Paris 2013: Invalide

The first time that we were in Paris in 2004, we only had a short amount of time to visit Les Invalide (the French Army Museum) because it was closed earlier in the day for some official event.  So on this trip, we decided to dedicate an entire day to this museum so that we could do it right.

The building itself is both beautiful and historic. It was commissioned by Louis XIV as a home for aged or unwell soldiers. By 1676 the first elderly soldiers had moved in, and parts of the complex continue to be operated as a rest home home and medical centre to this day. During the French Revolution Les Invalides was stormed, and the weapons seized were used to capture the Bastille. Later, Napoleon I was interred in the central chapel, with several illustrious French military commanders entombed nearby, making it a pantheon of French military heroes. By the end of the 19th century, the bulk of the Invalides had been turned into a museum for the French army.

We started out in the section called Arms and Armoury and ended up spending hours in there, as the fascinating displays went on for room after room.  With suits of armour dating back to the 13th century, they had a selection from every era.  They even had some foreign armour, including Turkish, Japanese and the armour of the Emperor of China that was seized after the sacking of the Summer Palace in Beijing. Armour was more than just a military necessity, as the enormous cost of a suit of armour turned it into a symbol of prestige, power, and wealth. Suits of armor were often given as diplomatic gifts from one sovereign to another, and several of these were on display. One of the more interesting cabinets contained several suits of armour for a French king as a young boy, an adolescent, and finally as an adult, with the suits getting progressively larger as he aged.

Armour was also used for the sport of jousting.  The suits specifically designed for this purpose were significantly heavier than those that were designed for battle.  A small metal holder for the lance was melded to the breastplate.  For the truly wealthy, armour could be highly decorated, which would further inflate the prestige of the owner. I could not help think that while the wealthy no longer acquire armour, they do acquire expensive sports cars and yachts for their conspicuous consumption, so it seems that things have not changed that much.

 The weapons section was interesting and sometimes elaborately decorative. In some cases, the adornments seemed like they would hinder the effectiveness or ease of use of the weapon.  There were a pair of ornately carved ivory pistols, a three-barreled gun that might have been an early attempt at a multi-shot pistol,  a dagger in a scabbard that was shaped like a crucifix (talk about mixed messages), and another dagger which seems to have some sort of rodent carved on its handle.

The section on Napoleon included his coronation robe, as well as his favourite horse and pet dog, which have been stuffed for posterity.  Napoleon's massive tomb is found under the Golden Dome of the building.  From the Battle of Waterloo there was the body armour of a French cavalryman who apparently had a very bad day - there is a large hole in both the front and back of his body armour where a cannon ball passed completely through him.

The artillery section includes some very old cannons, as well as a wooden cannon from Vietnam.  There was a cannon with multiple barrels which was intriguing.  I guess it did not work that well since the design never caught on.

There was a special exhibit on the French involvement in Indo-China (current Vietnam and Cambodia) that featured objects such as a liquor bottle that had a French sailor pulling the pigtail of an unfortunate native.  Many of the illustrations alluded to the French occupation which occurred between 1887-1954.  One poster had an overt propaganda message implying that the French and the Indochinese were coexisting together in the occupied territories, like one big happy family.

The section on World War I had some large items such as the Renault FT tank from 1917, and one of the famous Paris Taxis that saved France at the Battle of the Marne in 1914. There were also some small items such as a stuffed animal that a French pilot had used as a good luck charm.  It did not do him much good, as it was retrieved from his aircraft after he was shot down and killed.  From the World War II section was a mini motorcycle that was designed for paratroopers and resistance fighters. It was designed to be folded up into a bomb shaped canister and dropped by parachute.

After spending an entire day wandering around Les Invalide, we still barely scratched the surface.  There were entire sections that we never got to and we started to skim the ones that we did visit.  We had rented an audio guide which gave very interesting information about various numbered exhibits.  But it also had several self-guided walking tour themes that you could select from.  For example, you could go from section to section in the museum learning about war paintings through the centuries, or Napoleon or Charles de Gaulle.  While this would be a great way to get in-depth information on a given topic, it would not be an efficient use of time, since it involved too much traversing between the wings of the huge museum

There was too much to see and still not enough time to do it justice.  Towards the end of the day, with time running out and aching feet, I gave up trying to see the actual exhibits and just sat on a bench listening to the "audio" guide which also included images and videos.  It was the next best thing to being there.  We fought a good battle but in the end, the museum defeated us.

