A few years ago Mrs. Sommovilla,
Mrs. Graber, and Mrs. Elefant all read a novel
entitledHousehold
Gods..
It was about a frustrated American woman whose ex-husband was slow in paying child support, who had trouble in finding good
childcare, and who felt she was being discriminated against in her law firm
because she was a woman! Aarrgghh!
The woman wished she could live in a simpler, happier time and woke up the next morning in another woman’s body
in the 2nd century AD in some town in the Roman Empire
called Carnuntum!Not a smart wish to make,
but it sure made for an interesting book!
Mrs. Sommovilla was surprised to find out later on the Internet that Carnuntum had been a
town lying right outside of Vienna, the capital of Austria!
Vienna & Carnuntum
Next Mrs. Sommovilla “magically” received a
Vienna Guidebook in the mail from a lovely couple
who invited her to stay in their apartment
in Vienna (that’s Wien in German)!
Could a German-Latin teacher resist?
(Her hosts even offered to drive her to Carnuntum!)
So she recruited a friend to go along
and thus began…
A Fantastic Week in Vienna!!
Eine FantastischeWienerwoche!!!
It started in the London airport--
• Smoking is
bad
for you!!!!!!
Smoking kills!
Smokers die
younger!
Right away we dashed off to Carnuntum…
Once part of aRoman colony,it’s now thelargestRomanarchaeologicalsite in Austria!
We climbed a lookout tower--
and saw this:
Seems some people living there had
Underground Heating and Plumbing—
thanks to the romans!
Sweat Baths too-A hypocaust model
Dig it?
• The Emperor Marcus Aurelius once slept here
• well maybe not down there exactly!
Nice hotel-but HEDIDN’TSLEEPhere
either!
…NOR HERE - CARNUNTUM Gravestones inscribed in
Latin
Mosaic Tile Designs!Orpheus charms the animals
with his lyre and charms us too!
Mean Machines!
Would you like a taste ofRoman cooking?
Well, there’s a Summer camp
in Carnuntum!
-right outside of Vienna--
for young students of Latin from all around the world!
Children’s
games the
ancient Romans played!
Roman-style hopscotch!
Ludus latrunculorum—the game of little bandits!
Roman Style Checkers
Ludus molaris rotae—a millwheel Game!
Mrs. Sommovlla brought samples home!
School days exhibit in Carnuntum!
Abacus and School Supplies
Roman Duds—
Tunic and TogaFor men
Stola and PallaFor women
Gladiatoral combat was displayed inside a
museumat Carnuntum!
we stood where gladiators once entered--
And watched fighting in an amphitheater!
Rome used CARNUNTUM AS A BARRIER AGAINST the
barbarians!
It was an important outpost on the border between the Romans and the Germanic Tribes!
Das Heidentor—The Heathen Gate!
• The mysterious arch that may commemorate Rome’s victory against Germanic tribes along its border!
One last tourist souvenir-A
two cent Euro coin is
transformed into
a Roman coin
the old-fashioned
way!
CARNUNTUM:a Doorway to the past
Vale und Auf Wiedersehen,bye-bye,
Carnuntum!
On to the
Wiener Stadtzentrum– Center City Vienna
• Right near our apartment!
• Delicious ice cream parlors nearby!
• Lots to see and do!
How to get around?City Bike—
Bikes for rent-first hour free!
If you want to drive, your car needs a license plate:
• On the left under the European Union flag’s symbol
(a circle of 12 stars) • is the initial representing the country
(A for Austria)• to the right is the first initial of the city
(W for Wien)
“Smart Cars” everywhere!
• Tiny and cute car: Europe has less space than America!
• You can custom design the parts!
• They’re coming to America soon!
Driver’s License and training costs more than $1000!
Learn to drive in a Ferrari!
..or ride in a “Fiaker”!
Many people (and dogs too)prefer to ride the Strassen-Bahn…
..or walk!
Beautiful Buildings!
Beautiful Churches!
St. Stephen’s Cathedral with its famous tiled roof
• The center-piece of downtown Wien
Inside St. Stephen’s
Plenty of Latin!
We climbed the steeple!
A beautiful Orthodox Church on a backstreet
near the Post Office!
Jugendstil Church in the Central Cemetery
Latin again:“Ego sum resurrection et vita”=
“I am the resurrection and the life”
A beautiful starry dome
Beautiful Flavors too!
All this walking makes me want some mint chocolate chip ice cream!
• Who left the pants out?
Time for Lunching on Austrian Delicacies:Wiener Schnitzel..(Viennese Cutlet)
..and Kaiserschmarren—pancake bits sprinkled
with powdered sugar and raisins
Alles in Wien schmeckt!
Everything in Vienna tastes
good!
Now we are ready for
more..
..Beautiful Parks!
..Beautiful statues-
often ofWien’s many famousresident composers—like Beethoven…
..and Mozart! and Lehar!
..even the Italian Vivaldi..
..and of course, the Wiener Waltz King, Strauss!
Wien is crazy for music!
• Every night a musical film is shown for free on a big screen in front of the Rathaus—City Hall!
Even the Teddy Bears are musicians!
