December 29 2023. Vienna!!

Freitag, 29 December 2023

First, a bit more about the problem finding our room in the hotel, last night. Mike decided he should go to a pharmacy to see if they would give him anything to speed up his recovery from the 24-hour stomach flu (which was then in the 48-hour period). He left the room to speak with the front desk folks to find out where there would be an open pharmacy. All of a sudden, I got a call from him saying he was stuck in a stairwell somewhere between the 5th and 6th floors. Apparently, he left the room and turned to the left rather than the right which takes you through a door into a vestibule where the elevator is. At the end of the hall at the right he opened the door, and it was a stairwell rather than the little 6th floor lobby… and when the door slammed shut, it was locked (I suppose that’s for fires). Probably if he went all the way down the seven flights he would have exited outside. But I came to the rescue…

Actually, the hotel is fine and quite popular as a restaurant/bar hangout for young, chic people sporting the latest in European fashion. But they do need some signage!

We began our day with breakfast at Chez Bernard which is located on the top floor of our hotel (Hotel Motto). That was after we attempted to switch to a larger room (so I could have a desk in the room). But the hotel is solidly booked. So I had them remove two pink-ish colored easy chairs (1920s vintage, but made to order in recent years for the hotel) so they could put in a desk. Now I’m a happy camper. Chez Bernard is a bustling place so it was amazing we could even get in without a reservation. Food was good, but service was slow. Finally, we set out for the day.

We headed to the Naschsmarkt and on the way stopped to look at some art deco buildings by Otto Wagner, including Majolikahaus which was built in the very late 1890s. It’s covered with tiles decorated with floral motifs of the Art Nouveau period and style. Next door is another building designed by Wagner which is covered with gold and white medallion-like shapes. Both buildings, I believe, were owned by Jewish families who were relocated (one was moved to the ghetto and the other fled to South Africa) during the Aryanization of Vienna. As I understand it, the Majolikahaus was owned by a Jewish developer named Wilhelm Frankl. Austrian officials determined he was “insane” so that they could take over the building which was deemed an architectural treasure. It was sold to a butcher and after WWII the original family (I guess with Wilhelm no longer being insane) sued unsuccessfully to get the property back. The butcher eventually donated the building to the church, which re-sold it fairly quickly.

From there we walked through many interesting streets requiring stair climbing and navigating many courtyards…. Until we found ourselves walking through the “Museum Quarter” which meanders through several arched walkways that have been painted in contemporary styles. I think they may repaint those ceilings periodically with different patterns. Then it was time for a late lunch, so we headed to the Palmenhaus and waited a bit, but did get a table. Palmenhaus Restaurant is located within a greenhouse that was originally built in the 1820s. The greenhouse was demolished about 80 years later and then a new building that reflected the new Jugendstil (Art Nouveau) era was built some years later. Palmenhaus was home to important exhibits in the first few decades of the 20th century and then was closed for some time and then restored and reopened in the 1960s. The restaurant sits in the center of the greenhouse.

…Pleasant knock on the hotel door just now—with a very upbeat guy delivering “evening drinks” to the room. I gather this is a nightly occurrence. I opted for champagne—so here I sit, drinking my bubbly and writing to you. Given that this was Mike’s first full day of not being really sick, he is napping and missing the drinks.

From Palmenhaus, we trekked to the State Library which is quite a site…. Baroque in all its glory, with amazing trompe l’oeil murals on the ceiling and archways. Inside the grand space, there was an interesting exhibit about Yoicho Okamoto, a Japanese American photographer who documented the destruction and also the rebuilding of Vienna after WWII. He later became the first American presidential photographer, documenting LBJ.

By then, although our little daily itinerary had more places we wanted to check out, we were pretty beat and decided to walk to the U-Bahn (metro) and head back to Hotel Motto, to get ready for dinner (tonight at Vestibul). Actually, I’m signing off now and sending this daily report. I’ll talk about dinner tomorrow if it is really good.

All the best –
Fern