I met up with a fellow world traveler in Austria's capital city for a fun weekend full of gorgeous architecture, cobbled streets made only for walking, interactive museums, and butterflies.
Here is a little travel tip for those of you who are interested in going to Vienna: first, it is expensive, and second, plan ahead on your lodging! Not only were hotels and AirBnb's full, but hostels as well. The day before our arrival, we finally found a Bed and Breakfast (called a "Pension") that was not too costly. This was before my host dad asked, "Did Sabine tell you you could use our condo this weekend?" Apparently, this was one of the few weekends that Sabine and Alois were not renting it out to their friends.
The apartment was incredible, seated on the top of a building just west of Vienna's main circle, with a great view of the skyline. It was only a couple minute's walk from the nearest U-Bahn and Straßenbahn that took us right into the heart of the city. We couldn't thank the Köpf's enough for letting us stay.
What perfect weather! Walking around Vienna was a breeze with the warm air and light wind that flowed through its streets. We had lots of good coffee and food along the way. Some of the unexpected things we noticed about the city of Vienna was that it was fairly quiet in the outer sectors, the streets were wide and calm even near to the center, and it had a welcoming character that did not say "tourist" around every corner. I preferred Vienna to Rome because it felt more like a place I could call home for all these reasons and more.
One of our first stops was the Palmenhaus, which is a coffee shop in the middle of a greenhouse. We drank little cappuccinos in the midst of tall palms and high ceilings and talked about the upcoming protest in Hong Kong (it had a huge turnout and no one was harmed) and different types of honey (honey from the açaí tree is the best).
Later, we continued our exploration of all that Vienna had to offer by visiting some very different museums. We took a turn through the National History Museum, thinking it was the Austrian National Library (which I heard had a large collection of globes). We read some very sad things about WWII and the Holocaust that put us in quite a mood.
Then, we visited the Haus of Musik, an interactive walk through the history and science of music. My favorite room was a creepy, dark chamber with three columns. These columns had down them a large selection of blue-lighted shapes that, when pressed, would emit a loud sound. I pressed one scale with squiggly lines that produced the sound of a bassoon so many times that even I was beginning to scare myself.
We later looped back to the Palmenhaus to visit the attached greenhouse full of butterflies! This building is essentially a tropical sauna with brightly colored insets flitting away from tourists who are attempting to get a decent, still photo. I was fascinated by this one case that was filled with a hundred different cocoons hanging from small branches. While trying to get a good photo of a black and white butterfly, I was greeted by two bright blue flyers that were doing the fast version of the Viennese Waltz in the air around me. I noticed that there were several arrangements of fake flowers around the greenhouse, and I could not figure out why they were there amongst the real vegetation.
That first night, we walked along the canal, passing by colorful, wall-to-wall graffiti and groups of young people sitting in circles around empty bottles of vodka and beer. The steps along the water were a great place for drinks and a conversation. We then visited a club that played rock music exclusively on Friday's. The bouncer gave me a questioning look in my long, black dress and asked if I knew what the show was tonight. I soon realized when I walked in why he had said that - I did not fit the typical heavy-metal dress code. Nevertheless, I enjoyed watching the crowd do little side-to-side movements and intermittent head-banging to loud rock music while drinking my apple juice and vodka. Only in Austria, right?
On Saturday night, we attempted to find a good rooftop to watch the sunset. According to Reddit, the best place was the top of the hospital a couple minutes away from the apartment. Much to my surprise, we walked right into the hospital doors without being questioned. Finding the rooftop was not as easy. We meandered around the halls, up the elevator, and tried to read the signs that would have been confusing even if they were in English, all to no avail. Finally, a lady asked us what we were doing, and I asked her where the balcony was. She said it was closed.
Our adventure was not over, however. We spent the next 15 minutes trying to find our way back out of the hospital, following the green-highlighted word "Ausgang" in circles through wide, empty hallways; up and down cramped staircases; and around revolving doors with exits that did not open. I found myself in a real-life horror movie about two foreigners trapped in an empty hospital at night.
Alas, we finally escaped and the scary movie ended, as had the sunset long ago. We made up for missing the view by eating at a great burger place in the middle of Vienna (we love Le Burger). Then, we found a club called Flex that played Techno so loud we could actually feel the music. It was open until 6AM, and we walked in at midnight, so it seems we arrived before the crowd hit. Though we could have done with more people, the visuals and sound of the club provided us with an authentic glimpse of pure, German HAUS MUSIK.
Some of our other random adventures included seeing this medieval mural that dated back to 1509. It was located in the old city where there was not much foot traffic. It is said that this painting of a cow and a wolf playing backgammon may represent the conflict between the Catholic and Protestants at the time. The man standing watch is supposedly ready to take the hide of whoever loses. But sources also say that it is not clear who is winning (and who can really say who won? Both the wolf and the cow are still around today, skin and all).
We took turns walking and finding interesting architecture and sitting and enjoying the place and its people. Here are some snapshots of the things we saw.
We were originally going to visit the Catacombs beneath Stephan's Dome, but decided to avoid the tourists there. The whole area was crowded with people craning their necks to look at the top of the dome or taking pictures of themselves standing in front of it. Horse-drawn carriages roamed around the church. "This feels fake," was the comment made by my experienced travel partner. I agreed, and we left for other, more interesting places that retained authenticity. I must make a note here - tourism is great for many reasons! It is just not the scene for me. The authenticity of a place is also quite subjective. Just because a monument has become a hub for tourism does not mean it has necessarily lost its value. To me, however, it does lose a certain attraction.
My travel partner took a Blah Blah car back to Serbia at 1, and I had until 6 to explore before my bus left the station. I had plenty of time to hit some of the remaining spots I wanted to visit, including Karlskirche, which is south of the main circle. I was surprised to find that the majority of people there were locals, as evidenced by the kids park and high school right next to it. Perhaps I should not have been so surprised, however, considering it was further from the center as most people might feel inclined to venture.
After taking photos of this grand palace, I walked to the Opera House (this is only worth going to if you are seeing a show or paying for a tour - otherwise, you are not allowed inside) and then down to the Naschmarkt. This hub for local produce and other fun shopping was closed for the Sunday holiday, but my disappointment was short-lived because I ran into a wonderful vegan ice cream place just down the street. All I can say is that the cookie and cherry pie ice creams are worth every Euro (or denied foreign credit card).
Among other things, I ate a fantastic gluten- and dairy-free pizza at Pizza Scarabocchio with GF beer, chia pudding with cranberries at Café Central, and a couple servings of bacon and eggs for breakfast at various locations. I definitely ate well in Vienna!
For my next trip, I think I will go hiking in the mountains somewhere, and visit a less populated town so I can get a more well-rounded feel for different places in Europe. As for now, I must say farewell to Vienna. You were both very pretty and expensive - but ah, for beauty there is never too high a price, no? In any case, I'm sure I will be seeing a lot more of you very soon (but mostly in the airport on my way to visit new places).
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