Hotel Sacher and Albertina

It is 1000 and we are in the Cafe Sacher. The decor is extravagant, red plush on the bench seats and fabric panels on the walls. The fabric panels have corded margins. There are mirrors and oil paintings of people prominent in the Sacher story. The menus are supported on little racks, similar to those for newspapers found in some hotel and library reading rooms. The menus also have a potted history of the cafe and hotel. The hotel has been in operation since 1830. As it is the famous cafe Sacher I had "Original Sachertorte". Uschi had apple strudel and Christine had a topfen strudel. With tea and coffee the morning tea came to about 25 Euro.


After the cafe we went to the Albertina. A lot of paintings by many artists were there. Amongst others I saw:



Degas; Two dancers around 1905. This was a pastel done by Degas as his eyesight was deteriorating in latter years.
Monet; The flood of the Seine at Vethueil
Seurat; Locomotive
Renoir; Portrait of a young girl (Elizabeth Maitre)
Klimt; Liegenderand about 4 Picassos.

These were mostly from the Batliner private collection.After that we visited the state rooms. The walls had fabric panel covering like the Hotel Sacher, but much grander. The same fabric was used for the curtains and upholstery too.

The gallery was good but like the modern art galley in Tehran, some of the best were away in storage. Uschi was particularly miffed as she had been looking forward to seeing Durer's rabbit for ages and only a facsimile was on display (and the praying hands too).