Edlach - Mountaineers

Next to the pool in Edlach is this thing: 

A Iron Smelting Oven. 

In 1699 the monastery that owned this village got the right to process iron. 

They built this fantastic oven. 

Lately, Thomas started to show interest in the German artist

Sigmar Polke. He relied heavily on photography. 

At night I met with my friend Gabi,

who is an avid mountaineer. 

We went to a movie premier of a film on Peter Habeler

(right, with Reinhold Messner).

In 1978, the duo were the first to climb Mount Everest

without oxygen. 

Earlier this year, Peter Habeler was the first 75-year old

to climb the Eiger North Face. 

Here he is with his 25-year old fellow climber David Lama. 

All three climbers were at the film premiere. 

My friend Gabi was in heaven.

 

 

Schloss Rothschild

 Around the corner is the Hunting Lodge of Baron Rothschild.

The servant wing (right) is in the English Tudor style, 

while the actual castle (left) is in the French Renaissance style

often seen in the Loire River Valley.

 It was built in the 1880s, but when his sister did not approve of the architecture, 

the Baron gave the whole estate away to the Imperial Army.

 

When I worked for the Army many years ago,

I was an architectural consultant to the architects who

renovated the building.  

 After our little visit we took a little walk and saw some beautiful villas.

 Even the villas from the 1930s look great.

 This was first owned by an Imperial Arch-Duke, 

later it was the seat of the head of forestry administration.

 The Nazi party made it its HQ during World War II.

 Then we went to the Villa Wartholz and their beautiful garden shops.

 We had coffee under these eight plane trees whose

branches were bound to grow horizontally to 

provide excellent shade.

 The coffee was excellent.

 Sexy grounds keepers...

 Beautiful vegetable gardens....

 A couple of gazebos....

 The shop/cafe had a wonderful reading room;

 with a golden frog;

and a little boutique for lovely tchatchkies.

Ah, and the chocolate selection!

Reichenau an der Rax

We are spending a couple of days in Reichenau an der Rax at my sister's place.

This is Schloss Reichenau (the castle).

During the last years of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy, rich Viennese citizens and 

the aristocracy came here to spend their summers. 

This is the Villa Wartholz. It is the place where the son of the last Austrian Emperor was born. 

His name was Otto Habsburg. 

Now the Villa Wartholz and its 19-acre estate are owned by a family who does historic gardens. 

They have a very nice coffee house.

The aristocracy came here for the hunting and in fact, 

we saw a deer on our walk through the woods today. 

We went to the public pool in Edlach, just one village over, 

but it started to rain. We will try it again tomorrow.

This is a restaurant called Flackl. The beautiful woodwork is typical for the area. 

 Many famous artists and writers used to spend their summers in Reichenau. 

One of them was Arthur Schnitzler. 

Schnitzler was a physician, but his heart belonged to writing. 

His plays and short stories focus on the morals and failings of Austria's high-strung 

society before World War I and

give great insight into human nature.

 During the summer, Reichenau has a small but high-carat theater festival celebrating this heritage.

 

Oberlaa

We went to Kurkonditorei Oberlaa HQ today on a long trip by trolley and bus.

 We had 32 degrees (90 fahrenheit)!

 Their Chocolate-Mousse Torte is very famous.

 We had to sample it twice to make sure.

This is their cake window. Not too shabby.

Akademietheater

Today we went to the Akademietheater to see a play by Johann Nestroy. 

 Thomas shone his shoes.

 

Johann Nestroy was one of the great Biedermeier authors in Vienna during the 1800s.

 We saw "The Talisman" - a play on prejudice and the fickle nature of man.

 Some fresh air during the break.

It was very funny.

Tichy for Breakfast

We had breakfast at Tichy's today!

 We went into Saint Stephen's Cathedral.

 On the Western Facade is still the 05 symbol of the resistance against Nazi Germany.

 We had a good lunch at Reinthaler's. Beef roast with Chanterelle sauce.

 We strolled by the Loos Haus;
by the famous architect Adolf Loos.

Back in Vienna

 We are back in Vienna.