A boy’s dream day

Vienna, Austria Today, we indulged the masculine side of our partnership with tours that tend to entertain testosterone-fueled visitors. Wars and trains — can you imagine a more exciting combination?

In truth, the Heeresgeschichtliches Museum is not strictly a ‘war’ museum, but a military history museum, which is a much nicer way of saying it. It is housed in the beautiful Arsenal, a complex built as a fortress in 1856.

The collection deals with the glorious and not-so-glorious history of Austria at war. Interestingly, the section dedicated to the period from 1918 to 1945 is currently closed and under renovation. One might suppose that particular narrative has to occasionally be rephrased.

The building itself is exuberant, with no corners left unadorned, either with inlaid marble or effigies of former noble warriors.

We started with the 19th century stories. Below is a brief overview of Austria’s military past, and the relics which go with it. It seems that the leadership could have spent less time with uniform fittings and portrait sittings, but that was what was expected in those days.

The next section was the most moving, covering events up to 1918.

Please do not quiz me on the political situation in Sarajevo in 1914. I couldn’t explain it, but I can certainly point to the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand as the match that lit a bonfire. It never occurred to me that I would be alone in a room with the actual car in which the Archduke and his wife were riding. But I was.

Look closely and you can see the actual bullet hole under the collar of the Archduke. The poor thing had very bad security advisors.

The Emperor mounted up and the rest is history that we’re somewhat familiar with, though often hearing about it from the other side.

Enough of war. It was time to move on to something more civilized — like trains.

What, I ask you, could be more captivating than learning about the history of public transportation in this lovely city? The Remise Transport Museum set out to quench our thirst for this information.

In the category of many things about which you shouldn’t ask me, add questions about the nuances among the 40 vintage vehicles in this oh-so-detailed exhibition. I leave it to you train aficionados to detect how this industry progressed over 150 years. Though it did get a political twist during the Nazi era, it has survived beautifully and now is a thing of beauty, especially the trams. Why can’t we have some in New York?

All in all, a totally informative day…

Don’s Food Corner

A few blocks from the hotel where we’re staying is the oldest café on the Ringstrasse, which is a mark of status in Vienna. Opened in 1861, it’s a beauty. We made reservations for dinner tonight and were rewarded with a prime table by a front window. Piano and violin played recognizable tunes. Delightful.

The food, however, was not the best. Jo’s wiener schnitzel, of which I ate half, only got a B+ (on Vienna standards).

I ordered a veal patty. This is one of the five or so standard offerings on every traditional Viennese menu. This dish takes finely ground veal and beats it up in melted butter, making a fluffy mixture. Then, it’s gently fried (in more butter?) and served with a dark gravy on top. It is definitely not meat loaf. Here, as is the custom, it was served with mashed potatoes. I’ve had this dish many times, but it wasn’t as delicate tonight as I’ve had in the past. Another B.

Not wanting to give up our great table too quickly, we moved to dessert and some herbal teas. We both shared a slice of walnut cake. This was a cake with layers predominately made of ground walnuts, and the icing in-between was a butter cream — with more walnuts. It was a good example of this dessert staple.

We also had a Kardinalschnitte. Google says this is a layered meringue-based dessert, typically associated with the city of Vienna. Its name, translated as cardinal slice, alludes to the colors of the Catholic church – white and gold – which are the result of the soft meringue and the genoise sponge mixture.

The interior is made with a thick cream that is flavored with coffee and topped with fresh berries or jam, while the walls are made with cornmeal batter. The texture of the cake is light and airy, with the slightest crunch on the outer layers.

We couldn’t complain.