Paris 2013: Layover in Paris

While awaiting our flight to Paris where we planned to layover for a couple of days, we spent some time in the Vienna airport.  It is quite a civilized place to hang out, with free WIFI (unlike Charles Degaulle in Paris!), workstations with power supplies, lounge seats where you can stretch out, vending machines that sell products from Best Buy, and a T-Mobile store that sold SIM cards for our IPAD.  We had some excitement in our departure lounge when a group of beautiful, statuesque women showed up wearing colourful clothing and flora head-pieces.  It turns out they were Austrian performers dressed up in the style of Frida Khalo, en route to Paris to do a show.  They strutted throughout the airport posing for photos before boarding our flight.

Since this was our third visit to Paris, we wanted to find a unique boutique hotel to stay at, similar to one that we found on an earlier trip to Seattle.  I googled "Paris boutique hotels" and the photos for Sorbonne Design Hotel caught my eye.  It had a funky decor that was fairly modern in the main lobby and rooms, but had a nostalgic feel with the winding staircase and baby blue wall paper decorated with images of old buildings in the area like the Sorbonne and the Pantheon.  Each floor of the hotel hosted a photo gallery with a different theme.  Our floor had a mishmash of old wedding photos from different times and cultures.  The burgundy carpet in the narrow hallways had a French poem embroidered into it.

We were lucky that there was an autumn sale on the room rates for the time period that we would be in Paris.  We were able to get the "best and largest" room on the top floor of the hotel for about 60% of the cost.  We had to keep in mind that France's standards for "large" were not on the same scale as North America.  The best feature of the room was the skylight window that had a view of the Sorbonne and the Pantheon.  Although there is also free WIFI, each room comes with free access to an Apple Mac computer, for those who did not bring their own devices.  In order to retrieve the password for the free WIFI, we had to access a menu within the Mac.  It took a second to realize that what was provided was not a standard North American QWERTY keyboard.  I had never seen a keyboard with this setup before and had to hunt and peck to find the letters, numbers and symbols I needed.

While we feasted on and raved about the cakes in Vienna, in Paris we were after other treats.  We had a chocolate eclair that had light fluffy pastry surrounding rich chocolate mouse, a chocolate almond croissant with the perfect mix of chocolate and almond paste, and Florentine cookies which I would have preferred to be crunchier.  We had already loaded up on chocolate in Vienna and therefore did not buy more in Paris.  But we did have fun window shopping at high-end chocolate stores such as Patrick Roger, which had elaborate chocolate carvings displayed in the front windows.

So many macaron choices and so little time (or stomach room).  The last time we were in Paris, we bought macarons from Laduree, specializing in these flavoured meringue cookies that sandwich a creamy filling since 1862.  This time, we were attracted by all the colours and flavours of macaron available at Fauchon.  We shared a cappuchino and a chocolate hazelnut one.  Then on the way home, we spotted the sign at the McCafé–even McDonalds sold macarons!

A trip to Paris would not be complete without a visit to our favourite tea salon, Angelina's.  We go for the lovely decor, and the food is pretty good.  For lunch, we had a fois gras salad and truffled ravioli.  You get a significantly larger piece of fois gras in France than you would in North America.  The truffled pasta was one of the most flavourful dishes we have ever tasted!  But the real reason that we return to Angelina's again and again is for their hot chocolate, which is so thick and rich that it is like drinking a melted chocolate bar.  It is delicious with or without the container of whipped cream that accompanies it.

Au Pied du Cochon is known for serving every part of the pig, including the trotter, tail, snout, ear and even the head.  We were not brave enough to order any of these parts, but did watch someone sitting next to us gnaw away at a hoof.  After hearing our awful French, the waiter quickly handed us an English menu.  Then the Asian couple next to us asked for and received a Chinese menu.  I wonder how many different languages are available?

