Vienna waits for you

Vienna, Austria
December 5-7

The beautiful Schonbrunn Palace. I'm in my Stay-Puffed Marshmallow Man outfit- Turtleneck sweater, Irish Sweater, Puffy Coat. Gotta stay warm somehow!

Oh Vienna! So beautiful!! I was so happy to be back in this city after seven years and see that it really was as gorgeous as I remembered. We pulled into Vienna on December 5th for a quick two night stay. Even their train station is gorgeous! The Westbahnhof train station has undergone a huge renovation and I can honestly say it was the cleanest, nicest train station we have been in in all of Europe. They had three floors of shops and restaurants and services and there was free wi-fi throughout. We were starving when our train arrived and it was nice to be able to settle in for lunch at a train station where you didn't feel like you were playing Russian Roulette with your health. After grabbing a bite to eat we headed downstairs to get train tickets. We were on the last few stops of the trip so we could pretty much plan it all out now as there were no "extra days" to play with. We booked our train to Berlin (an overnight train) and picked up a Vienna Pass for our stay here and we were off to our hotel.

After our luxury digs in Budapest, we were back in an expensive country so we opted for the Meininger, which is a hostel that doubles as a hotel. You may remember the Meininger from our first week, when we stayed there in Salzburg. They are low budget but they do a nice job. The rooms are clean and spacious and the hotel is very safe. We got a twin room for 48 euro a night, which is about 100 Euro less than anywhere else in town! As with many budget European hotels they just push the twin beds together when they know it is a couple staying there. For 48 Euro a night, we weren't going to complain about two nights in twin beds!

That first afternoon, we spent the majority of the day getting our laundry done. We hadn't done laundry since Dingle so it was a necessary evil. Luckily the Meininger, being a hostel, also had a laundry room. We knew it was the last time we would do laundry before heading home so we washed everything we could in two loads to give ourselves a fighting chance at staying clean. We took turns manning the laundry. First I stayed with it while Shaun went for a run, then he stayed with it while I worked on a blog post upstairs. By the time we finished up it was close to 6 but it was so worth it to put on fresh, dry clothes. Ah, the joys of the road!

So we were both clean and happy when we used our Vienna card to go into town and take a look around. Vienna has existed since around 500BC but really came into it's own in the 1800's under the Hapsburg Dynasty when most of the amazing architecture was built. Like many very old cities it is set out not in a Grid, but in Rings, and the inner rings contain most of the sights, making it easy for tourists. We took the train into Stephensplatz and walked up out of the Metro. What I didn't tell Shaun was that St Stephen's cathedral would be right there in front of you as you come out! It is a massive cathedral that looks like it was plopped down in the middle of the city. The streets around it and the plaza in front are all just for pedestrians so there is nothing that impedes your view. And they had some crazy light show going on as well so it just added to the spectacle. We took a walk around inside (it was also lit up) and then continued our exploring.

Saint Stephen's cathedral with the light show inside

After checking out the sights for a little while, we were hungry for dinner. As we learned on the first part of the trip, when you go Austria or Germany every menu will have multiple kinds of Schnitzel on them so you are bound to eat it at one point or another. We've had good Schnitzel and not so good Schnitzel and now we wanted to try the best! A place called Figlmueller in downtown Vienna supposedly does the best Veal Schnitzel in town and it isn't expensive! They pound the veal out paper thin, bread it and then fry it in three different pans to make sure the oil is consistently hot. They serve over 350,000 Schnitzel a year!! The place was packed, and not just with tourists either. Almost everyone ordered the Schnitzel and some wine. If you ordered the Gruner Veltliner (a dry white wine) they served it to you in a clear mug. Shaun found that a little disturbing, but I loved it! The whole experience was fun and delicious- a great combo! After our giant Schnitzel we walked around a bit more and then headed back to the Meininger.

The giant schnitzel at Figlmuller

The next day we had a big day ahead. We planned to spend most of the day in the city, checking out the sights and then we were going to attempt the Opera again!! Shaun had decided that since we didn't get to go for my birthday two days before, this would be a "do-over". So we took the subway into town and stopped off at the State Opera House. At first we thought all was lost. The only seats they had available were over 100 Euro a piece! We were planning on splurging but I couldn't swallow that price. Lucklily we stopped at the Tourist Office. She pointed out the Volksopera (The People's Opera) which was outside the city center but still had some good seats available at a price we could afford. And with our Vienna Card we got an additional 10% off the seats. Done!

Opera tickets taken care of, we began our sightseeing tour of the city. One of the great things about Vienna is their public transportation system. They have buses, trams and subways circling the city so there's always a way to get to where you're going. And that is important in December! By now it had gotten really cold. My new uniform was a turtleneck sweater, followed by an Irish Sweater, followed by a down jacket. I looked like the Stay-Puffed Marshmallow man every day but at least I was warm. Even Shaun, who is never cold, had taken to three layers by now. Regardless, we didn't complain too much about the cold because it was the same thing that was making the rooms so cheap!

So on that cold afternoon, we took Tram 1 and 2 which circle the city (the Ringstrasse) and just hopped off when we wanted to check something out. The Parliament building was gorgeous, but it sits right along the road so it was hard to get good pictures. Then we went over to Rathaus. You may remember from my earlier German/Austrian posts that Rathaus is German for City Hall. (I know, the Irony). Well, this Rathaus is spectacular. It was built in Gothic style back in 1872 and it just looms over the city. And to top it all off, they had set up a huge Christmas Market right in front of it! Clearly it was time for some mulled wine and Currywurst!! By the time we finished checking out the Christmas market it was getting late in the afternoon so we needed to head back. It was time to get ready for the opera.

Rathaus (City Hall) all lit up at night. It was gorgeous.

