Schloss Tour

We finally received an official tour of the Schloss this morning including the normally off-limits areas. I've written about the history of Schloss Laxenburg back in June but now I have previously unseen photos to show.

Our tour started with a building no longer connected to the Schloss, the Orangarie (Winter Garden) that housed the oranges and plants in the Winter months and provided fresh fruit to the castle when the royals were in residence.
As we walked back you have a nice view of one of the wings of IIASA with the Belvedere (tower). The next stop on our tour took us through the Conference Centre that used to belong to IIASA and was sold off in the 80s when IIASA had some financial difficulties. The conference area has a stunning entrance way and stands outside the old stables for housing carriages.

The conference centre has a series of rooms all painted or wallpapered in lavish splendour, perfect for a ball. Pity about the price tag though. With reductions the hire of the 2 rooms in the venue (no services or catering) is 3000 euros.



The conference centre also houses a small concert hall that has been altered a fair bit from the original design. The photo below shows the royal box which is now directly over the stage when previously it was in fact facing the stage.

All the buildings were in terrible disrepair about the world wars and Nazi and then Soviet occupation (there was a mini battle in Laxenburg Park) and the everything had to be restored from photos and notes. All the chandeliers, paintings and furniture are imports from museums or were stored somewhere else during the wars.

One area that is strictly out of bounds normally is the Directors Office and Breakfast Pavilion. While the director was out for lunch we snack in to see the famed picture of Maria Theresa in the Elisabeth Room. Snazzy office :)






The view of the park and conference centre from the pavilion is beautiful to behold. I'm told the people with offices in the Park Wing (APD) get to see weddings in this area on a regular occasion.



The last photo is taken from the top of the Belvedere and if you look closely enough you can see Vienna.

Spying from a house of God

Austria is a predominately Catholic society with more churches than you can count. This led to a large number of Abbeys for nuns, however there are now very few nuns left. A case in point is the Laxenburg Abbey, a once thriving establishment that now houses a handful of nuns.

This trend is leaving a multitude of empty buildings around Austria and in Laxenburg they have the answer. Laxenburg Abbey is the future home of Interpol. Its true, I learnt this on the Art meets Science tour of Laxenburg (which IIASA hasn't yet organised for us).

Wine country

When I think of Austria wine farming doesn't really spring to mind, meat and beer and anything deep-fried yes but not wine. There is in fact a large winelands area near to Laxenburg dotted with Heurigers (wine taverns), most of which produce young wines as their house wine that isn't Sauvignon Blanc or Riesling. I can't place it.

Last night the IME group (we're rather colourful for a bunch of scientists) frequented a proper (read not touristy) heuriger, you can tell because it only opens at specific times of the year unlike the touristy ones.

Nestled into the side of the hill and almost completely obscured by plants, the heuriger Rotes Mauerl is an ideal place to relax and enjoy the view of the valley below.

The menu is meant to be fairly simple but I don't think anyone told the owners. There is a lot of meat and bread, like a large tower available to choose from.

We drank the house white and red, delivered in large carafes, while catching the last rays of sun. Oh what a charmed life we lead :)

The dessert here is interesting, they seem to leave out the sugar from many a thing, namely cheesecake. The cheesecake here, otherwise known as topfenstrudel, is almost savoury in my opinion. I think the next step is to try make a little slice of home for comparison.
Our evening ended after the last bus back from Laxenburg so we were dropped at the Modling train station and caught the train back to Vienna.

Overall a wonderful way to end a working day.

Runners paradise

Schlosspark is a runners paradise, there are multiple tracks so you don't get bored looking at the same scenery, its flats (none of that silly uphill stuff) and the scenery itself is breathtaking. I've been running in an effort to keep fit since I'm not dancing and to avoid the rumoured 5-7 kilos that apparently most YSSPers mange to pack on while here (Its all the deep-fried food, beer and cheese with a quick stop at the ice-cream shop for dessert)

The other very cool feature of the Schlosspark is the lake (very large pond) that has another Franzenburg Museum in the middle. A tower, a couple of turrets and instant castle lookalilke. There is also another 'Schloss' (Altes Schloss) in the park. We recently discovered that it isn't in fact an 'authentic' schloss. Still pretty cool though. I took my camera with me on one of my runs, its the perfect excuse to stop every few hundred metres for another scenic photo. People look at me weirdly here for running in the heat...its like 23 degrees C, oh well.
This last picture is my favourite. There is a lily pond separate from the lake (well connected by streams) that is covered in lilies of some kind right now and their flowers are yellow. The dragonflies seem love them and I managed to get a photo :)

The clocks strikes 12

The Austrian's seem to be just as pedantic about time as the Germans. Imagine being late...travesty! The picture on the right is the clock from the inner courtyard of the Schloss Laxenburg.

