Europe 2010 Day 11 - Vienna to Venice via the Semmering Railway

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6 Oct 2010

Today we depart the Imperial lands and the fantastic beers for the hot sun, wine, and pizza. Our trip to our first stop in Italy takes us from Vienna to Venice (Venezia) via the Semmering Pass on the Semmering Railway, a UNESCO World Heritage site for being the first real mountain rail. We arrived early in the morning at Meidling Bahnhof and embarked on our 8 hour journey.

We are headed from Vienna to Venice through the mountains


One of the trains at the station while waiting for ours to arrive.


Our train. We took the 8.30am train for Vienna-Venice because it passes by the Semmering Pass in the daytime. There are night trains through the area.


Packed lunch


Reserved seats with our reservation information.


The carriages


First look outside as the train moved off. It's rather foggy up here.


Cattle


The train passes rather close to some towns.


I'm not certain which part of the journey is the actual UNESCO part of the Semmering Railway


More cloudy hills. Perhaps it was too foggy to see actual mountains in the background


Designer footbridge.


Very serene


Little towns surrounded by large plots of grass. I presume it's for grazing cattle.


Near Klagenfurt. Looks like a nice resort place, some tour buses were parked in the city


Arrival at Villach Hbf, this took about 4 hours. The train takes us to Villach where we needed to catch this connecting bus the Villach-Venezia route


Scheduled arrival at 12.46pm. Transfered to bus for a scheduled departure at 12.56pm!


We took the front seats on the second level. Nice view but we were over exposed to the blazing hot sun in Italy. The bus waited for some passengers who arrived late due to train delays.


Serene view, near Villach


Freight Train


Oh, Italien


Entering Italy


Can't help but feel sad that the good beer days are over.


Coming down the mountains


The bus stops at Mestre, Italy. The blazing Italian sun ensured we were well baked.


Finally!


Approaching Venice, the cruise ships on the right, the train to Venice on the left


We have arrived after approximately 4 hours of bus.

The entire trip from Vienna to Venice took almost 8 hours. Rather long, which is why there are overnight trains on this route. In all, I didn't feel extremely impressed by the route. Perhaps it was just too cloudy and the full beauty of the place is obscured. The scenery is not unlike some of the beautiful towns around Bavaria in the earlier part of our trip. In contrasts, the Qinghai-Tibetan Railway (the world's highest railway) that we took on our trip out of Tibet last year had some really wacky scenery that one usually does not simply explore on foot. However, the Semmering Railway is more than a century old, being completed in 1854 CE.

Having finally arrived at the bus terminus in Venice, we immediately felt the difference in strength of the sun. Without further ado, we dragged our luggage towards our accommodation.

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Europe 2010 Day 10 - Vienna - Schloss Schönbrunn

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5 Oct 2010

Awoke fresh for our second day in Vienna. First we were headed to the Vienna Naschmarkt. A popular market that has existed since the 16th century. Then, we went on to visit Schloss Schönbrunn (Schönbrunn Palace), the summer residence of the empire.

Pilgramgasse station to get to the main market


We got out at Kettenbrückengasse‎ U-bahn station


View larger
From Kettenbrückengasse‎ we walked down the Naschmarkt towards Karlsplatz


The Wiener Naschmarkt


Sweet stuff


Turkish Doner for breakfast


€ 2.40 Lamb doner in bread


The Vienna Secession, Union of Austrain Artists


View larger
We took the U-bahn from Karlsplatz to the Schönbrunn station where the palace is. Schönbrunn Palace a summer palace and UNESCO World Heritage site. It consists of 1400 rooms and was originally a mansion constructed in 1548CE. The grounds of the large gardens houses the world oldest zoo.


The main gates of Schloss Schönbrunn, Schönbrunn means beautiful spring.


The palace through the main gates


First up we visited the rooms in the palace, elaborately decorated with chandeliers, portraits and wallpaper.


The Great Hall


Another room, lots of red


Back outside, horse carriages. I must say the horses get smaller as our trip progresses. They seem bigger closer to Bavaria.


The grounds of the nice gardens with the Schönbrunn Palace Garden Gloriette, the last building built in garden in 1775 CE, at the back on a hill.


Double headed eagle.


The court bakery to watch the apple strudel show is a vaulted cellar beneath the Café-Restaurant Residenz. Apple strudel actually came from the Ottomans.


The setup of the bakery.


Our strudel (larger version), about €8.40 with coffee and the show, which runs at almost every hour.


The filling: butter-breadcrumbs, cinnamon sugar, raisins, lemon juice, peeled sour apples, and a shot of rum!


The pâtissier, fluent in English and German, who will be demonstrating the apfelstrudel making process.


Stretching the dough is an important step; you could stretch it with your elbows underneath the dough, or...


... flipping the dough up in the air!


Voilà! The stretched dough should be thin enough to read through.


Done with the show, we headed to the Gloriette in the garden. A photo stop behind the fountain.


Schönbrunn from behind the Neptune Fountain.


Gloriette with pond in front.


The Schönbrunn Palace from the hill where the Gloriette is.


A statue near the staircase of the Gloriette.


A closer look at the Gloriette ceiling.


The Schönbrunn Irrgarten and Labyrinth. €2.90 to admit one adult. We went to try out the maze, puzzles, musical platforms, etc. in the compound. Try not to get lost in the maze!


Completed the tour at the summer palace, we headed back to Zieglergasse‎ station to visit the Furniture Depot nearby.


Furniture Depot Museum.


Lots of furniture.


Empress Sisi (Elisabeth of Austria, 1837-1898), famous as a non-conformist, is a feature at most imperial exhibitions in Vienna


More furniture. There is so much furniture it started to get boring.


Red pineapple motif on a chair, commonly used in the palaces for wallpaper and seating


We chanced upon a napkin folding exhibition. Here is an illustration of folding curves on napkin


Folded napkins were used as decorative purposes fo imperial dining


Double headed eagle, the Coat of Arms of Austria


Some kind of bird


An elaborate room setup with Coat of Arms near the ceiling


Leaving the furniture depot, we went in search of a pub near Stephansplatz for dinner


The pub was in the basement


Dinner! We chatted with someone and learned that this is the season for Sturm, a sweet wine that is short-fermented. Next we walked around Stephansplatz.


St. Stephan's Cathedral (Stephansdom), the tallest church in Austria


Inside St. Stephen's Cathedral


The Stephansplatz near the Dom


The Pestsäule (plague column), a monument that serves as a memorial of the plague in Vienna in 1679 CE. Inaugurated in 1693 CE.


We hung around this nearby cafe for a taste of Sturm


Sturm, shortly fermented wine, very sweet, only available in October

The day sums up our time in Vienna and the Bohemian part of our trip. Tomorrow we will be hopping on a long train ride to Venice through the Simmering Pass, a stretch of the tracks that is a UNESCO world heritage site. It is the end of beer and the beginning of wine.

Check back for the next post soon.

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