We had read that the French Onion soup was very good here, and indeed it was.  The broth was sweet as opposed to salty and topped with a thick layer of seared guyere cheese.  With the bread, we were served a small container of pork pate.  For our meal, we both ordered the veal stew with mushrooms, tomato and scalloped potato in a sauce. We skipped dessert but were given two "piggy" meringues to end the meal.

Le Train Bleu is by far the most beautiful restaurant that we have ever dined in.  Located in the Gare de Lyon train station, the restaurant (initially called "Buffet de la Gare de Lyon") was open in 1901 and served travelers and other visitors passing through the station.  It was built in the era of  La Belle Époque, which also saw the construction of the  Opéra Garnier and the Grand Palais.   The restaurant is decorated with 41 large murals depicting landscapes and industry, which are surrounded by elaborate trim in gold leaf and sculptures of nymphs and cupids, deep red velour curtains, a  parquet-patterned floor, and elaborate chandeliers.  It felt like we were having dinner in the palace of Versaille. 

Although we went for the ambiance more than for fine dining, it turned out that food was pretty good, and did not cost a King's Ransom if you order the fixed price menu.  For 56 Euros, you got an amuse bouche, an appetizer, main course, dessert and a choice of a small bottle of wine or water.  We both selected the gazpacho chilled cod with lime and the chicken Tournedos Rossini topped with fois gras, sitting in an artichoke puree.  For dessert I went for the apple tartin with vanilla ice cream while Rich had the cheese platter.  Considering that just ordering the drinks separately would have cost us 7-15 Euroes each, this was a great deal.

For our final meal, we went to a very small local restaurant in the Latin Quarter called Le Petit Pontoise. We luckily had a reservation as we saw the owners turn multiple groups away since the place was packed.  Here we had the most delicious appetizer of escargots and mushrooms in a creamy green garlic sauce, served in a delightful little copper pot.  For main course, we ordered the duck with fois gras on mashed potato, which was tasty but a bit heavy for me and could have used a side of vegetables.  If I came back, I would ask for the duck breast with apple slices that the person next to us ordered, which came with a heaping serving of crisply sauted vegetables.  Then the dessert came and it was a twist on the molten chocolate cake served with a small dollop of ice cream.  When you broke into the cake, out burst a flood of liquidy chocolate sauce mixed with some sort of liqueur that we could not identify.  When this was mixed with the drizzles of chocolate and raspberry on the plate, the resultant taste was amazing.  All in all, the meal was fantastic and we would definitely return on our next trip to Paris.

Vienna 2013: Dining

When we travel to different cities, we like to poke around the grocery stores to see how different they are from the ones in Toronto.  When we were in France, there were several aisles worth of cheese.  In China, we didn't find much cheese but there were more types of tea than you could count.

In Austria, the big seller seems to be chocolate.  Not only are there specialty chocolate shops everywhere, but the supermarkets seem to dedicate larger areas to chocolate than produce.  In the Merkl supermarket next to our apartment,  there is an entire wing full of chocolate in all shapes and sizes and so many brands that we have never heard of.  Even the brands we knew, like Lindt, came in a dizzying number of flavours that are not commonly available back home.  There were over 12 flavours of Lindor truffle balls that you could buy by weight and mix and match, including Champagne, Irish Cream, Cappuccino, Crunchy Nougat, Coconut, and Cookies and Cream.  The Lindt chocolate bars came in flavours like Creme Brule, Tiramisu and Pistaschio Cream.  We started calculating how much chocolate we could cart home in our suitcases.

Austrians must favour sweets in general since they are also known for their luscious cakes accompanied by a large dollop of whipped cream and exotic coffees with more of that cream.  It is amazing that they are not all 300 pounds!

We went to the famous Cafe Demel, located on the ritzy street Kohlmarkt, to try the Viennese signature cake–the Sacher Torte.  This is a dense chocolate cake with apricot jam and chocolate icing that was first served at the Sacher Hotel in 1832.  Cafe Demel has been open since 1786 and is famous for the artistic desserts which are displayed in the front windows.  Once during a Wimbledon match, the Demel windows hosted busts of Federer and Nadal made out of chocolate.  An open bakery is on display so that you can watch the creations take shape and you can commission custom-made cakes.
 

