I asked Amy and Amanda which museums they really wanted to see. Amy chose the Natural History museum, which ended being her favorite thing we did on our trip. Amanda said the Art museum. They are right next to each other at Museums Quartier, so we spent two days in that area of the city checking out the museums. Here we are in a crazy line in the rain to get inside the Natural History museum. Disclaimer: Mom, there is one picture of a snake. Just warning you….
There is an area with live fish and lizards that I hadn’t seen before. This was very fun for Oliver and Elora. Here is Elora making a fish face. It was hard to get Oliver to leave this section of the museum.
The inside of the museum is beautiful and very ornate. It is nice just to walk around the inside and enjoy the architecture and artwork.
On the top floor are different models of animals as well as real animal skins and specimens in jars that have been collected and donated over the years. The kids all loved the bugs. I think it was the favorite part of this museum. Oliver kept calling all the bugs bees, so we were glad when we actually found bees to show him later on.
Elora did a great job showing her brother around the musuem.
The shark exhibit was really neat with little buttons to push when you wanted to shine light on a certain shark. The sharks in the exhibit are all real shark skins, some of them over a hundred years old!
Elora opening her mouth like the big snake!
Elora really wanted to see the dinosaurs, and we finally found them after wandering around for awhile. This is apparently where everyone in the museum went, because it was pretty crowded and hard to get a picture without other people in it!
This pic is included because this is a very famous exhibit at the museum that has been advertised on billboards for over a year – it is about three inches high. It is a 25000 year old figure of a woman, called “Venus von Willendorf”. The museum describes it as “one of the most beautiful woman in the Gravettian figurines”. Hmm. I think I would like to see some of the other figures to make a comparison.
Here is Amanda admiring some of the dinosaur fossils.
Here we are the next day in the Kunsthistorisches Musuem (art history museum). Elora wanted to start the day by seeing the Pharoah, so went to the Egyptian section first.
Oliver enjoyed running about and playing with Elora. He is starting to appreciate some of the items in the museum, but it is difficult to teach him not to touch!
Here are some mummied crocodiles and baby crocodiles. Interesting.
I love this room, it is a whole dim room filled with heads – Can you find the heads that are not part of the permanent exhibit?
The Kunsthistorisches Museum also has beautiful architecture and artwork throughout the staircases and hallways. We are excited that the year passes this year are really cheap, so we will be able to enjoy another year of taking the kids to see all the beautiful artwork.
Elora with the statue of Isaac and Rebecca.
Here are the kids appreciating the paintings. It was difficult to gauge the excitement of all the involved parties in this section of the museum, although Oliver sat still for an entire six minutes looking at a painting of a snowy scene and saying “Snow!” “Ski!”
The gift shop in this museum totally rocks, they have a lot of really neat items and the prices are pretty cheap. Vienna likes to make their art museums affordable for everyone to visit, and I love that! Okay, with the exception of this awesome bag with the map on it. I love it, but it is 35 Euro for a not very quality bag… time to figure out how to make my own!
Here we are outside the museum having a little snack. Oliver and Elora enjoyed crawling around in the bushes.
We decided to stop at the bakery to buy lunch and then go walk around Stadtpark since it was a nice day outside. Here is Oliver with the remnants of a chocolate donut on his face. Of all the choices, Elora always insists she wants a donut. Strange child.
Posing by Strauss. I love walking around this beautiful park and seeing all the statues of famous historical figures.
We liked this big clock made of flowers. In the background is the famous Kursalon where Johann Strauss used to perform.
nice post!! If I have to describe kunsthistorisches museum in one word then it would be 'wow'. The museum is having a very good range of displays like painting, Egyptian and Greek artifacts, coins and much more, Rubens, Rembrandt, Breughel, etc.. While we were there it was like an actual look into the past and actually we get a look at how our 19th century forefathers saw archeology and history. Don't miss the huge and magnificent statue of Queen Maria Teresa which is outside the museum in the square. Overall brilliant museum!!!