September 2, 2015

Vienna, Slovakia, Milan

Vienna, Karpatian mountains and Milan's World Expo.

02/0Sep/2015 to 14/Sep/2015.



Wednesday 02/Sep/2015.
Aix-en-Provence to Vienna journey.

 - Speedy-Gonzales walk from home to Aix-en-Provence's bus terminal (15 minutes).
- Coach from Aix-en-Provence bus terminal to Marseille-Provence airport 11:10-11:40.
- Flight from Marseille airport to Dusseldorf airport, 13:25-15:10, Eurowings flight 9451.
- Flight from Dusseldorf airport to Vienna airport, 18:00-19:30, Eurowings flight 9752, 30 minutes late.
  (124€ for both flights).
- Train S7 from Vienna airport to Praterstem metro station.
  (2.20€ on top of the 16.50€ for the 72h metropolitan transportation pass).
- Underground line U1 from Praterstem to Kagraner Platz (using the 72h pass).


While in transit at Dusseldorf's airport.

At the end, half an hour of delay.  Still OK these days.


The Airbus A320 from Dusseldorf to Vienna.
Germanwings economical dinner (an apple juice followed later).
Metropolitan train S7 from the airport to Vienna's city center.
19:30 discovering the lodging for the next three nights.

 |---| Best Western Hotel Wien Kagran 39€/n incl. breakfast.
Thursday 03/Sep/2015.
Vienna City visit and 'Die Fledermaus' operetta.
 

Naschmarkt, Vienna's largest fruit, vegetables and deli market..
 Majolika Haus and other Otto Wagner houses (Jugendstil).


"Das Leben ist shön!".
Cecession Building (holding the Beethoven Frieze, Klimt).




 
Part of the Beethoven frieze (one of the walls, in total it is 34m long), 1902.
Karlsplatz Otto Wagner's subway entrances.
Karlskirche church. 
 
Karlskirche church,
detail of helicoidal bas relief on the columns
(as on Rome's Trajan column).
Belvedere Palace (Exhibition Klimt, Shiele) and gardens.
 











 Gustav Klimt, Cottage Garden with Sunflowers, 1906
(picture stolen from the internet).


Gustav Klimt, Kiss, 1908
(picture stolen from the internet).

Selfie (made in front of a copy of the masterpiece)
(picture stolen from the internet).
  
Gustav Klimt, Avenue, 1912
(picture stolen from the internet).

 Egon Schiele, Four Trees, 1917
(picture stolen from the internet).




Lunch.







Hundertwasserhaus.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hundertwasserhaus 


Hundertwasserhaus, 1985.




Engel Apotheke (Otto Wagner).



Minoritenkirche.


The Minoritenkirche church (Franciscans), 1339.


The last supper (La Cena), mosaic commissioned by Napoleon to substitute Milano's
fresco from Leonardo Da Vinci, as he planned to move the original to Paris.
The Habsbourg family obtained it after Napoleon's defeat at Waterloo in 1815.

'Die Fldermaus' operetta ('The Bat', Johan Straus II).
Volksoper, 19:00, 48.18€.
The 'Volksoper', 15 minutes before the start,
People drinking sparkling white wine in the street.


The poster.


The tribe.

 |---| Best Western Hotel Wien Kagran 39€/n incl. breakfast.
Friday 04/Sep09/2015.
Schönbrunn Palace and the Labyrinth.


Schönbrunn, the imperial gardens.
Schönbrunn garden, the Gloriette.


Schönbrunn palace, as seen from the Gloriette.

Schönbrunn, lost in a mirror maze.


Overlooking the successfully ended labyrinthe (3.90€).

 Leopold Museum (Museumsquartier).


The Museumsquartier.
Gustav Klimt, 'Dead and Life', 1911 (and reworked 1915)
(photographing IS allowed in the Leopold Museum).


Gustav Klimt, 'Medecine', 4m high painting, 1898 (reproduction).
The allegory 'Medecine' was ordered for the university faculty building,
but got such a harsh critism so it was never installed.
The masterpiece was finally destroyed by the SS at the end of WW2.
Apart from the beautiful paintings,
the Leopold museum also shows some of the Jugendstil furniture.

 Dinner.


Nashmarkt restaurant.
World population : 7 340 237 587,
that's 7 billion 340 million 237 thousand and 587.
I am not alone, and I am certainly not the most strange of those.

 |---| Best Western Hotel Wien Kagran 53.10€/n incl. breakfast.
Saturday 05/Sep/2015.
Vienna City visit and Vienna to Bratislava journey.








 





Kirche am Steinhof, Otto Wagner.
(15:00 guided tour, 6€).






- Coach transportation from Vienna-Erdberg to Bratislava-Centrum, 17:30-18:35, 7.50€, Austriatrans/Eurolines (Donau cruise became cancelled because of low water level).
 
|---| Hotel Penzion Portus, Bratislava, 44€/n.
Sunday 06/Sep/2015.
Bratislava to Tatras mountains train journey.