Cafe Mozart goes all out in its tribute to the famous composer.  Not only is the cafe named after him, but there is also a Mozart torte and Mozart hot chocolate.  In both cases, the cake and drink featured pistachio cream, which made me wonder whether Wolfgang was partial to this flavour.  My hot chocolate came with a little chocolate ball called the Mozartkugel from the Mozart Chocolate store.  By now, we had confirmed that coffee is also a serious deal in Vienna, as there is usually a separate menu full of specialty coffee selections.  Rich tried the Maria Theresa, which is a double mocha with Cointreau topped with whipped cream and candied orange

Our favourite cafe was Cafe Central, both in terms of beautiful decor and choice of cakes.  We liked it so much the first time that we returned for more cake! This cafe has been opened since 1876 and hosted well known people such as Sigmund Freud, Leon Trotsky and even Adolf Hitler.  At the back of the restaurant are portraits of Emperor Franz Joseph I and Empress Elisabeth.  Evening meals were accompanied by a live pianist whose repetoire included Edelweiss from the Sound of Music and the theme from the movie The Third Man.

We are ashamed to admit that we were so enamoured by the cakes that we indulged in them not only during dinner, but sometimes for lunch and even one breakfast!  In our defense, the breakfast was our last meal in Vienna before leaving for the airport so it seemed fitting for a last goodbye cake–and we did preface this with a proper meal of scrambled eggs with smoked salmon and chives and freshly squeezed orange juice.

My two favourite cakes came from Cafe Central.  The best was the Peanut Brule, which was a milk chocolate and caramel mousse, covered by peanuts and a layer of dark chocolate, and accented with thin pieces of milk and white chocolate.  I loved the different textures of the smooth mousse against the crunchy peanuts.  My next favourite was called the Nuss Kuss, which had layers of milk chocolate and hazelnut crisps.  We also tried the apple strudel which came with a wonderful vanilla sauce, and of course, the prerequisite whipped cream.  I was sure that I had gained many pounds from all this dessert, but when we got home, it turns out that I actually lost four pounds.  I've either stumbled on a new secret-weapon diet of cake and whipped cream, or the 8+ hours a day of walking we did on a daily basis successfully counteracted the binging.

Figlmüller is reputed to be the place to go for schnitzel in Vienna, so we made a dinner reservation several weeks ahead of our trip.  Good thing too, because the place is packed every night with lineups out the door. We had a nice table by the window but ended up having people from the lineup peering in at us to see if we were almost done.

We had heard that the schnitzels were huge, but did not expect them to be bigger than my head!  They were quite thin and nicely breaded but I would have liked it better if it came with a sauce, preferably a mushroom sauce.  This was our first restaurant meal in Vienna, where we learned that Austrians really like their potato, and that it is redundant to order a salad plus a potato dish.  The Viennese salad included potatoes with the greens.  What was really confusing was that our potato salad included greens with the potatoes.  We thought at first that they had brought us the same dish twice, but closer inspection showed that each salad had a different dressing.  Rich's "glass of wine" was served in a beer glass.

We went to Plachutta so that Rich could try their specialty of tafelspitz, which consists of cuts of beef boiled in a copper pot along with beef broth, root vegetables, leek, apple and horseradish.  The pot is set on a hot plate so that broth will stay warm.  You start by drinking the broth as soup for the first course, and then fish out the meat and vegetables for the main course.  The meal comes with fried rosti potatoes with a chive sauce.  You could pick the parts of the cow to be used for the meal, with a handy picture on the menu to clarify the choices.

We were recommended Brezel Growbl by our walking-tour guide as an interesting place to eat.  The building dates all the way back to 1241.  Dining in the basement by candlelight, it felt like we had stepped back into medieval times.  Our table was tucked into a tiny alcove next to the remnants of a Roman wall.  At one point, the building was used as a pretzel bakery and there is a copper pretzel hanging from the stairs in tribute to this history.  They still serve pretzels today.

Vienna 2013: Walking Tour, Danube Canal

We went on a 2.5 hour Vienna walking tour which took us to many of the major points of interest all around the Innere Stradt.  While the tour covered some of the areas that we had already seen by ourselves, including Hofburg Palace and St. Stephens Cathedral,  it also led us to areas that were not initially on our radar.

