The southern side of the New Market Square is enclosed by the Ambassador Hotel. With the support of the U.S. Embassy, a commemorative plaque was installed on the hotel's facade on April 21, 2010. The plaque acknowledges that Mark Twain stayed at this hotel from October 1898 to May 1899. He also lodged at the Metropole Hotel on Morzinplatz from September 1897 to May 1898 and spent the summer at Villa Paulhof in Kaltenleutgeben, where his wife and daughter Jane received treatment at a spa center. Mark Twain and his daughter Clara were not fond of water procedures. Twain, with his characteristic humor, justified himself by saying, "As soon as I went out for a walk in the hills, the fog immediately enveloped me with its dense blanket. I fear that my view of things will become foggy." Just a few years before the fateful 20th century, in 1897, Mark Twain wrote the famous article "Steering times in Austria." Besides Mark Twain, the Ambassador Hotel hosted notable figures such as Theodore Roosevelt, Henry Ford III, Thornton Wilder, Marlene Dietrich, Romy Schneider, Josephine Baker, Sviatoslav Richter, Robert Schumann, Louis Trenker, Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, Princess Elena of Greece, and Princess Maria Alexandra Victoria of Edinburgh. Now, let's make our mark at the fountain in the center of the square and learn about the fate of its sculptures. Tomorrow awaits us with the Vienna Woods and Baden.
From Stephansplatz, we meandered through the time-worn cobbles of Karntrashtrasse, arriving at the venerable Albertina Gallery. There, a unique Monet exhibition unfolded before our eyes, uniting his masterpieces from global museums. This collection showcased the same locales captured at varying seasons and times, revealing Monet's genius in a new light. Our stroll culminated at the old market square, where we were delighted by a humorous tale reminiscent of Mark Twain's wit.
Don't be afraid to get lost in new places!
