The next morning we had breakfast at our hotel. I have never quite understood why people in central Europe seem so devoted to having cold cuts and cheese for breakfast. Still, I usually seem to have some kind of sandwich for breakfast. I figure that the protein is good for me and the cereal choices offered in Europe are bleak, either some kind of sugary American flakes or something with oats which even most horses would refuse. The offerings at this hotel, however, included some perfect pastries. “We have entered the croissant zone,” John decided. And, as always, he is probably right.
The hotel made arrangements for a driver in a golf cart to take us and our luggage to a place where Davor could meet us. We have a much longer drive today. We are headed to Vienna. John and I spent a couple days in Vienna over ten years ago, and we have fond memories of riding bikes around the city. We only spending a night here this time as our ultimate destination is Prague. But our plans included an evening at the Wiener Statsoper, the Vienna State Opera.
One of the cool things about the Day Trip service is that you can choose stops along your way, and your driver serves as your tour guide. John and I had chosen the Austrian town of Graz, located about halfway between Ljubljana and Vienna as our stop on this trip. Davor proved to be an outstanding tour guide.
We parked in an underground lot and came up near a church. Davor pointed it out to us, but of course I wanted to go in. The interior was both ornate
and austere.
Davor told us that Graz had recently been a “European City of Culture.” This is one of those things that the European Union does that really makes me understand why the British bolted from the EU. Some city, usually one that you do not normally associate with high culture, gets this nomination and a great deal of money is spent on dubious projects designed improve culture. It is more or less artistic "urban renewal.” In this case, one of the projects had been the construction of an artificial island in the center of the river.
Another project had been the construction of a new künsthalle, or art museum. But I will show you that eyesore later.
Graz has delightful medieval and Renaissance buildings on both sides of the river.
We took a funicular up to the castle overlooking the town. We had a cup of coffee at the cafe there. Davor runs a coffee shop in Zagreb, so he gave us his ideas on beans, roasting, and espresso. John and I walked to the overlook
where we saw the old and new town
and the grotesque art museum.
Honestly, this building might be interesting or even fun in a different environment — a new city, or in the middle of a leafy park. But stuck in the middle of a neighborhood of late medieval and early eighteenth century buildings it is just a monument to the unbridled hubris of architects.
We walked down instead of taking the funicular. This gave us an opportunity to admire the castle.
Many years ago I read an essay by a British architectural historian about ancient versus modern architecture. One of the points he made which has remained with me ever since, was the in traditional societies buildings are almost always made of local materials. The stones used for the houses or churches are the same stones you see on the hillsides and in the fields. This naturally makes the buildings blend in more harmoniously with the landscape around them. Modern societies, in contrast, almost always transport materials from great distances, that is, when natural materials are used at all, and this creates an often jarring contrast with nature. I think that is what the Graz castle blends in so well while the künsthalle never can, no matter where it is placed.
John posed with the Hapsburg royal eagles.
The town of Graz is quite charming.
Unlike some other towns where the historic center has turned into a tourist area. Graz does not have that many tourists, so there were local people shopping in quite ordinary stores there. Even the shop that sold traditional dress was not selling it to tourists.
Austrians — and, as my Austrian friend in Croatia reminded me, “Vienna is not Austria” — will often dress in national costume for special days and events.
From Graz we continued on into Vienna. We arrived in the late afternoon. I picked the “Motel One” just a block from the opera house. Motel One, despite its name, is not what Americans think of as a motel. Instead, it is a German chain that aims at a younger clientele that wants location and style and will accept small, somewhat spartan rooms, as a tradeoff for paying less. Once we had put our bags in our room we did not have much space to move around!
We took a brief nap and then dressed up a bit and headed over to the opera house. Located on the Ringstraße that circles central Vienna, it is a monument from the very last years of the Empire. Many of the grand war horses of the modern Opera repertoire had their premieres here.
I was so excited to be in such an almost sacred space for music, at least my favorite kind of music. We had splurged on really good tickets and our seats were just below the old royal box in the front row. We had a small screen that offered us English and German translations.
The opera was Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande. The music for this opera is wonderful; the libretto, based on a play by the Symbolist Maurice Maeterlinck, is utterly incoherent. The production was overall quite good. The singers were great; the set and costume design ingenious but almost as incoherent as the text. But the audience was generally appreciative.
One of the things I love about going to plays and concerts in Europe is that they do not always end with standing ovations. In Los Angeles, the audience jumps to its feet at the end of every performance, mostly, I think, because people are plotting to get to their cars before the rest of the audience does.
After the opera, we walked around central Vienna a bit, including Saint Stephen’s Cathedral.
Tomorrow we will be off to Prague.
