THE ART OF JEF CABLOG: 2024-12-01

On the first part of this post, I've shared about our trip to various mountainous and lakeside towns in Switzerland, as well as the charming small border town of Domodossola, Italy and the tiny country with a lot to offer, Leichenstein.

To read the first part of my post, click the link below:

CONNECTING WITH NATURE, OUR FUEL FOR CREATIVITY (EUROPE 2024) part 1 of 4

For this 2nd part, I will share about our stay in Innsbruck, Vorarlberg, Salzburg, Hallstatt & Vienna (Austria), Budapest (Hungary) and Bratislava (Slovakia).

There’s a whole world out there, right outside your window. You’d be a fool to miss it. —Charlotte Eriksson

INNSBRUCK, AUSTRIA

On the afternoon of our arrival on Aug. 28, 2024, we walked from the city center towards the South to Wilten Basilica (left). The view of the Nordkette/North Chain/Northern Chain (a.k.a top of Inssbruck) is just stunning.

Wilten Basilica has a simple exterior but the interior holds true to its reputation as the most beautiful Rococo church in Austria.

Impressive, light flooded interior of Wilten Basilica. We especially love the contrast between the white stucco sculptures, the colorful fresco paintings and the elegant brown marble pillars of the altars.

On the opposite side of Wilten Basilica, is Stift Wilten which is another historic church filled with relics, elaborate stucco sculptures, carvings and fresco paintings. If you noticed, the black altar pillars are a stark contrast to the brown altar pillars in the interior of Wilten Basilica. It has a different appeal but equally beautiful.

Beautiful cemetery in the vicinity of Wilten Basilica. Even the design of the crosses and sculptures on the tombstones are very elaborate and artistic.

Grassmayr Bell Foundry Museum

Roman Style Triumph Arc, circa 1765

Jef, resting in one of the benches at Maria-Theresien Strasse (main street lined with historical buildings)

Annasäule, circa 1703. Statue of the Virgin Mary on top of an ornate red marble column

One of the famous landmarks in Altstadt/Old Town Innsbruck, The Golden Roof/Goldenes Dachl, circa 1500. The roof is decorated with 2,657 fire-gilded copper tiles made for Emperor Maximilian I to celebrate his wedding with Bianca Maria Sforza of Milan. The Emperor used this balcony to observe important social events that took place in the square.

Altstadt/Old Town

Jef at the Annasäule monument, circa 1703 as the sun was beginning to set

colorful historic buildings lined the main street Maria Theresienstrasse leading to Altstadt

Innbrücke bridge

view of the colorful and beautifully lined houses at Mariahilfstraße. The sunset & cloud formations were exceptional that day.

Tyrolean Folk Art Museum

Tyrolean Folk Art Museum showcases models of the interior of houses and their development from the medieval times to the 19th century.

Tyrolean Folk Art Museum

Replica of a Photo Studio back in the 1900s. Tyrolean Folk Art Museum

Camera with Carl Zeiss lens, circa 1900. Tyrolean Folk Art Museum

Replica of a Photo Studio back in the 1900s. Tyrolean Folk Art Museum

Tyrolean Folk Art Museum. The interior and woodwork designs of houses became more and more elaborate in the 18th to 19th centuries.

The Habsburg's Imperial collection exhibit inside the Hofburg Palace is also very impressive and interesting but unfortunately, we were unable to take photos as it was prohibited.

Court Church

Impressive 28 life sized bronze statues inside the gothic Court Church

We were both in awe of the super intricate details and exquisite craftsmanship of each sculpture.

It is quite obvious from the intricate details the amount of labor and patience required to make each sculpture. We really hope these treasures will be preserved for a very long time.

Nordkette/ Northern Chain / Top of Innsbruck

It took us another 10mins. hike from the Nordkette cable car station to the summit.

view of Innsbruck from Nordkette summit

Create experiences that leave you in awe, for these will be the highlights of your life.

-Ryan Blair

On our last day, we also tried to visit Patscherkofel Mountain on the South Eastern outskirts of Innsbruck. We were so glad we were still able to take the last gondola before it closed at 5pm. It was a super brief visit but we still enjoyed the view of the Nordkette/North Mountain Chain from afar.

View of the North Mountain Chain at Patscherkofel summit

For most of history, man has had to fight nature to survive;

in this century he is beginning to realize that,

in order to survive, he must protect it.