 - 25 minutes walk from the hotel to the Hlavana (Central) Train station.
- Train from Bratislava to Poprad Tatry, 9:55-14:30 (arrival 14:50, 20 minutes late), 14.92€.
- Narrow gauge train from Poprad Tatry to Novy Smokovec, 1.50€.
- Free police ride to the 'Penzion'.
Bratislava.
Bratislava.




Train table with useful stuff.
Awaiting the narrow gauge train in Poprad-Tatry.
The High-Tatras Carpatian mountain range.
Mount Krivan is the peak on the left hand side of this picture taken
through the window of the narrow-gauge train (right before crossing the other one).

Kind policemen, offering a free ride to the 'Penzion'.
The 'Penzion'.
Cold temperatures, despite the blue sky.

|---| Penzion Villa Mon Ami, Vysoke Tatry, 38€/n +5€ breakfast.

Monday 07/Sep/2015.
Mount Kriváň ascent (abandoned, given up due to bad weather).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kriváň_(peak) 

- train from Stary Smokovec to Strbske Pleso, 7:09-7:50, 1.50€.
- train from Strbske Pleso to Stary Smokovec, 13:21-14:00, 1.50€.

Mount Krivan from Strbske Pleso to Mount Kriváň (2495m),
40' + 30' + 3h + 2.15h + 35' + 30' = 7h30' (+ picnics & rest times).











Summit of Mount Krivan, not reached this day.
(picture stolen from the internet).

 |---| Penzion Villa Mon Ami, Vysoke Tatry, 38€/n +5€ breakfast.
Tuesday 08/Sep/2015.
Mount Kriváň ascent (2nd attempt, now successful)

- train from Stary Smokovec to Strbske Pleso, 9:09-9:50, 1.50€.
- train from Strbske Pleso to Stary Smokovec, 18:21-19:00, 1.50€.

Underway, still below the timber line.

Here start the hardest part of the climb to the summit
The slope is average 45 degrees and icy, and foggy.

At the summit, in the clouds.

Sharing the moment with some other people.

Sometimes the clouds open and allow a marvelous view on the mountain peaks beneath.

Taking advantage of such a sunray for a selfie.


|---| Penzion Villa Mon Ami, Vysoke Tatry, 38€/n +5€ breakfast.



Wednesday 09/Sep/2015.
High Tatras to Banska Stiavnica journey & Banska Stiavnica.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banská Štiavnica 

- train from Stary Smokovec to Banska Stiavnica, 9:03-13:53 (12.64€, 3 stopovers).

 
The last train of the series of four,
Hronska Dubrava to Banska Stiavnica, an half hour ride.

The original plan of Banska Stiavnika's 'Kalvaria'.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalvária_Banská_Štiavnica 

The baroque calvary, with fourteen stages
(3 churches and 22 chapels, 1744-1751).

Campari bitter.

|---| Hotel Grand Matej, Banska Stiavnica, 46€/n.

 
Thursday 10/Sep/2015.
Banska Stiavnica & Banska Stiavnica to Bratislava journey.

Banska Stiavnica, Holy Trinity square.


Banska Stiavnica, the 'Old Castle', a church transformed in a castle.

Banska Stiavnica, the Old Castle'
(the 'New Castle' appears on the top at the right hand side of this picture).

The wooden images of the 'Kalvaria' visited yesterday.
They were transferred to the castle rooms to protect from vandalism.

Banska Stiavnica.

 Banska Stiavnica, flower shop.

- Train from Banska Stiavnica to Hronska Dubrava, 14:00:14:28.
- Train from Hronska Dubrava to Zvolen, 14:32-14:41.
- Train from Zvolen to Bratislava, 15:02-17-59 (+20 minutes late), 10.86€ for all 3 rides.

|---| Hotel Penzion Portus, Bratislava, 44€/n incl. breakfast.
Friday 11/Sep/2015.
Bratislava & Bratislava to Milano Journey. 

The 'Blue Church'.

'Eat me'.

New York's Guggenheim museum?
No, Bratislava's Nedbalka gallery.

 

Bye Bye Slovakia !

- Bus from Bratislava center to Bratislava airport, 15:57, 30 minutes ride, 0.90€. 
- Flight from Bratislava airport to Bergamo airport, 17:50-19-15, Ryanair flight FR4643, 35€.
- Bus from Bergamo airport to Milano-Centrale train station, 5€.
- Underground from Milano Centrale to Milano Lodi; 1.50€.
Saturday 12/Sep/2015.
Milano Expo.

Breakfast with (from left toright) Kris, Bernadette and Karolien.
http://expomilano2015.be/startpagina.htm?lng=en






The belgian pavilion.


Inside the belgian pavilion.


Beurk...

Tasting Perugina's Baci.

The french pavilion.






Sunday 13/Sep/2015.
Lago Como.


A rainy day...

Monday 14/Sep/2015.
Milano.
Tuesday 15/Sep/2015.
Milano to Aix-en-Provence journey.


 - Train from Milano Centrale to Marseille Saint Charles, 15:10-22:29, Thello train 159, 30€.
- Coach from Marseille Saint Charles train station to Aix-en-Provence bus terminal.
- Walk from Aix-en-Provence's bus terminal to home (15 minutes).

 |---| Home, Aix-en-Provence.



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