Winning in Wien (Vienna)

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Vienna

6/30 - 7/3



We were very excited to check out Vienna since it has an almost magical touch to the name, similar to perhaps a Paris. In fact, before we left we had heard from multiple people that Vienna was a mini Paris in beauty. We have to disagree, and maybe our experience was different than others, but our very high expectations were not quite met. Now I hope that doesn’t turn you away from reading this, but we were a little disappointed in Vienna. Our train from Budapest to Vienna went very smoothly, and the countryside was very pleasant to watch. I was a little apprehensive though because we were staying at our second AirBnb of the trip and the host gave us directions on how to pick up the key and get to the place, but the directions were super confusing and we didn’t have wifi to communicate with him as we were moving. Luckily, working together and five tram/metro/bus stops later, we were able to pick up the keys and get to the apartment at a reasonable time. Our apartment was super cool, although a little weird. The place was located in a nice little district about ten minute metro ride to the city center, with shops and restaurants nearby. The weird part was that the apartment was on the bottom floor of a five story building, but once inside the main door, it looked really rundown, with the walls half peeled off, floor tiles stacked all over the place, a super funky smell, and two random faucets hanging off the wall. We were definitely a little spooked, until we opened the door to our apartment, and bam, the place was perfect! Huge space, nice kitchen and bathroom, again with a washing machine, and a huge bedroom. We were very thrilled as we had prepared for the worst when entering. We quickly dropped our things off and set out to explore the town.



Laura had been doing the research for Vienna and created a nice little itinerary for us. This night we decided to just cruise around the Ring Road where some palaces, museums, and parliament are located. We also wanted to watch the quarterfinal game between Poland and Portugal, and luckily there was a screening right along ring road in the Rausplatz. We got off metro at Karlsplatz, and were greeted by some really cool architecture. We kind of meandered towards this really cool building which turned out to be some sort of concert hall and noticed a really cool street market. We went to check it out and realized that it stretched for like a kilometer down the road and Laura saw that this was a famous street market that she wanted to go to tomorrow, but since we were here and a little hungry, we decided to walk around and get some dinner. The market was very cool with an assortment of restaurants, boutique shops, souvenirs, and fresh food markets. Perhaps the best was the olives and cheeses. We didn’t try anything but we feasted with our eyes. After walking all the way to the end and back, we began to get really hungry and stopped at a nice looking place and ordered a dish that is meant for two people, which is what we have been doing a lot since its usually cheaper than two separate single dishes. In this case, we ordered an assortment of meats: chicken breast, steak, pork chops, and sausages with an accompanying potato salad, which Vienna is famous for. It was absolutely delicious but to be honest, it was too much meat. We were exhausted after and had a horrible food coma. We left on a little sour note though, as while the food was fantastic, we ordered a half liter of water to wash it down and it cost us 8 euro, freaking 8 euro for a water. We were pissed, but we soon came to realize that is Vienna.



We left and started to walk off our meat coma. We wandered down to ring road and marveled at the really majestic and powerful buildings of the Habsburg era. The Maria Theresa Palace and park was so beautiful. The really cool part about this area of Vienna is how walkable the area is. The pathways are huge with trees lining the whole area, the palaces standing proudly above, and flowers blooming everywhere, it really is a beautiful sight. We continued to walk along the Volksgarten towards the Parliament building, which is powerful in its own right. Laura became my expert tour guide and told me the story as to the statue in front which is of Athena, the greek goddess of wisdom, and she is turned away from the building because she is tired of all the bickering that goes on in the building. Funny stuff. Our end destination, the gothic Town Hall building, or Rausplatz, was only another five minutes down the road, so we arrived shortly thereafter. Unfortunately, we looked up and noticed the clouds had started to get very dark and about twenty minutes before the start of the game, a light rain began falling. Despite this rain, people were spilling into the Rausplatz viewing area, many Polish fans, and sharing their zealous spirit, we braved the rain and got a spot in the main crowd. Four minutes in, GOLAZO by Poland and the place went crazy. I mean, people were screaming, jumping, pushing, flares were lit, and then BAM, a super loud explosion, the people behind us were thrown into us almost knocking us down. My initial thought was there was a bomb, lights were flashing in all directions, firecrackers going off, I had no idea what had happened, all I knew was that Laura was next to me and she was okay. We turned around and a huge empty space with a smoking flame on the ground and two guys screaming at people trying to figure out who dropped whatever exploded. I really have never seen two people more upset than these guys, and deservedly so because it makes Poland look bad when these things happen. Anyway, everything cleared out and this didn’t happen again and Polish songs rang anew. The rain picked up and by halftime, with Poland up 1-0, we decided to retreat to the tent. The rest of the game went predictably for us, as Portugal evened the score at 1-1 and ended up winning on penalties. It seems we are very bad luck for whoever we are rooting for in these Euros.



