Vienna

Tuesday we decided to finish our Klimt tour. We returned to the Secession and did a pass through the temporary exhibits before visiting the star of the gallery.

Apparently we don't understand modern art, because we fully hated most of the current exhibits.

We descended to the basement installment of the Beethoven Frieze, which didn't disappoint. Although it was hard to justify the admission price of the museum just to see one piece, we remembered that we paid a fee to see The Last Supper for 15 minutes last summer.

From the Secession, we moved onto the Leopold museum. The Leopold holds the world's largest collection of Egon Schiele pieces, and after discovering his work just the day before I was excited to see more. There were also a few Klimts (David notes wryly that they are spread throughout the city, thereby requiring numerous admission fees), including "Life and Death".

After two art museums we were wiped out and a little cranky. We stopped at a bistro to have lunch and recharge our batteries, and I tried the famous Viennese cafe latte. It tastes like very milky coffee.

As late afternoon approached we decided to make a final stop at Saint Stephen's cathedral. I had done a little research the night before and learned that Mozart's marriage and funerals both took place there. We saw a Byzantine painting of the Virgin Mary and Child that apparently cried real tears twice in 1696. I was hoping for a miracle repeat in 2010, but no dice.

We weren't far from the hotel then, so we went back for a break. I found a Vienna travel book on the hotel's bookshelf and flipped through, looking for anything important we should see on our last day. I also came upon a restaurant recommendation right around the corner from our hotel, which suited our lazy selves nicely.

We ended our last night in Vienna with traditional meals of schnitzel and potato pancakes, then walked to a nearby popular gelateria for dessert. I have no idea if Vienna is known for its gelato, but it was delicious.