Vienna | Guy Portman's Blog

Vienna Part 2 – My Whistle-Stop Tour

Jul 10 2015

Last week’s post was dedicated to my tour of Zentralfriedhof (Central Cemetery) in Vienna. This week my book/author related weekly blog post sabbatical concludes with Vienna part 2 – My Whistle-Stop Tour.

The day started with a visit to Schönbrunn Palace, the Baroque, 1,441 room, former imperial residence (see below).

No photography is permitted inside the palace. Below is a picture of the water feature in Schönbrunn’s back garden.

Last week you saw Mozart’s grave. Here is his statue. Vienna is also home to Mozart’s house, Mozart key rings and Mozart chocolates.

The Austrians love schnitzels. It was a good thing that I resisted the Mozart chocolates during the morning’s sightseeing, or I would have struggled to finish my lunch.

Below is a one of the city’s quaint shopping arcades.

I stopped for a quick beer before continuing with the sightseeing. One would have turned into two, were it not for the fact that time was ticking.

Next up was St. Stephen’s Cathedral.

You are allowed to take photographs in St. Stephen’s.

Below is a statue. Of what I can’t tell you. I was in too much of a hurry to get to the Belvedere to stop and find out.

If you like Baroque palaces then Vienna is the place to be. Below is the Belvedere. Not the best photo I must confess. I was experimenting with the panoramic option on my iPhone camera. It seemed like a good idea at the time.

On entering the palace and taking a right, I was met by the sight of this spectacular ceiling, which was painted by the Italian painter Carlo Carlone (1686-1775).

In the main hall, I was able to appreciate how art has evolved since the Renaissance era. Below is your esteemed author standing in front of ‘The Incredible Hulk and Friends’.

No trip to Vienna would be complete without a visit to the Café Sacher (inside Hotel Sacher), and this is where I headed for afternoon tea. The Original Sacher-Torte (see below) has been the world’s most famous cake since 1832. At least this is what Hotel Sacher claim. Evidently no one has told them about Bakewell Tarts. The Original Sacher-Torte recipe is a closely guarded secret. My guess is that it has chocolate and orange in it.

What better way to end a day of sightseeing than dining on Tafelspitz. Tafelspitz is generally considered to be the Austrian national dish. It is boiled beef in broth served with horseradish.

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My Tour of Zentralfriedhof

Jul 03 2015

I am fascinated by cemeteries. Previously on this blog I have written posts about the Brompton Cemetery in London and Recoleta in Buenos Aires.

The protagonist in my second novel, the satirical black comedy Necropolis, works for the burials and cemeteries department in his local council. Necropolis features a number of fictional cemeteries.

This week’s blog post is dedicated to my recent trip to Zentralfriedhof (Central Cemetery) in Vienna. At 620 acres (2.5 km sq) Zentralfriedhof is one of the World’s largest cemeteries. I was unaware how large the cemetery was when I entered the facility through one of its side entrances. The plan of the cemetery below gives some indication of its size. Zentralfriedhof is a multi-faith facility that caters for a range of Christian denominations, as well as those of a Jewish and Muslim persuasion.

Here are some graves.

This was the first time that I had come across deaths pending (see below). Rather macabre perhaps, but there’s nothing like being prepared.

Nikolic really liked his Mercedes.

It was beginning to dawn on me just how large Zentralfriedhof is. The below photo is of one of the cemetery’s many avenues.

I was nearing exhaustion by the time I made it to the main entrance, where I came across the cemetery’s primary mode of transport (see below). Warning: Don’t touch, they bite.

A horse-drawn carriage proved to be an excellent way to view the burial facility, if not a particularly economical one. Below is the cemetery’s church, St. Charles Borromeo.

Zentralfriedhof contains a diverse range of burial receptacles (see below).

Unlike the other Austrians I had the privilege to converse with, my carriage driver, who appeared to have the personality of a corpse, spoke virtually no English. The linguistic barrier made me concerned that I was going to miss out on the cemetery’s Musiker (musician) section. I contemplated how I was going to utilise my 40-50 words of German to express this concern. The plan was to go with – ‘Halten Beethoven grab bitte’. I was poised to utter this when the carriage drew to a halt in the Musiker section. The below is a picture of the ‘Holy Trinity’ of Austrian composers.

This is Schubert’s grave.

And Mozart’s.

Here is Beethoven’s.

I forgot all about Johann Strauss. He is also interred here.

The newly deceased continue to be tempted to Zentralfriedhof on a daily basis. And for good reason. But at 300 – 1,500 Euros per annum (standard grave site), they’ll need more than a Co-operative funeral care plan to cover the cost.

I would highly recommend Zentralfriedhof to anyone planning to visit Vienna. Below is a memorial plinth at its main entrance commemorating Austrian Emperor Franz Joseph I.