Weekend trip to Vienna!

26 September

My friend DJ and I ventured off to Vienna early this morning. We left Prague at 8AM and had an easy bus ride in. We found our hostel (named Guesthouse Arabella) quite easily. After walking up 7 flights of stairs in search of a front desk/receptionist, we were finally greeted by a middle aged, barefoot, overall-clad, tattooed man smoking a cigarette. He told us to "come in, come in" and led us into a small kitchen where a pot of meat dumplings were boiling on the stove. We waited a minute until a woman (who I'd presume was his wife?) walked in with a receipt with DJ's name on it. She showed us to our room (on the 10th floor!!!!) and we were surprised by how well-equipped and clean it was considering our initial greeting into the hostel.

We took the metro to the city center and were greeted by dozens of men dressed like 18th century aristocrats. We went to nice market in the city center to grab a bite to eat and as we approached the exit, I pushed open a door with a green sign of a man walking out of it and the emergency alarm went off! The entire store glared at me and all of the people worked at the cash registers were yelling "nein nein nein!!!" And frantically motioned for me to shut the door. I closed the door and we hurried out of the proper exit. DJ and I were cracking up! How could I have known?! It was a green sign with a man walking outside! Seemed like a legitimate enough exit to me. Oh well, lesson learned.

We made our way to Mozart's apartment and took an audio tour of the building. Mozart rarely stayed in a dwelling for more than two years and this apartment was where he lived for the longest time (only 2 or 3 years). It was exciting walking on the floors that Mozart once walked on and I loved listening to the stories of his wild lifestyle. I expected Vienna to remain stuck in his time, but surprisingly, it feels incredibly modern. While walking the streets of Vienna, I didn't really feel that much of his influence unless we passed a church or concert venue.

We reconvened at the hostel for a bit to rest our feet and while we were sitting in the indoor stairwell trying to get wifi, the woman who greeted us initially looks at us and says, "smoking?" and holds out a cigarette. We politely turned it down. I don't know why we were so amused by the scenario; perhaps it was her sincere offering of a cigarette in such a cramped, indoor place, or maybe it was her effort to speak English to us (hers was very broken) but the situation was very sweet even though DJ and I had no intention of smoking.

We met up with our friend Michael from our program in Prague for drinks at an amazing place called Cafe Central. A host of famous (and infamous) visitors have dined here. There was live piano music and arched ceilings. It felt like we had been transported back to pre-WWI Europe. On our way home, we met two Americans on the metro who were working here (they graduated college in 2011 I think). They convinced us to accompany them to an American/Aussie owned bar. I was pretty tired from our day of traveling and exploring but being in an American bar listening to "Call Me Maybe" and "Sweet Home Alabama" was the greatest thing. Although I am not particularly in love with either of those songs, hearing something so familiar and being in a familiar environment was amazing. It was fun meeting other Americans in Vienna too!

DJ and I enjoying some Viennese wine in Stephenplatz

Mozart's house!

Our initial skepticism of Guesthouse Arabella was legitimate. This was the kitchen that we were lead into. Take note of the liver dumplings on the stove.

Outside of St. Stephen's Cathedral

Inside of Cafe Central. Felt like the early 20th Century

Standing outside of Vienna's Parliament (I think??) building

27 September

I am incredibly impressed by Vienna's impeccable public transportation system. Prague has a great system too, but I think that because of the iron curtain, it's slightly behind the times. Vienna's system is intuitive easy to follow. It also helps that my travel buddy DJ is wonderful with directions and a confident traveller, so we've ventured out and explored the city even more. Our first stop of the day was to the enormous palace grounds of Schöbrunn Palace. I was baffled by the sheer vastness of the property. We wandered around for over an hour and probably didn't even see half of the gardens. We didn't even enter the palace. It was so breathtakingly beautiful that it looked like a green screen. We were amazed by the symmetry of everything. All of the hedges are kept up to the last leaf and the flowers in the gardens are perfect to the inch. We walked towards the massive Neptune Fountain for what felt like a kilometer even though it didn't look that far from one of the palace balconies because of how huge the fountain was. 

