From Beirut to Jupiter: A night at the opera, and another night at the Oktoberfest, Part 1

We left Oberndorf and caught the high speed train to Vienna. Our opera tickets were for the next night, so time wasn't really of the essence, but as we only had two nights, high speed was the best way to go. We left the car and the Big Bag at Andreas's building and I finally could relax a bit while on the move.

I like to watch the changes in the architecture from region to region as you're traveling. Alpine Austria is pretty different from eastern Austria. This goes back to what I said about microethnicities and dialects. Architecture, too, and other cultural differences are fascinating to me because they occur over such short distances. They stand out on a beautiful cross country train ride.

There's really nothing like a train ride, either. It's like a sightseeing tour on its own, and the thrill of spotting a castle on a hill or a famous landmark is as strong today as it was when I was a twenty year old student. Then there are those places in the world that are new and magical every time I see them, timeless places immortalized by music or paintings or literature. The Danube (Donau) is one of those places. We followed it as we got closer to Vienna as it wound its way around little towns and across farms and hills. Then, we never saw it again. But that comes later.

We arrived in the afternoon, caught a cab to our hotel from the train station, set our bags down, and went out for some food and sights and music (we hoped.) Austria is a musicians dream, and Vienna is the capital of that dream. Hotel Schubertring (named after, of course, the road that is named after the composer Schubert), is a five minute walk from the opera house and ten minutes from the city center. It was a GREAT location.

One great thing about Vienna is how walkable it is. The major sites of interest are all close to each other, and the city center is laid out in such a way that all but the worst of the directionally challenged can get around without a map. But we weren't interested in particular sites. We had both been to Vienna in the past; I had spent a little more time there than I had in Salzburg because it was a stop for a school trip. Reading through my journal pages from that time gives no clue about what we actually did, as I was focused on all the drama of the students and seemingly unappreciative of being there. But as I look back on it, the things that are still with me are the things that matter. I remember the impression the imperial history made on me then - the boastful palaces, the ostentatious churches, the art and fountains and statues, all signs of the obscene wealth that had once belonged to the Habsburgs - though I never mentioned it in the journal. Even though I had a history minor, I didn't really learn what I know about history until after I graduated. My college courses and some of the trips like the one to Vienna merely sparked the interest and taught me what there was to know about the world. College was more of a compass to me than anything else.

fantastic architecture abounds in Vienna

This time, I knew something about what I was seeing, but I realized there were gaps in my knowledge or there were things I had forgotten. I bought a book on the Habsburgs a few days ago to catch up. The Habsburgs, the dominant family in continental Europe for 1000 years, got their start because some white trash ancestors of theirs basically squatted land left vacant after the Huns had destroyed a lot of Europe. Then they squatted land that was disputed in other ways. Then they married into more land and sucked up to the rich and powerful and made a lot of political donations until one of them, Rudolf I, was elected (princes elected kings back then) as King of the Romans (the most powerful position in the Holy Roman Empire that wasn't the Pope. At that time it was basically the emperor who hadn't been officially declared emperor by the Pope yet.) Rudolf's son, Albert, became King of the Romans, too, but he was a dick and everyone hated him and eventually he was murdered by one of his own family members. But no one like the Habsburgs by then and they were relegated to being only dukes of Austria and were stripped of their vote for king, and that's when they started making up crazy stories that they were descendants of Julius Caesar and Charlemagne and they usurped the members of the previous powerful family in Austria until they made it seemed like they were an ancient royal order. They continued to suck up to everyone who mattered, including the Pope, and they pretended like they were so devout and that they were basically appointed by God to rule Europe.

Their use of propaganda is fascinating. They are the ones who "discovered" many of the relics that European churches continue to say are Jesus Christ's, like the thorns of the crown and pieces of the shroud. When the Pope made up the feast of Corpus Christi in 1264, they adopted it as their own holiday and helped make it a popular feast. They spoke to their people in German and denounced Latin as elitist, a calculated populist move not unlike the propaganda we see from populists like Trump today. They finally started getting elected as King of the Romans again and their power grew and grew until the Protestant schism and countless wars and the destruction of the Holy Roman Empire by Napoleon. The Austrian Empire was born out of those ashes, then grew into the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Then Franz Joseph started World War I and lost and that was the end of the Habsburgs.

Oh sure, they still exist, but the last of the royal line, Otto, died in 2011. He seems like he was a decent guy. He opposed the Nazis and apparently had a hand in rescuing a lot of Jews and others from them. Can you imagine being the most powerful imperial family for a thousand years and now you have to go to work every day just like average Joe?

And there's your history lesson. But you can't separate history from travel, otherwise, why bother seeing anything? I was reminded of the Habsburgs almost immediately when we went into St. Peter's church and saw a painting of the last Habsburg emperor, Charles. It wasn't just that painting, though, it was the delightful propaganda pamphlet that we found in the church's literature collection that set my thoughts about the Habsburgs in motion. And the truth is, our European travels have followed those people everywhere, from Alhambra and Seville in Spain to the Benelux countries and even my own school in Luxembourg, a chateau which once belonged to Charles the Bold, father to Mary of Burgundy who married Maximilian I. I feel like I am chasing their ghosts or something. I guess we should go to Prague next.

The pamphlet basically deified Charles, in line with how the Habsburgs viewed their entire family.

Another interesting thing about this church is that it is run by Opus Dei. They had another piece of propaganda that we collected about the founder of Opus Dei, who also has a painting in the church. While most people are familiar with Opus Dei through Dan Brown novels, the truth is they are a secretive cult of Catholic fascists. It makes sense that this church would continue to celebrate the Habsburgs and imperialism.

the outside of St. Peter's

St. Peter's organ

We found a place for dinner that was right off the main drag and though it looked like it might have been a tourist joint, it was full of Austrians. I had a wiener in Wien, because I wanted to say that. LOL.

After dinner we wandered around for a bit. We really wanted to find some place to listen to music, either classical or contemporary, but it was a Wednesday night, and even though it was Vienna, much of what was scheduled was for the next night or the weekend. We stopped at a bar with a heated terrace, largely because we wanted a bathroom, and because I wanted a place to sit down and look online to see if there were any concerts we could attend. Some rich kids from a nearby prep school sat down at the table next to us. I don't think all of them were 18 but it was clear that wouldn't stop them from ordering drinks. They ended up being interesting to talk to, and in fact were the ones who told us about it being Oktoberfest time in Vienna.

We took an uber over to the Prater and discovered the perfect ending for our day in Vienna. The tourist hoards were all getting drunk in the Munich Oktoberfest a couple of hours away, so we got to hang out with locals for our Oktoberfest #2. The beer hall with the live music was full, so we settled for one with a DJ. It was a blast.

Some Day 1 Vienna pics: