The next part of my Eastern European journey would take me to Vienna, Austria. Whoa. Just to inform you all, they speak German there, in case you didn't know. I guess I wasn't sure what to expect after I was already tagged as an American there on the train ride over from Budapest (thanks Megan) hahaa.
We arrived into Vienna Sunday night, where we took a quick walk to our hostel. The Wombat Hostel. Yes, an exciting name for an exciting place! As soon as we walked in, it seemed like a cool place, bustling with young people and many languages. The place had a neat set up, with fun lights, many tour books, Internet, a bar and free breakfast! Our room seemed clean and fine, with four of us with our own room and the other three sharing with a few strangers. EEK! Oh hostel life. We asked the desk for a recommendation for some local cuisine nearby, and they recommended Mozart Gauge. (Funny how it seems like everything in Vienna somehow incorporates Mozart's name. Yes, he was from Vienna). Totally feeling the Austrian vibe of the restaurant and the feel of the local specialties, it was great! Austrians sure like their fried food...not quite my favorite. So I settled for something I wasn't sure what it was and it turned out pretty huge, and great. Reasonable prices and good food was a good start.
Waking up early the next day, where we took advantage of our free breakfast at the hostel while also meeting some fellow hostel stayers-a kid names Melvin from Amsterdam, who asked many questions about us Americans. Haha. We left to see the main cathedral, Stephensdome, located right in the center of Vienna. The huge, famous cathedral is from the 12th century! Being super motivated, the 7 of us climbed to the top, 323 steps exactly. Slightly claustrophobic/dizzying, the climb was well worth and we were welcomed with a fantastic view of the city! On the way down (super dizzying), Emily, Megan and I sang Sound of Music tunes. Quite loud apparently, oops.
Our next stop was the famous Hapsburg Palace, the seat of the Austria-Hungary empire, where Empress Elizabeth lived. Just approaching the building is amazing. As you walk down Kahtner Street, the street leading to it, you are hit with this huge, encroaching turquoise dome with gold at the end of the street. You can't miss it. The Palace is quite large with two courtyards between it and many museums now located right there. We decided to take the audio tour through the famous Imperial Apartments (the main part of the palace.) How could we miss out on where the world known Hapsburg royal family lived?!! The tour started out with a museum type exhibition on the life of Empress Elizabeth, apparently known as Sisi. Then we went on to explore the apartments where the family lived. It was rooms and rooms of intricate designs where they cover everything with gold from pillows, to wallpaper, to a napkin holder. After our tour, when walking through the palace outside, we stumbled right upon, a huge celebration.
Apparently it was the Day of Neutrality, basically independence day. So right in the center of the palace, there was a huge festival with tons of Austrian food, beer, music, a German loud speaker and a zipline going across the palace. Sweet! We just fall into great situations it seemed. So each of us ventured out to pick up random foods, planning to take bites of everyone's choices. We were left with potatoes, huge sausage hot dogs (no thank you), fried random things, pretzels larger than my head and beer. It was so much fun! I felt like I was helping the Austrians celebrate their great holiday! As we left, Megan insisted on trying the chestnuts, we first stared at them trying to decide. The man decided to give me one to try. Of course, I was forced to try it right there in front of him. Apparently giving a bad face because it was really hot, the guy hated me. Megan buys some, asking how do you eat this to the guy. It was hysterical. I think you had to be there. One of our moments.
We proceeded to go check out the Viennese Opera, one of the most famous in the world! By this time it was getting a bit dim, and the opera was lit up. Beautiful. To our surprise, outside the cathedral, a huge television screen was built up on the side of the building, and right when we arrived, the ballet was being streamed live! Chairs were set up and everyone gathered to watch the ballet, perfect quality, it was like we were at an outdoor show! My friends and I grabbed a spot on the ground and watched in amazement.
