Michael's Visit - Part I

I got an absolutely fantastic bit of news over Christmas: out of the blue, really, Michael called to see if I was going to be in Vienna in early February. I confirmed that yes, I would be. Two days later he had a flight booked to come visit me on the tail end of his trip to Germany! Talk about a good friend :-)

So, two weekends ago now, I giddily greeted a sleepy Michael as he came through security (or lack thereof) in the Vienna International Airport. It was already late when he landed, and I had a full day planned for Saturday, so we opted to go back and get a full night's sleep (though of course that was also stunted by at least a brief overview of catching up; we hadn't seen each other since September and could have been better about staying in touch).

Saturday dawned brisk and overcast, as promised, but at least it wasn't snowing. Unfortunately the few days leading up to Michael's arrival marked the first significant plummet in temperatures all winter, so I was finally experiencing the bitterly cold wind that everyone had been warning me about. Not the best conditions to be showing Michael around in, but we made do with what we were given and took every opportunity to duck inside to 'look at things' (i.e. keep our fingers and noses from turning blue). I thought Café Demel would be a good introduction (well, I hoped that it would be though I'd never actually eaten there, only ordered hot chocolate at the bar), so we started there for breakfast. Brunch, really. I gave him a brief introduction to Viennese coffee culture, the tipping policy here, etc. over our simple but delicious kleines Frühstück. Ready to take on the day, we went back downstairs and happened to catch a few of the chefs decorating chocolate, which I hadn't seen before at Café Demel.

I would like to say that we then wandered the streets of Vienna far and wide, but that wouldn't quite be accurate. Rather, I showed him around to some of the highlights, we lingered long enough for him to snap a shot or two, then we bowed our heads back into the wind to make it to the next place of interest before we were frozen in place. I ad libbed a bit and added the National Library to our tour while we were near the Hofburg, mostly to get us out of the wind, but also because I love that library and it's very well priced (€4.50 for students) as far as things you have to pay to see go. My next goal is figuring out how to get access to the balcony level and the secret rooms behind some of the bookcases...

After sufficient time spent wandering the stacks we sallied over to the Dorotheum, the largest auction house in Central Europe. No purchases this grey Saturday, but it's always fun walking around in there; new things are constantly cycling through.

I did a quick tour of a few other main sites around the first district on our way to lunch, though the wind made it a decidedly abridged tour. Anyway, since it's one of my new favorite lunch places, I took Michael to Hansen, the restaurant under the Stock Exchange building. It was a slightly late lunch by Viennese standards so we had the place mostly to ourselves and were able to continue catching up at length.

Afterwards I took Michael to the Albertina in a bit of a roundabout way. We stopped off at Xocolate in the Passage des Palais Ferstel, because... well, is it really necessary to give a reason? Exactly. I also detoured over to Minoritenkirche, the Italian church built in French Gothic from 1276 to 1350. What's so interesting about this church?

Only that it has a life-size mosaic (yes, mosaic) replica of the Last Supper. It's so detailed that you can hardly even tell it's a mosaic when you're standing at the base of it. Napoleon commissioned Giacomo Raffaelli to make it in 1809, but he was abdicated before it was completed. Francis II bought it to install in the Belvedere, but it was too large, so he donated it to the Italian Church. Seems fitting, right?

I thought the Albertina would be interesting for Michael since it has a bit of everything, including a nice collection of Monet, whose work Michael is particularly fond of. There was also a Magritte exhibition at the time, and although surrealism is not my favorite style, it was incredibly impressive to see so many works by one artist amassed in one place. His exhibition alone may be bigger than the entire permanent "Monet to Picasso" collection housed at the Albertina; they displayed over 150 of his works. Here's one of the ones I did like:

Black Magic, 1945

It was well past dark by the time we left, so with one final look at the Albertina we headed over to pick up Anna for dinner.

I had made reservations for us at Le Loft in Hotel Sofitel. I had been wanting to eat there since I noticed the vibrant ceiling across the Danube canal from Schwedenplatz this past summer. I tried to make reservations before Christmas, but as this is apparently the hit new spot to eat in Vienna, they were booked for the next two and a half weeks. However, I was able to get the three of us in for Saturday night.

Stephansdom and the Rathaus lit up in the background, picture credit Mein Kaffee

The food was of course delicious, but the view is definitely what you paid for. I'm really glad that I finally made it here, but I think I'm still going to be opting for DO & Co for future nice dinner options; the food is equally delectable, perhaps even more-so, and the price is a lot more reasonable. Plus I always like having an up-close view of the magnificent Gothic architecture of Stephansdom.