the venue, that was underneath this. Below as you can see is an open stage where music played while people hung out at bars built into the railway arches. Quite some mural!

We had to hang around a few minutes before doors opened for our gig. The band was Yeasayer from Brooklyn. The crowd for them was small but enthusiastic in a cool but very dimly lit bar. Sorry for the quality of the photos. What I was trying to show below is that the venue bar is in the middle of the "hall" rather than at an end. So you could choose to go to the front, or sit right at the back behind the bar and just chill out, listening to but not seeing the band.

There was no support - just Yeasayer. It was a good gig, and not quite what one expects to do in Vienna - see a New York indie band in a basement club. But I am very fortunate in my choice of friends, so I see more than most people my age. Much more.

So there ended a flying visit  to Vienna. Tomorrow, Hungary via Deutschkreutz.