—Jacques-Yves Cousteau

VORALBERG, AUSTRIA

From Innsbruck, we did another day trip to see the turquoise gem of the Rätikon mountains in Voralberg, the Lünersee/Lüner Lake. We took a train from Innsbruck to Bludenz, then took a connecting bus to Brandnertal then rode the Lünerseebahn. Then from the cable car station, hiked the circular trail.

Brandnertal Valley

Start of our ascent to the circular trail

While we rested for lunch, Jef sketched for a while before we started our early afternoon hike back to the Lünerseebahn/cable car to take our connecting bus (40 mins) and train back to Inssbruck (1hr 45mins).

SALZBURG, AUSTRIA

A short 15 mins. walk from our hotel near Salzburg Train Station is the Schloss Mirabell and Mirabell gardens. So on the afternoon of our arrival, we started to roam as soon as we checked-in at our hotel.

Pegasus fountain, also one of the filming locations of The Sound of Music, 1965.

We went out very early the next day to take more photos before the tourist crowds arrived.

"No matter how mighty and strong a tree is, it will always dance to the tune of the wind."

~ Okelola Olamigoke

Oldest dwarf garden in Europe originally composed of 28 dwarf statues made from Mt. Untersberg white marble.

From Schloss Mirabell, we continued to walk on the same side along Salzach river towards Linzer Gasse Platzl, a centuries old pedestrian street lined with shops and restaurants. There we found a long flight of stairs leading to the viewing terrace the locals called, Hettwer Bastei (Lodronsche Wehranlage).

The steep and long flight of stairs to the viewing terrace. Just sad, the walls of the surrounding buildings and houses were full vandalism.

Sitzbank an der Stiege

View of Altstadt/old town, Hohensalzburg Fortress and Mt. Untersberg at Hettwer Bastei (Lodronsche Wehranlage)

From there, we walked back down and crossed the Staatsbucke bridge leading to the Altstadt/Old Town.

House of Mozart

Franciscan church facade. I liked this photo of Jef as he is coincidentally in the middle of the old and modern modes of transportation. I liked the contrast.

an eerie bronze sculpture adjacent to Salzburg Cathedral

Interior of one of the many churches we visited. There are literally too many to count, I even forgot which church this picture was taken.

iconic Salzburg square

Fountain at Salzburg square

view of Hohensalzburg Fortress (11th century) from the square

We took the funicular Festungbahn to the fortress. This is the view of the Altstadt/Old Town from Hohensalzburg Fortress.

view of Mt. Untersberg at the top of Hohensalzburg Fortress

one of the exhibits at Hohensalzburg Fortress

means of communication during the war back in the old days

St. Peter's Church and Hohensalzburg fortress in the background

Friedhof St. Peter, a picturesque cemetery with 12-century catacombs, baroque tombs of nobles and chapels.

We've never seen a cemetery this beautiful.

view of the catacombs located at the base of the cliff

Catacombs

view of St. Peter's Church Spire from the catacombs

From Friedhof St. Peter, we walked uphill along Hoher Weg towards Stift Nonnberg.

This street (Hoher Weg) is also one of the filming locations of the Sound of Music where Maria sang and danced while holding her luggage and guitar as she left the convent to stay with the Von Trapp family to serve as the children's governess.

at the entrance of Stift Nonnberg (Maria's convent)

Stift Nonnberg

view of Festung Hohensalzburg near Stift Nonnberg

Jef at Max-Reindhardt Platz. On the left is the Wilder Mann Brunnen which is a 17th century fountain and sculpture of a wild man covered with foliage.

loved this very artistic bike

Pferdeschwemme, a 17th century historical fountain

Bürgerspital (Admonter Hof)

pastel colored buildings along Gstattengasse, near the elevator to the Museum of Modern Art

view from the Museum of Modern Art

sunset view from the Museum of Modern Art

Sunset view of Aldstadt at Müllnersteg bridge as we called it a day and were walking back towards our hotel near the Salzburg Main train station.

Mt. Untersberg

This beautiful mountain peak is a short distance from Salzburg and offers some breathtaking view over the town of Salzburg and the Berchtesgaden region in Germany. This is also one of the filming locations of the Sound of Music-but on the German side of the mountain. We also noticed that most of the intricate marble sculpture collections in the Habsburg's Imperial Collection (Innsbruck & Vienna), as well as the 28 dwarf sculptures (oldest Dwarf Garden in Europe) located in Mirabell gardens were made with high quality Untersberg marble.

We shared this bench with an elderly couple who did a day-trip and drived from Germany. They were also kind to share the delicious and flavorful grapes they harvested from their own garden. Although it was difficult to converse as they knew very little English, we tried our best to communicate. When they asked and knew we came from the Philippines, their comment was, "Oh, you travelled very, very far."