• A Steiff Bear with
the
“Knopf im Ohr”— (“Button in the Ear”)
• As Viennese composer Schubert
Crrrrazy Buildings too!
• Housing Project designed by the artist Hundert-wasser!!
Hundertwasserhaus!
Trees coming out of windows!
Nature’s curves!
People actually live inside..
…and walk on uneven floors like this!
Someone needs a rest before the next Hundertwasser stop…
The Hundertwasser Trash Burning Plant
•Provides fuel from burning trash
Looks like the artist left his cap on the roof!
More odd Buildings—the Gasometer
• Four Apartment buildings and a shopping mall complex built from old fuel tanks
Gasometer
• The old fuel gauges are still on the sides of the buildings
Gasometer
• When more apartments were needed, a “Rucksack”, or
“knapsack,” was added on the side
Lots of English at the Gasometer!
..and in the rest of Austria
(and Germany) too!
Speaking of English, we wonder what’s going on in
the rest of the world?
• Digital News in the Streetcar—hmmm, looks like good news!
The Olympics are coming, the Olympics are coming!
(Later back home in August I watched Austria’sMarkus Roganwin the silver in the 100 meter backstoke!)
Back on the street..
(Is this where Freddy Kruger was born?)
..we sampled many Viennese specialties like..
Viennese Coffeewith “Schlag”-
Whipped Cream
Malaga-Eis Rum raisin!
Fiocca-Eis: Ice Cream that tastes like Whipped Cream!
Chocolates with ApricotFilling
Apfel strudel
And we also saw Viennese curiosities like..
Sissi-Taler:
The Backwards Nine!• Sometimes the
Austrians get sloppy and write their “nines” backwards!!!
• But judging from their street ads, they like to be careful too..
• Billboard stating “genetic engineering
can change your milk”!
• MILCH (milk)
or MLICH
(MLIK)?
We are also reminded not to confuse
Austria with Australia—but that doesn’t keep us from
hopping over to..
A world-famous cemetery!
• Vienna’s Central Cemetery is one of the largest and most beautiful in Europe,
featuring…
..graves representing many religions…
Christian graves
Jewish graves Muslim graves
..and the graves of many famous people
(especially composers, of
course!)
Brahms
Beethoven
Mozart
Strauss, Vater
Schubert
Strauss, Sohn
What? You find cemeteries a
downer??Vienna can take you
“up” in its world-famous
inner-city amusement park—
the Prater!
The Prater..as seen from ..
..the top of its world-famous
giant ferris wheel --
Das Riesenrad—
“The
Giant Wheel!”
Not high enough?Then you can eat
in a revolving restaurant up at the top of the
• Donauturm- The
Danube Tower!
..and drink great Viennese coffee while looking out over the
Danube River and the Danube Canal..
..and watch a complex of UN buildings pass by..
..and watch kids playing in a beautiful park or riding on a
kiddy train below!
And check out the fabulous palaces in Wien!
• The downtown residence of the Habsburg Emperors—the Hofburg!
Once inside we took the audio tour!
Directions for
tourists in
English,
French
and
Italian…
not in Spanish!
Inside the Hofburg we saw lots of imperial glitz!
The imperial summer residence—Schönbrunn—
is just as spectacular..
..with a fabulous fountain..
Inspired byNeptune:Roman
god of the sea
..and incredible gardens..
..a magnificent monument—the Gloriette–
turned into a large coffeehouse..
..where we had delicious coffee and puzzled over the backwards “c” ‘s in
a mysterous Roman numeral..
..and enjoyed a breathtaking view!
On to the Belvedere Palace!
..where you can feast your eyes on modern artwork
inside..
Gustav Klimt’s famous painting “The Kiss”
...and beautiful gardens outside!
Speaking of green, we saw a commercial being filmed in
front of a “green screen” in the center of town one night!
Ahh, that was right near the famous Hotel Sacher where
we shared a Viennese delicacy--Sacher Torte!
• Dark chocolate cake with a thin layer of apricot jelly under the chocolate icing!
And on the way back to the apartment one day we saw
evidence of a Yummy Custom-Schultüten:
• First graders all get big paper cones filled with candy treats on their first day of school!
Back in the apartment a waterbed awaits!
The covered comforters are pretty, each folds over, and that makes bedmaking a snap!
Europe has less space to spare than the US!
• A washer and dryer combined in one machine saves space!!!
The German-speaking world loves Smurfs!
• How much do you think Mrs.
Sommovilla had to pay her friend to pose for this picture???
In some respects our timing was a little bit off..
• The “Anker Uhr”clock has mechanical figures that would come out through both doors to the side…no Smurfs though!
Yes, some of Vienna’s big attractions were closed
during our trip.. Spanish Riding School
and Lipizzaner Stallions
Vienna Boys’ Choir
Vienna State Opera
..but we were there on the day that a new Austrian postage
stamp came out and bought ten of them at 1€ each!
So we packed Arnold up in our suitcases and had our
last happy breakfast, for it was time to…
Auf Wiedersehen, Wien!
“The Kiss” by Gustav Klimt
..kiss our Viennese adventure Goodbye!
