I decided to devote the last day of the trip to raising the cultural level and going to Vienna museums. True, I did not start very well. Having completely forgotten that Tuesday was outside the windows, she came to the opening of the Treasury and discovered that no one was waiting for me here today.
To cheer up I had to go to Demel to buy candied violets. Expensive, of course (19 euros for 80 grams), but they will be the highlight of the program at the next bachelorette party. The coffee shop just opened, and I was the first customer.
Not hesitating for a long time, I nevertheless chose violets, preferring them to daisies and hibiscus.
I gave the pretty little box to the saleswoman, and she put it in a beautiful corporate bag with silk ribbons.
I said that I probably didn’t need the bag, and saw how the saleswoman’s eyes turned into two surprised saucers. The whole gamut of feelings was reflected on the face, the main of which was a noble indignation. Probably, it didn’t occur to her until this morning that she could refuse the package with the inscription "Demel"! I had to take the bag with me ... not to spoil her mood in the morning!
Coming out of the "Demel," I went to the "Albertina." I walked along the Reitschulgasse past the famous Spanish Riding School and the Imperial Stables (Stallburg, XVI). I admired the elegant facade of the Palavicini Palace (Palais Pallavicini, XVIII) and the magnificent facade of the Austrian National Library (Österreichische Nationalbibliothek) at Josefsplatz. She looked into the former court church of St. Augustine (Augustinerkirche, XIV) to see the tombstone of Archduke Maria Christina (beloved daughter of Empress Maria Theresa) by Antonio Canova.
There were still about twenty minutes before the opening of Albertina, and I went to drink melange in the next legendary coffee house - Mozart. This time, all the tables were occupied on the summer terrace, but I alone got the entire hall of Vienna's oldest coffee house, opened back in 1794 ... although it got the name "Mozart" only in 1929.
The place is very famous and very bohemian. The interior is elegant and not as grandiose as in the neighboring Zaher. Wooden panels, Viennese chairs, soft comfortable sofas, a showcase with amazing pastries, an old newspaper rack with fresh newspapers and the most friendly waiters.
Strudel and Sacher I did not eat. I wanted to try something like that. A biscuit with pistachio soufflé and fresh strawberries was worthy of these legendary walls. Yummy! Real jam!
At 10 am, Albertina opened. There was no queue and after a few minutes I already wandered through the halls of the museum. First, she examined the palace itself, its beautiful halls and beautiful graphic works by Bosch, Raphael, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Brueghel, Rubens. I looked at the famous "Hare" by Albrecht Durer, whose monument I recently saw in Nuremberg.
Having walked through the halls of the palace, I went up to the art gallery for the exhibition "From Monet to Picasso", for which I came here. There were few people. You could take pictures without a flash, and one lovely girl looked at the order. For some reason, I immediately remembered how last year my friend and I drove into an art gallery in a village near Kharkov to make sure that they really have the work of Kandinsky and Malevich. We were alone in the museum, while the guide and several formidable rangers watched us vigilantly. You can’t take pictures! It’s impossible to get very close to the pictures! ... so sad it all is ...
But back to the exhibition in Albertina. I won’t list all the artists, I’ll just say that the concentration of great names and their ingenious works per square meter here just went wild. I consider it a great luck that I saw them with my own eyes!
Already leaving the museum, she looked at the exhibition of photography. It was interesting until I got to the last room, where very naturalistic photographs were put ... brr ... she left and tried to forget faster.
When I got out of Albertina, it was already noon. The temperature exceeded thirty, and only the “irresistible craving for art” made me walk along the hot Vienna to the distant Belvedere. It would seem like half an hour, but the temperature did its thing ... On the way I saw Karlskirche (XVIII), but I couldn’t take a picture with a beautiful reflection in the water, and there was no time for that anymore.
Having walked through the hot sun for another fifteen minutes, I finally reached the monument to the fallen Soviet wars, and therefore to the Belvedere, which is located immediately behind it.