Here's a video of Jef sketching at Mt. Unsterberg (press play button 2x):

cable car at Mt. Untersberg

Schloss Hellbrunn

On our way back to Salzburg from our visit to Mt. Unsterberg, we stopped at this Rennaissance villa known for its landscaped gardens, very artistic trick water fountains, folklore museum, as well as the white Pavilion, one of the filming locations of the Sound of Music in 1965.

Jef was carefully holding his camera the whole time because the trick fountains may suddenly sprinkle and he was worried that his camera may get wet.

very intricate design at the basement of Hellbrunn palace which also had trick fountains inside

When I walked past these two entrances, it felt like I was inside a cave since the rock formations looked like stalagmites and stalactites.

Sound of Music Pavilion

MONDSEE, AUSTRIA

Our day trip to this charming lakeside town took us around 1h 45 mins by bus from Salzburg. Our first destination was at the Basilika St. Michael, which is also another filming location of the Sound of Music where the wedding of Maria and Baron Von Trapp took place.

There were scaffoldings and were renovating the exterior roof during this time but thankfully the Basilika was still open.

After visiting this Basilika, we hiked uphill to also visit a small church called Mariahilf which is also undergoing a renovation at that time. We rested for a bit to enjoy the view of the lake from up the hill and walked back to the Mondsee Bus terminal going back to Salzburg.

HALLSTATT, AUSTRIA

We did another day trip and had an early start from Salzburg to this charming lakeside town called Hallstatt which is also known as the Pearl of the Salzkammergut. It took us 3.5 hours by train (1 transfer) and 15-20mins by ferry to reach our destination.

ferry to the town of Hallstatt

climbing uphill passing by houses towards St. Michael Chapel

St. Michael Chapel on top of the hill

small cemetery at the back of St. Michael Chapel

view of the lake from St. Michael Chapel

these artful masks greeted us from the windows of one of the houses we passed by

another house which had unique and interesting decors made of animal bones and driftwood

view of the town center from the "little island" at the South end of the town

After we ate lunch and rested at this so called "little island", Jef sketched for a bit before we left for another 4 hours travel back to Salzburg. Here's a video of Jef sketching:

View of Hallstatt from the ferry as we said goodbye to another memorable day.

VIENNA, AUSTRIA

Belvedere-Schlossgarten and view of Lower Belvedere Palace in the distance

Belvedere Palace

Upper Belvedere Palace

ornate Upper Belvedere Palace gates

Stucco art and marble sculptures at the Lower Belvedere Palace

Lower Belvedere Palace garden

Another favorite of Jef

"The Kiss", famous painting by Gustav Klimt at the Upper Belvedere Palace

Jef is more impressed with this Klimt Gustav painting style than the rest of his paintings we've seen in this collection

Opera house

Opera House

Albrechtsbrunnen near Albertina Museum

Mozart Museum near Hofburg Palace

Kunsthistorisches Museum

one of Jef's favorites

Vermeer painting

one of Jef's favorites

Street near St. Stephen's Cathedral

street near the Column of Pest

Column of Pest-memorial column for plague victims, late 17th century

St. Stephen's Cathedral

St. Peter's Catholic Church

Hofburg Baroque palace

Heldenplatz

One of the precious collections made of Emerald at the Imperial Treasury Museum

Imperial Treasury Museum

On our last afternoon in Vienna, we visited St. Charles Church (18th century), considered the most outstanding baroque church and one of the greatest buildings in Vienna. There was an ongoing wedding that afternoon so we had to wait for an hour for it to finish. It has one of the most beautiful interiors in all the churches we visited in Austria. There was entrance fee but it was worth it and was the highlight of our last day in Vienna.

BUDAPEST, HUNGARY

the start of our ascent to the Fisherman's Bastion

Gazebo at the top of Castle District

The Church of our Lady of Buda Castle

Statue of St. Stephen I

Statue of St. Stephen I at Fisherman's Bastion

view of the Parliament Building from the Fisherman's Bastion

Statue of St. Stephen I and The Church of our Lady of Buda Castle

Jef's silhouette while taking photos on top of Fisherman's Bastion viewing terrace

The Church of our Lady of Buda Castle (rear)

From the Fisherman's Bastion, we walked towards Buda Castle Hill.