We passed through several shopping areas including Graben (meaning trench) which dates back to the Roman days.  Along with many shops and restaurants, situated along this wide pedestrian street are two fountains dedicated to St. Joseph and St. Leopold.  Between the fountains is a gigantic marble and gold column with elaborate carvings, commissioned by Emperor Leopold I to celebrate the end of the Black Plague.

We also walked through Kohlmart, which is Vienna's "mink mile"–home to, expensive watch, jewelry and clothing stores, brand names like Gucci, Chanel, and Tiffany's, and even some old local shops that used to supply the Imperial Palace.  It is interesting that "kohle" translates to coal, which was once a measure of wealth.  There was an ornate building called Pension Neuer Markt that turned out to be a three-level grocery store that was as beautiful inside as it was outside.  Multi-level grocery stores must be common, since the Merklr Markt next to our apartment also had three floors.

During the walking tour, we went into the Kinsky Art Auction house to see another example of a palatial Baroque mansion.  In fact, it seemed like everywhere we turned, there were sculptures and carvings adorning buildings and fountains.

We visited Judenplatz or Jewish Square, which was the center of the Viennese Jewish community in the Middle Ages.  The tour guide gave us a frank assessment of Austria's cooperation and culpability in the Nazi persecution of the Jews.  She said that it was misleading to say that Austria was the "first victim" of the Nazis, since at least in the beginning, there was a lot of support for Hitler within the country.  German-speaking Austrians harboured jealousy and resentment towards the wealthy Jews, while Hitler seemed to be bringing jobs and economic prosperity.  Of the 200,000 Jewish people who lived in Vienna before the Second World War, only 1000 remained afterwards.  It was not until the year 2000 that the Holocaust Memorial was unveiled in the square.  It is designed as to look like a library where the bindings of the books are stacked up against the four walls.  The memorial stands in front of the Museum Judenplatz.  There is also a sculpture of the German poet Gotthold Lessing, whose writings preached tolerance in the Age of Enlightenment.

The Ringstraße is a circular "Ring Road" that surrounds the Innere Stadt and follows the path of the former city walls that were built in the 13th century to protect Vienna.   The wall was torn down during the reign of Franz Joseph I, who erected 12 buildings around the ring road.  These included parts of Hofburg Palace, the Town Hall (which looks like Big Ben from afar), the Burgtheatre, the University of Austria, where all Austrians can attend for free, and the Statsoper.  The part of the road around the State Opera, which is called Opernring, has wide pathways surrounded by trees and is quite beautiful to see.  The road is shared by cars, buses, horse and carriages, and bicycles who have their own dedicated lane.

Classical music is very important to Vienna's history as is shown by the number of tourist items available for purchase that are dedicated to famous composers who lived in Vienna.  Mozart Chocolates can be found in numerous places and there is a Cafe Mozart which serves the Mozart torte.  A kitchen/nicknack store sells everything from tablecloths, cups and saucers, plates and umbrellas, all with piano keys or musical scores embossed on them.  We saw plaques on buildings indicating that Mozart or Hayden or Beethoven lived here for a period of time.  The tour guide told us not to be too excited by spotting one of Beethoven's "homes", since he had lived in over 67 different places in Vienna.  Apparently, Beethoven never paid the rent and would squat in one place until he was evicted, and then would move on to another.

The various buildings of Hofburg Palace overlook the Volksgarten or People's Garden.  This is a beautifully landscaped park that is full of rose bushes which can be rented.  For 150 Euros per year, you get a dedication plaque on your rose bush, from which you can cut blossoms to take home.  A neoclassical Greek temple was built in 1821 and seems a bit out of place with its surrounding Baroque neighbours.

While the Danube Canal was not part of the walking tour, we did catch sight of it at the start of our tour and decided to check it out the next day.  The Danube Canal used to be an arm of the Danube River and runs 17.3km along the Innere Stradt.  We accessed the canal after visiting the Hundertwasser Apartments and the entrance was lined with his trademark columns.  The paths along each side of the canal are perfect for walking, jogging, cycling and even fishing.  Even though it was October, we witnessed people doing all these things.  I can just imagine how crowded it would be here in the summer.  A few tour boats sailed up and down the canal but many more were docked for the season.

