August 17th

Sacher Torte w/ Whipped Cream

Original Stained Glass from Stephansdom

Original Sculptures of Saints from Stephansdom

Martyrdom of St. Catherine

Today I decided to go to the Café Sperl and do some blogging while enjoying a Koffee Brauner, which is served black with just a splash of milk. The coffee was good but didn’t blow me away. I decided to order the Sacher Torte as well to experience this famous dessert. It was a chocolate cake with apricot jam in the middle, and dark chocolate icing on the top and sides. The Sacher torte was supposed to be the favorite desert of Franz Josef when he ruled Austria from 1848 to 1916. The cake was not very moist so the whipped cream on the side is a must.. It wasn’t too sweet and had a little tartness to the flavor. It was a nice dessert to accompany a cup of coffee though. The waitress at Café Spearl came over promptly and took my order but once she gave me the Sacher torte and the Koffee Brauner, she was then nowhere to be seen. It is nice how the servers just leave you alone but at the same time when you are ready to pay they are nowhere to be found. The waitress literally smoked three cigarettes while I looked at her to try and get her attention. Finally she came over and I could pay and be on my way. It is quite a change from getting a coffee at starbucks where you just pay and be one your way. It is a much more relaxed way of ordering a coffee. The server makes their way over and takes your order and just leaves you be to enjoy it. Most Viennese people just love to enjoy some good conversation and read the newspaper. After that I went to the Wien Museum, which Dr.O recommended a visit to. It was awesome because they had actual sculptures from Stephansdom that had been saved from the fire that brought the roof of Stephansdom down in 1945. Dr.O had discussed at length how they removed some of the stained glass that had once been in the cathedral because of the many different art styles that were incorporated into Stephansdom. Thanks to Dr. O I was able to identify the martyrdom of St. Catherine as she was shown before the wheel and then shown before her death kneeling in prayer in front of the executioner with a sword clutched in his hands over his head, about to deliver the deathly blow to Catherine. The exhibit of sculptures and artwork that were originally in Stephansdom, was the most fascinating in the Wien Museum for me. It showed me how desperate the Viennese were in saving the valuable pieces that were originally in one of the preeminent cathedrals in the city.