The next day we woke up early to visit the Schonbrunn Palace, which was the seat of power for the Habsburg Empire. We were very wary about visiting this palace since we remembered our experience from the Palace of Versailles where it was just so packed with people that we couldn’t enjoy anything. So our plan was to arrive right at the opening, which was 8am. We arrived and were the first in line, the place was empty and we got to walk through all the rooms unmolested and had time to actually appreciate the beauty and read/listen to the history of one of the most powerful empires of history. It was a really great experience, and after we exited the palace were able to enjoy the confines of the labyrinth gardens. It was a really great time, and as we were leaving at around 10:30 am, we saw streams and streams of people entering the palace, so if you ever want to go to a super touristy attraction, remember to arrive early!!



Since it was still early in the day, we had plenty of time to check out the historical city center of Vienna, which is nice, but really isn’t that unique or memorable. The old town has cobbled streets for pedestrians only, which was nice, but the architecture was rather new or glossed over, and the main attraction was shopping. It had a Union Square type feel to it, rather than the typical European feel. I mean it is very pretty, and I do think that we are being snobby about it, but it just doesn’t emit the feeling of Paris, or the majesty of Madrid, or the antiquity of Rome, or the craziness of Barcelona, it just felt like a relative modern, normal city. Now, the buildings on ring road and the palaces were truly amazing, spectacular architecture and really, really cool to look at, but the vibe of the city center was lacking. We did have a highlight this evening though, as we bought tickets to see the Vienna Orchestra play a Mozart concert in one of Vienna’s most famous concert halls, the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde. The golden interior was spectacular, and the orchestra was wearing attire popular during the years of Mozart. It was truly a spectacle and inspiring to behold. As we left, we were laughing how we both wanted to pick up an instrument again!



We spent another day wandering around the city. Laura was very adamant that we eat a breakfast at one of the most famous Viennese cafes, this particular one was called Cafe Schwarzenberg. We ordered some standard breakfast plates, which were quite expensive but the ambiance was really cool (super old school, like 1880’s feel to it) and the coffee was some of the best we had ever had. We walked to another palace which was down the road, The Belvedere Palace and enjoyed the gardens. The days were super hot and humid though, which really put a damper on almost everything we did. Again, we entered the old town but it was just so packed with people and again, underwhelming, so we headed to the more secluded Volksgarten to have a nap by the roses. These peaceful slumbers are some of our favorite parts of traveling and but since this trip has been jam packed, this park siesta has been our first. We crowded the shade as the sun only intensified it’s heat and were at peace. That evening we headed to an Irish bar called Flanagan’s to watch the Italy vs Germany quarterfinal soccer match. Now we entered wanting Germany to win because we were going to be in Munich for the final and Germany had a great chance to get there, but our Azurri blood shone through and by the end we were one of the few in the bar cheering for the Italians. The game was incredible and went to some excruciating penalties as both teams had numerous opportunities to put the game away only to miss, but at the 8th penalty, Germany came away with the victory.



While beautiful, we kind of had enough of Vienna and wanted to do a day trip somewhere close by. Luckily for us, the capital of Slovakia, Bratislava, was only a short train ride away, but that will be for another blog post.





Overall, Vienna is a beautiful city, but it is definitely not on par with numerous other places across Europe. For one, it is very expensive to eat, drink, and party which is an instant turnoff. The actual city lacks the charm of many other places, and the old town especially is way too commercial. The palaces along ring road are definitely worth a visit, though, as they are beautiful and mesmerizing at the same time and demonstrate the power of the Habsburg reign. We are happy to have visited, and happy to move on.

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Photos

Schonnberg Palace
Reina Laura