The church facing the Schloss chimes on the hour and at midday this is a sign for downing tools and heading to lunch. The Schloss Restaurant has seating in the garden (for the now sunny days) and lunch is a great opportunity to talk to fellow YSSPers about the worlds problems (and of course our party plans). So far I have learnt about public and private goods, cattle ranching, sustainable buildings, India's suicide problem in connection with farming, policy design for early warnings for extreme hydro events, air transportation vs train transportation, the list goes on. Hopefully when I have a clearer view on what people are doing I can broadcast their innovative research and world views.

Schloss Laxenburg

Laxenburg lay on the Roman road from Vienna to Soporn, Hungary. The Germanic people settled there sometime in the 11th century. Laxenburg has been connected with the rulers of Austria since 1306 via some Duke.

The Old Castle (Altes Schloss) is the oldest known building in Laxenburg, located in the Schloss Park (250 hectares). The park boasts a waterfall, a lake that one can take a paddle boat on and a gorgeous bridge guarded by some very proper knights in armour. Its an ideal place to go running or to take a stroll during lunch.

Laxenburg was originally favoured by Habsburgs (royal family) for hunting. The Schloss Laxenburg was acquired as the summer residence of the Habsburgs under Maria Theresia's reign. During the World Wars the buildings were used for the War Victim's Fund and a German tank regiment. After the wars the palace fell into disrepair and was only restored starting in 1962.

That was the abbreviated history, its actually a lot more complicated and involves prisoners and parties and politics.

Walking through the Schloss you can find the most amazing arches, stairways, art but the coolest thing is the Swarovski crystal chandeliers (they're sparkly) in some of the offices.

The other amazing feature is the Belvedere, the children's playroom that is reached after three spiral staircases. There are frescos on all the walls and the view from the highest point in the Schloss is beautiful (people actually get to use it as an office).

There are many other beautiful things about the Schloss like the courtyards and meeting rooms but I'll save that for another post.

International Melting Pot

I'm now installed in my new apartment for the next 3 months: Simmeringer Hauptstrasse 141-143. Its a 2 bedroom apartment on the first floor that opens out onto a patio of sorts. I'm sharing with a fellow female PhD student from India.

I visited IIASA today and found my office in the main building. I'm sharing with Stefan (Canada) and Shou Lio. The place is a maze of corridors and little rooms. The building used to be a castle, and from the gorgeous chandeliers and marble corridors its quite easy to see a forgotten era.

Laxenburg

I have spent the last 3 days in Laxenburg (Lower Vienna), the tiny suburb (I think its classified as a suburb) where IIASA is situated. The place has this very quaint feeling. The shops close by lunch on a saturday (including the only grocery store). People ride around on bicycles and life seems to go at a very slow pace (though this could just be the weekend).

I went exploring to find my office for the next few months, imagine my surprise when the building is a. huge and b. stunning. Its like those pictures you see of old European monuments. There is a park attached that it is rumoured contains a castle, pictures coming soon.

From the room I'm temporarily in I can hear the church bells at every hour and for celebrations (seems there were a few weddings this weekend). The church is directly opposite the entrance to IIASA in the Schlossplatz.

I have also added a new world to my German vocab:
Eissalon. I'm not sure what is actually translates to but I'm going with Ice Cream Parlour. The shop happens to be on the walk from the IIASA to the cafeteria, I see many an ice-cream lunch treat in my future.

Arrival in Vienna

I have arrived safely at my temp housing in Vienna after what seems like a very convoluted transport list. 2 trains, 2 buses and a walk and some lost keys later.

The housing grounds I am on also house the IIASA cafeteria which is where I'll probably be having lunch each day. I'm off exploring Laxenburg today, where I am actually staying for the weekend and going to be working. Its seems like a very sleepy town with minimal shops (think groceries, pharmacy, restaurant and hairdresser - that is all that is listed in the directory). Apparently there is a huge park and a castle to find.

Planning to go into Vienna proper tomorrow once I figure out the German bus schedule, I almost ended up going to the wrong town because they have multiple buses going different routes with the same number.