Day 16 - Rain Rain Go Away

My plan for today (my second Saturday off) was to go back to Schloss Schönbrunn and finish looking around.  I still have tickets to the Privy Garden (I hope it isn't decorator outhouses), the Carriage Museum and the Bakery.  I would also like to stroll the rest of the Gardens.  That however is not what the weatherman had in mind.  It turned cold last night and has been raining most of the day.  So, what do I do on a rainy, nasty, cold, disgusting day?  I stay at the hotel and work on my homework.  

I did, however,  make plans to go out to dinner some place decent so that I've got something to write about.  Dinner found me on the Kartnerstrasse with Kathy looking for a restaurant. While strolling we came across two interesting churches.  The first is the Malteserkirche.  The facade of this church is so nondescript (remember that all Viennese buildings in this part of town are beautiful.  This one just doesn't look like a church) that I have missed it several times before while walking down this same street.  Inside however it is a beautiful little chapel.  It is actually called the Church of St. John the Baptist and was built in the early 19th century in the Gothic style. It was a lovely little surprise. 

Walking on a little farther we came across the Kapuzinerkirche.  This church was built for Empress Ana.  It began construction in 1622 and contains the crypt where the emperors and empresses are  buried.  You can tour the crypt for a nominal fee.  I may go back and look at the dead royalty.  I hope they aren't in glass caskets like Vladimir Lenin.  I saw his body in 1989.  Keep in mind he died in 1924. (Great embalming job, but he did suffer from yellow waxy buildup.)

We walked past a beautiful corner flower stand.  These flourish all over the city and it made me think of my darling wife. We then walked past a lovely little pastry shop that had a Torte that wanted to try.  They don't sell it by the slice only the whole cake in a souvenir wooden box if you want.  Maybe Jenny will be able to find a recipe online and surprise me with a Bosendorfer Torte.  (hint hint)

 Turning on to the Graben we found ourselves at a little hole in the wall restaurant.  I had the Wiener Schnitzel mit Kartoffelsalat.  I know that many of you may think that I had some sort of sausage.  Wiener doesn't mean the same thing here as it does in the States.  Wiener means Viennese.  Schniztel is a cutlet.  Kartoffelsalat is potato salad So I had a Viennese pork cutlet with potato salad. The food here was great Viennese staple food.  Nothing fancy, just tasty.  I don't remember what Kathy's was called, but it looked like the type of food we imagine Mozart might of eaten.    

Finally, Dessert!  We went back to that little shop that had the Bosendorfer Torte and I tried the Linzer Torte and Kathy tried a chocolate Torte.  They look pretty, but they were dry.  I've had lots better here already.  I won't be back

 

On the walk back to the hotel we came across a small brass plaque in the sidewalk.  This memorial is for the four Jews who were pulled from their apartments in this building during WWII.  In my mind that was so long ago but to a country that boasts buildings from the 15th century and ruins that date back to Roman times, 69 years ago might as well be yesterday.   I find myself thinking that I should pray for Siegfried and Berta Schwarz and Rosalia and Helene Ponger but in reality the best thing I can do in their memories is not forget, and do whatever it takes to ensure that what happened to them never happens to anyone else.