CAKE

2012 - Vienna Austria

When I think cake the first thought that come to mind is having pastries at Sacher in Vienna, definitely my highlight of Vienna. I had read novels over the years that would mention the hotel and its cakes so it was on my bucket list to stop in.

And I'm not the only one who thinks about it, this National Geographic writer does too!

And to wash down this delicacy...

Friday Finds

Starts with V
Week's Favorite
Inch


The first two will be the same, except we’ll work our way through the alphabet. The second can be a favorite image or activity from the week. The third will be different each time.

Friday Finds ABC Wednesday


Letter V - I'm going to try to find cities/towns we've visited as the theme. I will exclude Canada and the US from this round.

I will keep a running list at the bottom of the Friday post.

May 2012 - Vienna Austria

Vienna (German: Wien, pronounced [viːn]) is the capital and largest city of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.8 million (2.6 million within the metropolitan area, nearly one-third of Austria's population), and its cultural, economic, and political centre. It is the 7th-largest city by population within city limits in the European Union. Today, it has the second largest number of German speakers after Berlin. Vienna is host to many major international organizations, including the United Nations and OPEC.
Click here for a tasty morning visit.

Week's Favourite - snapped as we drove slowly along Queen St. E.

INCH - I thought this was going to be impossible but as soon as I typed the word I had a EUREKA (the sudden, unexpected realization of the solution to a problem) moment!

Inch (Irish: An Inse) is a town in County Clare, in Ireland. Situated on the scenic route from Ennis to Milltown Malbay the traveller will cross the village of Inch.

Inch in 2015 with best friends.

Inch in 2005 with my niece and nephew.

ALPHABET AROUND THE WORLD

1. Alice Springs, Australia
2. Bratislava, Slovakia
3. Cartagena Columbia
4. Delft The Netherlands
5. Edinburgh Scotland
6. Florence Italy
7. Giverny France
8. Hong Kong China
9. Istanbul Turkey
10. Jamaica
11. Kalambaka Greece
12. Lagos Portugal
13. Melbourne Australia
14. Normandy France
15. Old Head Kinsale Ireland
16. Prague Czech Republic
17. Queenstown New Zealand
18. Rudesheim Germany
19. Singapore
20. Tlaquepaque Mexico
21. Ulrich Russia

Travel - Weekend Cooking

May 2012 - Vienna Austria

I was reading a blog about Vienna and she mentioned the Sacher Hotel and it reminded me that I hadn't shared our delicious morning "snack" we had.

According to their website:

The most famous cake in the world for 175 years!
The Original Sacher-Torte has been the most famous cake in the world since 1832 and the original recipe a well-kept secret of our hotel.
Only the Original Sacher-Torte is produced according to this original recipe: The basis is a chocolate cake, thinly coated by hand with best-quality apricot jam. The chocolate icing on top of it is the crowning glory. The Original Sacher-Torte tastes best with a portion of unsweetened whipped cream, complemented perfectly with a “Wiener Melange” (coffee with milk) from the Original Sacher Café.

What to choose????

Maria Theresa coffee with orange liqueur!

I'm posting over at The Budget Travelers' Sandbox 

Beth hosts Weekend Cooking where you can post anything food related.

May 8 - Schonbrunn Palace Vienna

We took the optional tour of the Palace this afternoon. It was about a twenty minute drive from the boat.

Formerly the imperial summer residence, Schloss Schönbrunn(Schönbrunn Palace) and its gardens to the south-west of Vienna, near the River Wien, form one of the most important creations of Viennese art in the 18th century.

Despite its apparent unity of style, the complex incorporates various structural changes resulting from its long history. After World War I the palace became a museum; it was restored after damage in World War II.

Remodelling and modernization began in 1743, when the young Empress Maria-Theresa ordered that the building, one of her favourite residences, should be repaired and enlarged to accommodate the imperial household in comfort. 