After the palace, we went to the Nachmarket. We got a little lost on the way and because our smartphones are only useful for navigation with wifi (which we didn't have) we had to turn to the good old fashion map. We finally found our way there and it was wonderful. The Nachmarket is an outdoor market filled with charming restaurants and food vendors. We were starving by the time we arrived so we ate and then wandered around. All of my senses were utilized because of the colorful food displays, the wonderful smells of spices and the multitude of scarves and tapestries. We then headed to Stadtpark which is a park well-known for its statues honoring famous composers. We came across Brukner, Johann Strauss, and Franz Schubert. We saw a sign for Beethoven and wandered outside of the park to find a massive statue and small park dedicated to only him! I was elated. We walked back towards city center for a glass of wine at a five-century-old restaurant called Griechenbeisl. Icons such as Beethoven all the way to Mark Twain have wined and dined there. We felt very classy sipping on wine where Beethoven could have sat as well. In preparation for this trip, we researched and read about these two coffee shops across from one and other that perfectly represent the dichotomy between old Viennese coffee shops and the more modern, new wave ones. The differences were clear and both shops were incredibly charming and enjoyable. 

Fresh vegetables at the Nachmarket

DJ and I in front of Schöbrunn Palace

View from our hostel's window (staying on the 10th floor has its perks!)

More treats at the Nachmarket

Gardens at Schöbrunn Palace

Bridge linking the two sides of Stadtpark

Gardens at Schöbrunn Palace. Such vibrant colors

Schöbrunn Palace

The crowds at Nachmarket!

Another bridge shot from Stadtpark

The symmetry of the Schöbrunn Palace Gardens was amazing

I found Beethoven!

Schöbrunn Palace Gardens

Beautiful pond at Stadtpark

Exterior of Griechenbeisl

Interior of Griechenbeisl

Interior of new-wave Viennese coffee shop called Phil (recommended to us by a NY Times article)

28 September

Today is our last day here so we decided to be a little touristy and ride a famous 19th century Ferris wheel to see all of Vienna. While the experience was cool, I realized that Ferris wheels aren't for me. I prefer to have my feet firmly planted on the ground. The views were incredible, though. Before the wheel, we went to one of Prague's well-known modern art museums called Mumok. It is in the MuseumsQuartier, a square that contains multiple museums, each focusing on a different type of art. I didn't know this before, but Vienna has a very happening modern art scene. This explains why Mumok was filled with such incredible works of art. Even though I've been to many modern art museums, I loved seeing the Pop Art here because I felt a special camaraderie with the American artists. Mumok had great works by Warhol, Hockney, John Cage, Lichtenstein, Jasper Johns, and many more.

View from the top of the Ferris wheel!

On our way up...

MuseumsQuartier in central Vienna

Another shot of the Ferris wheel

I decided to write down the most noticeable differences between Vienna and Prague from what I could observe in a weekend: Vienna is WAY bigger. When you look at a map of Prague and walk somewhere in the same district, it takes 10 minutes. If you look at a map of Vienna and plan to walk what looks like the same distance, it takes twice the time. My legs are exhausted from a weekend of lots of walking. DJ's too! And he just had knee surgery, so he's the ultimate champion. Vienna looks more modern than Prague. As mentioned before, the public transportation system is far more advanced. Although Prague's is good, Vienna's is phenomenal. Vienna has many old buildings with highly embellished finials and reliefs on the exterior but as a whole, the city looks much more industrial. We noted that Vienna looks very 20th and 21st century while Prague looks very 18th and 19th century. I must say that the biggest difference (perhaps because it directly affected me the most) was the fact that Vienna serves tap water. It is impossible to order tap water anywhere in Prague. I have yet to understand why, considering the tap water in Prague is amazing and it seems simple enough to put some in a cup, but that's beside the point. Vienna will serve you a glass of tap water anytime you order anything to drink or eat. It's amazing. We joke that we're always so thirsty in Prague and coming to Vienna finally quenched our thirst. This is clearly a joke because I always carry a water bottle with me, but you get the point. 

So there's my weekend. If you made it this far, thank you for reading this entire post! My usual "czeching out" sign-off doesn't seem appropriate for this post, so I'll end with a more Viennese line...

Auf Wiedersehen!

Grace

Our itinerary for the weekend!

Dogs are allowed everywhere, from restaurants to outdoor markets, (this rule applies to Prague too) as long as they wear muzzles to keep them from biting. This cute pup was on the metro with us.