We had remarked earlier in the week that there was a distinct lack of graffiti on the walls of Vienna, although it would probably be a serious crime to be caught defacing any of the historic Baroque buildings.  But when we saw the walls along the canal, we knew we had found the graffiti Mecca.  We walked about 2km along the canal and there was not a blank wall to be seen through this entire stretch.

It was a perfect day to walk along the canal, with the sun shining brightly and the autumn leaves just starting to change colour.  We spotted one restaurant where diners could be seated on a ramp which extended out over the canal.  The view from up there must have been stunning.

Vienna is a very compact and walkable city that is brimming with history. Many of the streets in the Innere Stradt are pedestrian-only, making it a pleasant place to wander and window shop.  Even after 6 nights, there were still things we didn't have time to do in Vienna.  If we return, we would like to take the "Third Man" tour since this is Rich's favourite movie, and we need to go to Schomberg Palace.

Vienna 2013: Hundertwasser Buildings and Museum

Having seen the works of Antonio Gaudi when we visited Barcelona several years ago, we were very surprised to learn about Austrian artist Friedensreich Hundertwasser, who seemed like Gaudi's artistic soul mate.  The buildings designed by Hundertwasser have a very similar whimsical, vivid and dynamic look and feel to Gaudi's works.  Compare  Gaudi's buildings and structures found in Parc Guell with the Spittelau District Heating Plant that Hundertwasser renovated in Vienna.

Hundertwasserhaus, a social housing apartment complex which opened in 1986, is a prime example of Hundertwasser's style and his affinity towards nature.  The floors in the courtyard and lobby are not flat, but rather undulate to simulate hills and bumps and crevices that you would find in nature.  He is quoted as saying that "The uneven floor becomes a symphony, a melody for the feet and brings back the natural vibrations to man." - (April 1991)

The facade of the building is painted in vibrant shades of blue, yellow, red and white, with each different colour representing a separate apartment unit.   Hundertwasser called the facade of a building a person's "third skin" after his actual skin and his clothing.

Trees or folliage grow out of the windows of some of the upper units.  Hundertwasser installed planter boxes by the windows with a self watering system to support the growth of what he calls "tree tenants" who "pay rent" by purifying the air.  He also frequently planted an entire forest of trees on the rooftops of his buildings.  

Hundertwasser shared Gaudi's love of colourful mosaics, which can be found on his exterior walls and pillars.  This was even true of his interiors, as shown by some photos that were on display.  We could not go inside to see the apartments since they are occupied residences.  It must be weird for these tenants to have tourists constantly gawking at their home, but then, I had the same thought when viewing Gaudi's Casa Battlo in Barcelona.

 Even the adjoining gift shop shares the same funky vibe as Hunderwasserhaus.  The highlight was the "Toilet of Modern Art" which presented a visual wonderland enroute to the washrooms.  For a mere 0.20 Euros, you not only get to pee, but you get an art show as well! 

A few blocks away, the KunstHausWien museum is dedicated to the life, art and architecture of Friedensreich Hundertwasser. Both the exterior and interiors of this museum is very typical Hundertwasser, from the pillars and mosaics to the slopes in the floors.  His paintings, sketches and tapestries are as vibrant and full of colour as his architecture.

The museum showed models of other architectural works of Hundertwasser, including an entire village which never passed the planning stages.  One common theme was to have grassy slopes traverse the top of his buildings, providing a natural path for people to walk on and enjoy.

We learned that Hundertwasser was an extremely talented but also a very eccentric man who was prone to writing manifestos.  One written in 1958 called "Mouldiness Manifesto Against Rationalism Architecture" (might have lost something in the translation), argues that tenants should be allowed to change the facade of their buildings as they wish and that their creativity in adorning their "third skin" should not be stifled.  When Austria moved to change their license plate backgrounds to white, Hundertwasser led a campaign to maintain the original black colour.  Hundertwasser's designs are far-reaching.  In addition to buildings, as he has been called upon to design stamps and created new covers for encyclopedias.  He even created, unprompted, a new design for an alternate flag for New Zealand, where he owned a home and was buried upon his death.