Maria Theresa (1717-1780), archduchess of Austria, Holy Roman Empress, and queen of Hungary and Bohemia, began her rule in 1740. She was the only woman ruler in the 650 year history of the Habsburg dynasty. She was also one of the most successful Habsburg rulers, male or female, while bearing sixteen children between 1738 and 1756. 
Maria Theresa was married to Francis I, Duke of Lorraine. Maria Theresa was one of the few people in her age who married for love. She loved her husband dearly and passionately. She had 16 children by him, with 11 daughters (ten of whom had the first name "Maria") and five sons. 
Her youngest daughter was Maria Antonia, better known under her French name Marie Antoinette, who would be promised in marriage to the later King Louis XVI of France. 
Marie Louise who became Napoleon's second wife, bearing him a son, was a great granddaughter of Empress Maria Theresa through her father, and thus a great niece of Marie Antoinette. 

It appears there are several correct spellings for the palace name.

The view across the street from the palace.

 Looking towards the front of the palace.

 Unfortunately you cannot take photos inside. However, I did find some online.
Schoenbrunn Palace site has amazing photos of the interior.
There are some panoramic views of the rooms here and here.






The back of the palace and the gardens.

The Gloriette. A gloriette (from the 12th century French for "little glory") is a building in a garden erected on a site that is elevated with respect to the surroundings. The structural execution and shape can vary greatly, often in the form of a pavilion or tempietto, more or less open on the sides.

The largest and probably most well-known gloriette is in the Schönbrunn Palace Garden in Vienna. Built in 1775 as the last building constructed in the garden according to the plans of Austrian imperial architect Johann Ferdinand Hetzendorf von Hohenberg as a "temple of renown" to serve as both a focal point and a lookout point for the garden, it was used as a dining hall and festival hall as well as a breakfast room for emperor Franz Joseph I.

May 8 - Vienna

I'll post our afternoon's visit to Schonbrunn Palace separately.
This morning we woke in Vienna. The sign is Vienna in German.

We depart, by bus, for the morning city sightseeing tour. It took about twenty minutes to get into the centre of Vienna.

We drove by some sights such as

 A subway station entrance

 Typical city ctreet

 Mozart statue in park

 Parliament Buildings

 We then left the bus and took a walking tour.

The Spanish Riding School in Vienna is the only institution in the world where the classic equestrian skills (haute école) has been preserved and is still practiced in its original form. Many years of training fuse horse and rider into an inseparable unit. The audience is treated to an unforgettable experience by the precision of movement of the Lipizzan horses in perfect harmony with the music. We were lucky enough to see one of the horses in the stables.

 A monumental staircase in the building's side supports the equestrian statue that dominates the square. Its subject is Field Marshal Archduke Albrecht, in honor of a battle he won in 1866

We were then given some free time to wander along Graben, an exclusive pedestrian shopping street.

Vienna, located along trading routes linking Central Europe with Constantinople and Asia, was particularly exposed to pestilences. In 1629 a bubonic plague hit Vienna; fifty years later the pestilence spread again and returned once more in 1714.

In 1667 the Emperor Leopold I erected a monument to the Virgin Mary to thank her for intervention to quell the pestilence and other scourges which had hit Vienna.
After the 1679 plague a monument specifically meant to thank God for the end of the scourge (Pestsaule) was erected in the Graben, a large square on the site of the ditch which protected the ancient Roman town. Pestsaule set the pattern for many similar monuments in other Austrian towns. It is a spectacular spiral of clouds, angels and saints.

 Wandering along Graben

Then we headed to Sacher's, the world renowned cafe and hotel famous for its Sachertorte.

According to their website:

The most famous cake in the world for 175 years!
The Original Sacher-Torte has been the most famous cake in the world since 1832 and the original recipe a well-kept secret of our hotel.
Only the Original Sacher-Torte is produced according to this original recipe: The basis is a chocolate cake, thinly coated by hand with best-quality apricot jam. The chocolate icing on top of it is the crowning glory. The Original Sacher-Torte tastes best with a portion of unsweetened whipped cream, complemented perfectly with a “Wiener Melange” (coffee with milk) from the Original Sacher Café.

 Maria Theresa coffee with orange liqueur

 Cheese danish

   DH's came with an orange mimosa

Time to stroll (we couldn't walk fast after that little "snack")!

Sign for area where the boat is docked

 Back in time for lunch.

This afternoon we are taking the optional tour of Schonbrunn that I will post separately.

That evening, dinner was served at 6PM as the majority of passengers were attending the optional concert.
those that didn't go went to the lounge for some music and entertainment.