Albertina was the first art museum we visited in Vienna. It is located in a wing of the Hofburg imperial palace that served as a residence for the Habsburgs family. Unfortunately the restored State Rooms were closed for a private event during our visit.
While relatively few tourists were present, we again found ourselves dodging school groups. This time it was middle school groups, not elementary school.
The headliner of the exhibitions is Edvard Munch In Dialogue, a collection of Munch paintings and those influenced by him … particularly Andy Warhol imitations. This exhibition is really well done.
Our favorite exhibition is Monet to Picasso, a collection of paintings spanning impressionism to surrealism. This is much more in line with our preferences.
Two photography exhibitions are well done. First, black and white photographs by Michael Schmidt, a photographer from Berlin, mostly from the mid-1970s to the mid-1990s. A color photography exhibition, Disasters of War, features current photographs from Ukraine by Mykhaylo Palichak.
With regard to taking photographs in the Albertina, I must give the museum props. The lighting is very good and the walls are perfectly neutral.
From art to the military, our second museum was the Heeresgeschichtliches Museum (the “HGM”) or, in English, the Museum of Military History. It is free to visit on the first Sunday of each month.
Chronologically the exhibitions begin upstairs: the Thirty Years War; Ottoman Wars; Napoleonic Wars; and, various wars fought during the reign of Emperor Franz Joseph I during the mid-1800s. A lot of armor, weapons, and flags are on display, along with huge paintings.
Downstairs the permanent exhibitions center around World War I and World War II. Numerous large weapons and equipment are displayed, including planes, tanks, jeeps, artillery, rifles, and uniforms.
There are also exhibits on Emperor Franz Joseph I, the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo, and the Austro-Hungarian Navy (late 1700s through World War I).
Definitely a cool museum for military history enthusiasts. Stephanie ambled around while I tried to make sense out of the exhibits. Only a few exhibits, mostly in the WWI section, had both German and English signs.
Finding and going to local markets is always on the to do list. Perhaps the most well-known market in Vienna is Naschmarkt, which has over 100 stalls. Most of the stalls sell meat, bread, or fresh fruit and vegetables. Small restaurants and cafés are scattered throughout.
Unfortunately, it quickly became apparent that Naschmarkt is now a very large tourist trap. Few locals were present. The sellers speak English and are very persuasive.
I gave Stephanie €4 in cash to buy some spiced cashews. The seller promptly told me to give her a credit card. Seriously. “Sir, you’re on holiday, pull out the credit card. Enjoy the market.” Nice try, but no. Stephanie bought exactly €4 of spiced cashews.
If you are hungry and want a free snack, just walk through the market and take one of everything on offer. Most of my time in Naschmarkt was spent dragging Stephanie away from free offerings.
We ended up buying sausage links (very good), falafel balls (good), humus (decent), spiced cashews (awesome), and jalapenos. We probably paid a 20% “tourist tax”, if not more, for shopping here. But it was worth it because one seller, and only one, had fresh jalapenos. We found a needle in a haystack.
A few days later we went to Vorgartenmarket, a small, local neighborhood market. Much better. Out of the tourist zone we knew the fresh fruits and vegetables were sold by locals for locals. Several tomatoes, a red onion, and lime were quickly snapped up.
Along with the jalapenos, Stephanie was able to make pico de gallo after all.
Stephanie noticed that grocery stores in the larger metro stations are open late (to 10:00 PM on weekdays), on Sundays, and certain holidays. If you need to shop during these times, this is important to know.
On Whit Monday (yes, that is a holiday), when stores are otherwise closed, the Billa grocery store in Wien Praterstern was open. We made the mistake of going to Billa that afternoon to pick up a few things. What a disaster.
We did not realize upon entering Billa that long lines for the cash registers completely filled and blocked four of the five aisles. Actual shopping was near impossible it was so crowded. When we finally left, Billa’s front doors were closed to control capacity. A crowd gathered waiting for the reopening.
Lesson learned. Just because we can go shopping on a holiday does not mean it is a good idea. But since Austria celebrates a lot of religious holidays (Ascension Day, Whit Monday, and Feast of Corpus Christi, to name a few), it seems inevitable at some point.
Garrett and Stephanie
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