There are no kangaroos in Austria

March 05, 2017

Last weekend I spent three nights in the city of classical music and chocolate cake. It was beautiful! As soon as we arrived I could tell that the vibe was very different from that of Budapest. Although I've been slowly falling in love with the colorful streets and the overall-grundgy felling of the of my home in Budapest, Vienna captured my heart with its clean streets and breathtaking sights.

We arrived in the evening, at an enormous international train station. Vienna has remained the central hub for connections through central Europe, a position that is left over from when it was the capital of the Holy Roman Empire, and later the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The train station was walk-able from our airbnb, which was fantastic and perfect for seven people! We went out on the first evening and found a place selling sushi for only six euros! (This was really cheap for Vienna especially). We couldn't help but indulge ourselves, even though it wasn't exactly a local favorite.

We also walked around the city center and took in some of the sites by night. It can be kind of fun when you have absolutely no idea where your going! (With the help of google maps to get you back home of course).

The next morning we woke up early and headed to a free walking tour of the city. I think that I've said it before but I love those tours, because it is often local students who lead them! She showed us around the beautiful inner ring, which was home to the National Library where Hitler had a famous speech after Germany occupied Austria before WWII. We also saw St. Steven's cathedral, Mozart's apartment, several famous museums and statues. The tour ended around the Spanish Riding School, which is world renowned for well trained show horses.

Mozart's memorial statue. He is not buried here, as he died in a time of plague in the city, and was probably buried in a mass grave.

A piece of the ancient city wall.

The Austiran National Library.

A piece of St. Steven's Cathedral.

In the afternoon we went and grabbed some Austrian food for lunch and saw the inside of the National Library. It was absolutely breathtaking inside, complete with frescoes lining the ceiling of the state room, and artifacts from ancient bibles to the writings of Mozart himself.

The ceiling of the Austrian National Library.

This statue seems to surprised to see some many people in his library!

That evening we took it easy back in our airbnb. Vienna was turning out to be a little more expensive that what were getting used to in Budapest, so we went to the grocery store and cooked for ourselves. While we were some, we tried a take-away version of a famous Austrian chocolate cake.

The next morning the weather was beautiful and the sun was shinning! We headed to Schonbrunn palace, the summer home of the Hapsburgs. There we learned about the history of the famous empress Maria Theresia, and just spent time taking in the impressive views!

I with we had a chance to visit in the summer when all of the flowers were blooming! We were famished after walking the whole grounds of the palace so we headed to the Naschmarkt, a large market near our flat. One side was more posh, with fruits, vegetables and Turkish food. (The baklava was to die for!)

---Side note about Turkish food, it is absolutely everywhere here! In Budapest there are kebab restaurants open 24/7. In Vienna you could see the old Ottoman influence as well. Coffee was originally brought to Europe through the Ottoman's in Vienna.

The other side of the market was full of the most random trinkets and knick-knacks. I bartered for a ring, and my friend Audrey bought a really cheap tapestry to take back to her room at home!

In the afternoon I wandered off by myself to see the Mozart house museum. The museum itself was honestly a little boring, it was mostly just the bare bones of a standard apartment. The view of the central Vienna streets, however, was impressive. I can understand why the apartment was so expensive, based on location alone! It was nice to catch a few minutes to myself. Traveling in a group of seven is really tiring!! It was really relaxing to wander the quiet cobblestone backstreets, even if I took a few wrong turns trying to find the museum. (Again, thanks google maps!!).

On our last evening we tried to go see a ballet, opera or symphony, but we were unable to get tickets on the day of. Even though I've been getting more used to having no plan when I travel, this is definitely something that we should have thought about in advance!

The grand finale of my stay in Austria was eating a Schnitzel. We went to the famous Schnitzel house and split them, because the fried pork is almost as big as a pizza! The best part about it though, was trying to get my Spanish roommate to say the word Schnitzel! It turns out that is a really hard word for someone to pronounce, especially if they don't speak a Germanic language!