After a bit, feeling very inspired, we trotted and jumped and spun and leaped, literally, over to our next destination. We headed to the Museum Quartier, which holds 4 museums. From Megan's recommendation, we made a stop at the Leopold Museum, which held the Edward Munch exhibit and some Klimt art. On our way back to the hostel, we walked by Parliament, beautifully lit up at night, where we tried about 4595896830 attempts to do a jumping picture and were finally successful! YES! We also saw Town Hall at night. AMAZING! After our long, long day, we settled for a late dinner nearby and stop at the "WomBar," for our free drink included with our stay there. Hahaah.
The next day was a busy one as well. We headed over to Belvedere Palace, one of the summer homes of the empress and emperor. Really? Is is a palace necessary for a summer home? Anyway, the place was large, of course, and the gardens were beautiful!! We didn't take the tour inside, the gardens were really satisfying enough. We stopped by at the other famous church, Karlzkirche and the Secession Building, an art museum displaying art from the all the artists of the Vienna Secession Movement. Right across the street was the Noschmarket. A fabulous outdoor market we read about that has a huge line of vendors selling everything from pastries, dried fruit, falafels, candy, stuffed peppers to other local specialities. I felt like I was back home in New York, hanging out in Chinatown, with all the hagglers that were there. They gave out samples and lowered prices to intice you to buy more food. Great stuff. Next we made our way to the Schonnbrunn Palace, another summer home of the emperor and empress, where we saw the room where Mozart played his first concert at the age of six and the grand ballroom where the Vienna Summit was held. WHOA. The gardens here were just acres and acres of perfectly trimmed hedges. The hedges were awesome. And the view at the top of the gardens was sweet. Exhausted, we headed back and then headed to dinner at a brewery type restaurant with some authentic Viennese food and the biggest beer glass I have ever seen.
We started Wednesday with a metro ride over to Danube Island, right where you can see the Danube River. Then walked to the large carnival, which is apparently a Viennese institution. My friends ventured on a few rides while I was too chicken to give it a go. We then headed to experience the famous cafe culture of Vienna, where they have many, many types of coffee and endless types of cakes. Something they're famous for. We stopped in at Cafe Demel, from 1786, the oldest in Vienna, where Empress Sisi used to come by for her violet sorbet. The place is old, beautiful and so cute! You literally walk up to a glass case where the lady explains what type of cake each one is and then you choose. Complete with a chocolate almond slice and a hot chocolate, it was perfect. Gosh, how do these people stay fit!!!?
That evening my Syracuse crowd headed onto Prague, while I awaited the arrival of my Strasbourg buds an hour later. The next four days were spent exploring more of Vienna, a less intense crowd, where we gallivanted through the city at a slower pace. We stayed in a sick apartment and scurried through the fantastic Viennese streets, checked out the coolest House of Music museum, took a tour of the famous Spanish Riding School, checked out the club scene and "cooked" our foods at home. With a flight back to Baden Baden Sunday night, we were all exhausted. 10 days. Success. Love Eastern Europe.
So, the last few weeks have been CRAZY busy, with traveling and a lot of random loads of homework all of a sudden. Therefore I have totally slacked on this!!
o eat pineapple and kiwi in a way I've never seen before. We then headed out to dinner, the four of us, after taking a long time to eat a restaurant, because apparently dinner is not really big thing in Madrid, instead people munch on tapas on the time! Crazy! We found a cute place and enjoyed a the Spanish cuisine. Hill and I headed back to her apartment to get ready so she could show me the crazy Spanish nightlife! Its normal for people to not head out until 12 or 1 am. That's pretty much the height of our nights over here in Strasbourg. We headed out to the area called Sol, a busy area with tons of people out a night, beautiful buildings and large nightlife. People stay out here till 5 am until the clubs close and then wait for the metro to start up again at 6, while eating churos with chocolate as people head to work. haha crAZY. We spent the night out with her Madrid friends at a place called Joy, huge and busy, and made it back around 5. Well, I guess you can't always stay out untill 6:30.
hen went to explore some other large plazas around the city and checked out the big shopping streets that are covered with beautiful buildings and great stores. Picking up my first shopping purchase while in Europe, yay!
