Chapter Seven
Historic Vienna
After a bountiful Viennese breakfast (these folks know how to brekky!), we set off on another fully packed day in Vienna. We walked from the hotel toward the city center where we met up again with Gerhard, who took us first to his museum, “Third Man Museum”. Sure, it has lots of memorabilia about the 1949 Orson Welles movie (which was shot in the aftermath of WWII in the ruins of Vienna), but the REAL collection is not movie related, but is dedicated to what Gerhard calls the REAL star of the movie, Vienna in the years that followed World War II.
It focuses on the difficulty of a town being occupied by military forces from four different nations (UK, USA, France and USSR). The memorabilia in this collection was quite thought provoking. There were invoices from Jewish residents where they had to type on a form everything in their apartment. They were told these invoices would keep a record of what they had so everything would be in good order when they returned. Then were instructed to take only two sets of clothes and leave for a concentration camp. The Nazis then took everything of value, using these invoices as roadmaps to which apartments had the most valuable items.
I also learned where the term “CARE Package” came from. It's an acronym for Cooperative for American Remittance to Europe. In the chaos of post-war Vienna, humanitarian aid sent from other nations was being intercepted and sold on the black market, which was thriving. So CARE packages were sent via the US Army, originally filled with military rations that were at first intended for a military invasion of Japan. Since the US never invaded Japan, the rations were sent to starving Viennese residents. When those ran out, American corporations filled the boxes with all sorts of stuff. People in the U.S. could send a CARE Package to Viennese residents for $10, with guaranteed delivery within four months. They even got a delivery receipt once it arrived.
Gerhard really takes a lot of pride in what he has built, and with good reason. It’s amazing some of the rarities he has acquired from not only the Third Man movie, but from the post war Vienna era. I got to talk to him at great length after his presentation, when the group was given free time to roam his collection. He is also a great local tour guide and I’m not at all surprised that Rick Steves personally tapped him to take his groups around Vienna when a tour comes to town. Gerhard and I became Facebook friends so I can keep up with what’s going on with his museum. I look forward to visiting him again on my next trip to Vienna.
After the Third Man Museum, we walked to Naschmarkt, which is built over a river and filled with two lanes of vendors – one with food to prepare at home and another for eating now. We had a fun interaction with a cheese monger who REALLY wanted me to buy 100 grams of truffle gouda for 12,99 Euro. I offered to buy 50g for 6,50 Euro, but he wasn’t having it. Two stalls later I found the same cheese at a rate of 4,99 Euro for 100 grams. I'll let you guess which one I bought.
We left the market and walked over to see the private art collection of the Habsburgs. They commissioned a massive museum to be built specifically to hold these art treasures. The building itself is a work of art, constructed from exotic materials from all corners of the former empire. There are so many famous paintings, sculptures, jewelry, everything you can imagine. Even sections from ancient Greece and Rome. I found myself brown eyes to brown-eye with a centaur’s asshole, prominently displayed on a grand staircase. This place had it all.
After the museum, we walked a few blocks and hopped a tram to ride The Ring Road, which is a tram line that goes in a circle around the city along the path where the medieval city wall once stood. We made it about halfway when we decided to get off at Sweedenplatz, grabbed some noodles and a can of the OG Czech version of Budweiser. We kicked back and enjoyed some great people watching at the beer and sausage stand before taking the subway back toward our hotel. We showered and got dressed for our finale farewell dinner.
It was tough to see this trip come to an end. We got to know pretty much every member of our tour along our journey and made some friends that I really feel will have staying power through the years. One couple have a son and grandchildren in the next town over from us and are planning to come visit soon. I’m going to make sure to take them on a brewery walking tour of our fair city while they’re in town. During dinner, I table hopped between courses to spend a little time with each couple, group, or solo traveler. I also chatted at length with Anja, our guide. She is a funny and amazing guide and a real treat to follow around Germany and Austria for a week.
After we said farewell to our group, Melissa and I walked over to a local brewery, that Anja recommended, Wieden Brau. We tried a flight of their beers, had a tiny sample of their lemongrass beer, then had a lengthy conversation with a Norwegian beer nerd named Anders before heading back toward our hotel. We stopped for schnapps at our favorite Irish Pub before heading to our room. It may have been the last night of our Rick Steves’ Tour, but we still had another destination to squeeze in before heading home.