It was such a fun evening! With a few cheap accessories from H&M and a new scarf from the Christmas market I was able to dress up my little black dress that I had purchased way back in Paris. I had some new boots and I actually took the time to do my hair, which was a luxury in itself. Shaun put on one of his button down shirts and his Irish sweater with some freshly washed Khaki's and we were good to go! I felt like a real grown-up for the first time in a while! We hopped on the train to the Volksopera stop and 45 minutes later we were sitting in our 9th row seats waiting for Die Fledermaus to begin!

Waiting for the Opera to begin!


The Opera was great. The music was beautiful (Strauss) and the costumes were gorgeous and even though the dialogue was in German, they had a screen at the top that translated the gist of what was happening on stage in English. They had three acts with two intermissions in between and they served Champagne or wine and small snacks during the intermission. Everyone was dressed up and thanks to my little purchases I didn't feel out of place. After the Opera ended we walked down the street to a little Asian place and had a bite to eat before heading back to the Meininger. It was a wonderful "do-over" birthday and a night I won't forget!

On Thursday, December 7th we really gave our Vienna Pass a work-out. The pass covers all public transportation and we took it all! We had a lot to do that day. We were taking the night train from Vienna to Berlin and we needed to store our backpacks at the train station so that was job number one. We took the subway out to Vienna Miedling station and locked up our backpacks one of the big lockers. It was only about 11AM and our train didn't leave until 10PM that night so we had a whole day left to explore Vienna. First up, the Schonbrunnn palace.

Shaun out behind Shonbrunn Palace

The Schonbrunn palace was the summer home of the Hapsburgs and it was built back in the 1600's. It is a grand old yellow palace done in the Rococo Style. As with everything else in this area, they had a Christmas market set up! For once, Shaun and I managed to refrain from eating or drinking anything! We had a long day and night ahead so we wanted to keep our wits about us. After walking around the Christmas market and strolling the gardens of Schonbrunn, we headed across town to the Belvedere Palace and Museum. Belvedere literally translates to Beautiful View, and I remembered this place as having a lovely view of Vienna over beautiful green hills. Unfortunately it was now December so the beautiful view was a little gray! We enjoyed ourselves anyway, walking around the grounds a bit and then taking the tram back into town.

By now it was getting dark and the city was all lit up with Christmas lights. We decided to get on either the number 1 or number 2 tram which both basically go around the Ringstrasse. Of all the cities we've been to recently, Vienna has the most beautiful Christmas decorations so seeing it all lit up at night was a real treat. We took the tram over to the area around St Stephen's cathedral and then walked around the "Golden U", Vienna's high end shopping district. By now we were quite cold, so we sat down in a cafe and had some hot tea. Fully revived we continued our sightseeing tour of the city. We walked through the Hofburg Palace and past the Spanish Riding School, over to the Volksgarten (the people's garden) and back over to City Hall (Rathaus) which was just gorgeous all lit up with Christmas lights.

This is one of my favorite statues in Europe. It commemorates the victims of the Plague of 1679 which was believed to be Bubonic Plague. It was completed in 1693 and it is 69 feet tall.

Our next stop was the Museum Quarter, which had a huge Christmas market. Normally we might have gone into a few museums, but we were running a bit short on time, so we just walked through the market, looking at all the beautiful ornaments and the delicious food and watching the light show. The museums are these old converted palaces, so they are huge, and they were projecting all sorts of things on the sides of the buildings, from Dinosaurs (for the natural history museum) to snowflakes. It was quite lovely.

A statue honoring Marie Therese in the middle of the Museum Quarter area. She was the only female ruler of the Hapsburg empire and she ruled from about 1740 to 1780. She is considered to have been one of their best rulers. You go girl!!

Our last stop in Vienna was for dinner at a cafe called the Augustinerkeller. It was a bit touristy, but we had a coupon for a free glass of wine with our Vienna Pass so we didn't mind! The food was good and the company was excellent as always. The place was absolutely packed and there was a guy walking around playing the accordion. Normally we just try to stay inconspicuous, but this night we were up for a little fun, so when the guy came over and asked if we would like to hear a song we said sure! Little did we know he would stand at our table for about 10 minutes playing tune after tune! We were both laughing our butts off though because I was in the booth seat and Shaun was on the outside of the table so it was like he was serenading Shaun the whole time! Finally our food arrived and he left us to eat in peace.

I just love this picture. It cracks me up.

After dinner we headed over to the train station for to catch the "night train" to Berlin. We had booked two berths in a 4 berth cabin, which we thought would be a bit more civilized than the 6 person cabin. We were going 2nd class so we knew it wouldn't be nice but we were just hoping for good cabin mates. We had prepped our bags so we had a change of clothes, PJs and a toothbrush on top for easy access.

When we arrived at the train, we were relieved to find our cabin was shared with a nice Austrian couple who were about our age. We were all pretty tired so we didn't talk much that night, just a little chit chat about the train. Then everyone headed to the bathrooms to change and we all curled up in our respective bunks. The conductor came around asking what we wanted for a beverage with breakfast and then we turned down the lights to sleep. Shaun, as always, was snoozing in minutes but I couldn't fall asleep. I think it was a combination of the cramped quarters and someone smoking in the non-smoking hallway outside our cabin, but regardless it was about 3AM by the time I finally fell into a fitful sleep.

Goodnight!

In the morning we woke to the conductor coming around with coffees and a little pre-packaged croissant. We were in Germany once again. We had started the trip on August 23rd in Munich and now we were back on December 9th in Berlin, where we were spending three nights before completing the trip with a quick stop in Frankfurt. We were both looking forward to seeing Berlin and getting a better understanding of its history. We finished up our coffees, packed up our bags and hopped of the train for one of the last stops on our trip.

Farewell Mozart, Farewell Vienna!