Vienna 2013: Austrian Military Museum

The Austrian Military Museum is so beautiful and full of splendour that it was like visiting another palace.  The main hallway is lined with two rows of life-sized sculptures depicting military figures through the centuries.  The second floor is magnificent with its mosaics, murals, stained glass windows, high arches and columns.  Considering that Belvedere Palace was also owned by a military commander, it seems that back in the day, there was money to be made from battles and war!

The highlight of the museum is the room dedicated to the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand—the act that triggered the start of the First World War.  It was like stepping back in time and being a witness to one of the most significant events in recent history.  We saw the vehicle in which Ferdinand and his wife Sofie were sitting when they were mortally shot, with the bullet hole in the car still fully visible.  The blood-stained uniform that the Archduke was wearing is on display, with a tear where the bullet presumably penetrated.  There were photos of the suspected assassins, including Gavrilo Princip who did the actual deed.  A set of photos seemed to document the Archduke's activities leading up to the assassination,  the subsequent arrest of the perpetrator, and the funeral for Ferdinand and Sophie.

We saw an example of an Enigma machine which was used to encode German communications during the war.  The Allies were able to break these codes with the help of captured Enigma machines and early computers.

It was very interesting to see the impacts of the Second World War from Austria's perspective. A ballot for the Austrian people to "vote" for or against their annexation to Germany was on display.  To say that the vote was rigged was an understatement since it was held after the annexation already happened, and was an open ballot that was monitored by the Nazis.  On the ballot, the choice for "yes" was twice as large as the one for "no".   However to say the Austrians were totally against the Nazis is also misleading.  There is a propaganda poster showing people doing the "Heil" salute with the slogan that translates to "All the people say Yes!".  A flowery throw pillow, with the Nazi symbol and the words "Heil Hitler" embroidered on it, shows how Hitler and the Nazis were initially accepted and even supported in by the Austrians and even became part of the popular culture.  One interesting display contained a photo of a woman wearing a gas mask, carrying her baby in a portable "gas bag or crib".  Both these items were available for closer inspection.

In the 18th Century, the French used observation balloons to gain intelligence on the troop movements of the Austrian army.  One of these balloons was captured by the Austrians and is now on display in the Military Museum.  This was one of the first military uses of aviation.

This elaborate tent, belonging to a Turkish general, was captured in battle while the Turkish army was laying siege to Vienna in 1683.  It was later used by Prinz Eugen as his own tent for entertaining guests.  Some of his guests would snip off a piece of the tent for a souvenir.

Although Austria is now an entirely land-locked country, prior to the First World War, it had holdings that extended to the sea.  As a result, the Austrian Military Museum has an impressive collection of Naval artifacts and paintings.  There is the conning tower of Austrian submarine U-20 that was sunk by an Italian submarine during the First World War.  The U-20 was found in the Adriatic Sea in 1962. 

The museum had a very interesting audio guide which gave insightful information about many of the exhibits.  I particularly liked the detailed descriptions of two paintings within the Naval section.  The subject of one large painting was the Austro-Hungarian  Polar Expedition of 1872-74, which resulted in the ship Tegetthoff  being grounded in packed ice.  The painting depicts the state of the crew after they abandoned ship and hiked through the snow for over 30 days.    Another painting called "Battle of the Lissa" described a battle in 1866 where the Austrian fleet defeated the larger Italian fleet by ramming their ships into the enemy ships. This seemed to be the extent of Austrian naval victories.

The museum also had an interesting collection of arms and armor dating back to the 16th century. One very old canon looked more like a turned over bucket.  Of particular note was the early multi-shot canon, which can be viewed as an early attempt at a machine gun, although each and every barrel (there seemed to be at least 70 but I lost count) had to be loaded individually by hand after firing. This would seem like a time-consuming process.

There were also more than a dozen tanks parked outside the museum, including this Soviet SU-100 from the Second World War.

There was so much to see at the Austrian Military Museum that we ran out of time and had to rush through some sections.  A fabulous virtual tour of the exhibits can be found on the museum's website.