http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/ Welcome to Been there. Your tips on the places you know - that you love, live in or have just visited - are what make this guide. http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/24701
The Palais Liechtenstein shows the collection of the Princes of Liechtenstein, brought together over five or so centuries and, in many instances paintings bought directly from the artists themselves - that's class! This collection is very rich in Seventeenth century work, especially that of Rubens and Van Dyke.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/24701 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/24671
The staircase is very grand and Italy must have been emptied of all its marble to create this building. The view from the cafeteria on the (main) first floor, down through a circular eye some 20 feet across to the entrance hall far below is both spectacular and scary. There is a net drawn tightly across this space presumably to stop people throwing cakes down onto elderly American tourists just entering the building.

On the day I visited the museum there was a delightful half-scale air balloon tethered in the stairwell midway between the floors which added to the sense of enjoyment and well-being one should feel in such a wonderful place.

The collections include geology, natural history, anthropology and archaeology. There are said to be 20 million exhibits here. One of the most famous is the tiny but very sexy Venus of Willendorf, a mysterious and magical female figure from the Upper Palaeolithic period.

As with all museums these days, the place was teeming with children and young people (followed by anxious or exhausted teachers), but that is as it should be. The place is being used as a treasure house, which is precisely what it is.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/24671 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/24664
The museum has a good cafeteria, and an excellent shop which offers scholarly material, exhibition catalogues and postcards.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/24664 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/24661
Whatever the case, on a recent visit I found Vienna to be lively, well supplied with a range of good bars and restaurants, hotels at various price levels, an excellent public transport system, and offering an enviable number of world-class museums and galleries. There appeared to be a good number of young people there, in contrast to the view expressed in some guide books that the city is dominated in numbers by the very old.

For example, the Natural History Museum has a special Darwin exhibition on at the moment, and the day I went it was full of enthusiastic young people of all ages, noisy, busy, keen. They were allowed to use cameras and phones and were photographing themselves among the exhibits, even handling the woolly mammoth (I don't think it was real). Some indeed were sliding down the marble staircase which in this building is as high as Beachy Head - I don't think that was allowed, but no-one appeared to be rushing to stop them! So, not so staid as the former reputation...]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/24661 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/24660 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/24660 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/17483
See the colour and shape of your voice, play giant instruments or even conduct a virtual orchestra - a museum with a difference, definitely.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/17483 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/12166
It costs only €16 but remember to get it stamped the first time you use it. Inspectors are few and far between but get caught without a ticket and you'll be fined around €65 and still have to pay for your journey. Buy it at the airport on arrival, it will save you money on the train in.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/12166 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/11260 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/11260 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/7480 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/7480 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/5781 not-to-be-missed Viennese museums. The summer palace of the Liechtenstein family has restored the
palace to house their spectacular baroque collections of paintings and sculpture, which spent long decades underdisplayed in Liechtenstein.

Just floating up one of the grand staircases to the 'Herkulesaal' is to glimpse life as it once was for
this very privileged family; it’s hard to grasp that a whole room-full of Rubens 'cartoons' is privately owned.

Happily the princely collections are now elegantly displayed, including the newly-acquired,
over-the-top Badminton Cabinet and the golden coach which sets the scene as you enter the Sala Terrana. (No surprise that it was sent to Italy in the 1770s to collect the Emperor's bride!) After you view the collection you can stroll through the historic gardens and dine in style at either of the two fine restaurants inside the gates, Rubens 'Palais' or 'Brasserie'.

Scrupulously planned and lit as a fine art museum, the aura of family still hovers over the Liechtenstein Museum, illuminating a golden age of Viennese life and style.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/5781 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/5779 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/5779 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/5760
The Kapuzinergruft (Capuchins' Crypt) lies is in the depths of the Capuchins’ Church (also known as the Church of St Mary of the Angels) and contains the bodies of over 100 members of Austria’s former imperial family – the famously lippy and chinny Hapsburgs.

The administration of the building remains in the hands of the monks, so your visit gets off to a suitably spooky start as a heavily becowled figure emerges silently from behind a curtain to collect your entrance fee and, crooking a bony finger, leads you down to the stygian gloom of the crypt itself (OK – I might have seen too much Scooby Doo in my youth).

And there the whole gang are. Not buried, you understand, but just lying about in their coffins. Sarcophagi are arranged in neat rows as if the Hapsburgs are saying “we may be dead and our empire may have crumbled to nothingness – but we’re not about to let our standards slip”.

The most elaborate tomb belongs to Emperor Franz Josef (the one with the unfeasibly large whiskers who reigned for ages and died in the middle of the first world war). He is flanked by his wife, the Empress ‘Sissi’ and his son Rudolf – tragic principal in the notorious Mayerling affair. Round the corner is Empress Maria Theresa to whom Haydn dedicated a symphony and her son Emperor Josef II – the so-called ‘enlightened despot’ – whose own contribution to Vienna’s musical life was to lambast Mozart for producing “too many notes”. “What a despot!” Mozart was heard to remark (or something very like that).

It is more than a little macabre but visit the Hapsburg stiffs in the Capuchins’ Crypt – where history comes, um, alive.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/5760 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/5728 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/5728 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/5658
Some of the Klimts (although not The Kiss) have gone now after a court ruled that they should be returned to the artist's family in Los Angeles.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/5658 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/4558 For Jugendstil and Wiener Werkstatte visit the MAK.

I'm looking forward to staying at the Levante Parliament as I stayed there 20 years ago when it was unlovely student accommodation - it's also very near the Cafe Eiles, frequented by politicians and the actor, Klaus Maria Brandauer.

The best Tafel Spitz (boiled beef not stew) can be found at Cafe Schottenring and the cafe at the Kunsthistorischesmuseum does a fantastic buffet on Sundays (you can even wander off between courses).

Finally, in Winter, for cheap, healthy entertainment - feed the red squirrels at Schonbrunn.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/4558 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/3839 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/3839 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/1673 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/1673 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/7448
Hidden in Wien-Hietzing, it is one of the creative centres of early 20th century art. Gustav Klimt (1862 - 1918), the main representative of Viennese art nouveau and co-founder of the Wiener Secession had his studio there during the last six years of his life. Only in summer 1998 was the existence of this studio undoubtedly proved, which led to the foundation of the Gustav Klimt Memorial Society. Soon after Klimt´s death, the original studio house was furnished with a second story and turned into a villa.

The Klimt Villa was declared as a protected zone in 1999, which was enlarged in 2000, but still has not been placed under protection like a historic monument. However, the original concept of the ensemble Klimt used - his studio, his reception room and the side rooms together with the adjacent garden and park - have survived nearly completely.

It must be pointed out that a great number of Klimt´s most important works were created in this studio. Here Klimt portrayed many ladies of society and finished painting some of his wonderful landscapes (especially Attersee motifs).]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/7448 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/5765
On a snowy day, the palm house was wonderfully warm.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/5765 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/5758 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/5758