An Ornate wooden door of one of the buildings we passed by going to Buda Castle Hill.

view of the Parliament Building from Buda Castle Hill

Turul Statue at Buda Castle

Széchenyi Chain Bridge, 19th century chain bridge

Fountain of King Matthias

Statue in front of the Buda Castle Museum of Art, History and Architecture Museum

St. Steven Hall

the intricate details of this room is really astounding

Buda Castle Museum of Art, History and Architecture Museum

From the Buda Castle Hill, we walked downhill towards Lánchíd Park. Below is a photo of Jef while waiting for the tram going to Gellért Hill.

view of Buda Castle Hill as we walked up to St. Gerard Sagredo Statue

From St. Gerard Sagredo Statue, we hiked along the eco-trail towards the Rock Chapel.

view from Gellert Hill eco trail vista point

We were a bit disappointed upon seeing thru the windows of the Rock Chapel (above) because it was full of rubbish and looked like it wasn't maintained. The locals should try harder in maintaining this unique architecture and historic landmark.

Ponte della Libertà bridge/Liberty bridge (19th century, decorated with 4 Turul sculptures and a coat of arms)

view of the Danube River, Buda Castle Hill and Fisherman's Basrtion from Liberty Bridge

Parliament Building

view of Fisherman's Bastion from the Parliament Building

Shoes on the Danube River, a monument in memory of the thousands of Jews who were executed on the Danube river banks during World War II. The iron shoes are exact replicas of the shoe styles worn during that time.

view of Buda Castle from across the Danube river

On our second day, we visited the Heroes Square, Museum of Fine Arts and the surrounding park.

Museum of Fine Arts

Park near the Museum of Ethnography

view of Az Apostolok tornya and Vajdahunyad Castle

BRATISLAVA, SLOVAKIA

Upon our arrival, we didn't feel so safe at the Bratislava main train station since there were a lot of very persistent homeless people begging and also saw some people doing drugs in public. I just wish there were more police visibility so tourists would feel a bit safer. But as we walked towards the historic old town, it felt a bit safer so we were more relaxed to stroll and walk around. I can say most of the locals are nice and approachable too.

During our stay, there was also a huge storm that hit Eastern Europe which caused rivers to swell and caused significant flooding and damage in Czech Republic, Poland and Austria. Despite the strong, chilly winds and rain, we had to go out and explore just the same since we didn't want to miss out on our short, 3-day stay. For us who are not used to extreme cold, we basically had three layers of clothes on and still felt the chilly cold.

Presidential Palace

Michalska Poort, a municipal fortification with a tower and gate dating back from the 13th century.

Michael's Gate circa 1300s with weapons museum and viewing terrace

Sculpture in front of the shops along Michalska street

Jef with the Čumil, a bronze statue of a sewer worker resting on a manhole and peeping at passersby.

A group of very excited tourists in action. Jef didn't want to miss out and joined the fun.

view of St. Martin's Cathedral spire from Bratislava Castle

view from Bratislava Castle

Bratislava castle collection

an ornate clock in the Bratislava Castle collection

We were supposed to visit the Baroque garden within the vicinity of Bratislava Castle but due to the strong winds and rain, we decided not to. Then we started walking downhill towards St. Martin's Cathedral, passing by the medieval city walls.

view of St. Matin Cathedral's spire in the distance

along Zidovska Street towards the medieval city walls (on the right)

view from the bridge connecting the medieval city walls and St. Martin's Cathedral (left) to the path going to Bratislava Castle (right)

Napoleon army soldier statue along Halavne namestie street

One of the modern art exhibits at Palffy Palace

One of the exhibits at Palffy Palace

a huge collection of prints/Cabinet of prints showcased in two rooms at Mirbach Palace

Stucco art on the ceiling which represented four seasons of the year

Pozsonyi katolikusok church (facade) taken from the 2nd floor window of Mirbach Palace

ornate stove oven

It was another stormy weather on our last day in Bratislava. It was an hour travel by bus to Devin Castle but unfortunately, due to the intermittent weather it was closed. There were a few tourists who also went there who were equally disappointed. We didn't want to waste our trip so we walked around the vicinity of the Castle and took a few photos.

view of Devin Castle from the parking lot

Near the entrance gate leading to the castle, we saw this small car that hit the side of one of the lower buildings. It's a bit strange how it got there since the road from the castle was a bit far from the location of this car. We were just hoping no one got seriously hurt.

My small umbrella really took the beating from the strong winds. Same is true with Jef's umbrella :)

Our experience in Bratislava would have been better if the weather was fine but overall, with the warm smiles from the friendly locals, we enjoyed our stay all the same.

And this ends the second part of my post. I hope you're also looking forward to the continuation of this post. Until next time.