Abenteuer in Wien
Mitchell and I have had a fantastic time wandering and eating our way through Vienna. We spent six nights in a hostel right on Mariahilferstraße, a lengthy and hip shopping strip to the west of the city center which is also home to a few churches - what European street would be complete without at least one church, though? We strolled up and down that street often during our stay, discovering something new each time (and eating plenty of Eis.) Since we had planned so much time in Vienna, we didn’t feel at all rushed to see things and decided to let our wanderings take us to interesting places.
On our first day we stumbled upon three of the six WWII anti-aircraft towers in Vienna, massive and imposing constructions made of concrete and too sturdy and expensive to demolish. One was actually transformed into a zoo and aquarium called Haus des Meeres, complete with an impressive rock climbing wall on the outside surface and a lovely playground area. The other two we found later that day in Augarten Park, simultaneously ominous and casual presences on the park grounds, fenced off and half-heartedly graffitied. As the park was interesting and quiet, we grabbed a bench in the shade along a boulevard and read for a while, taking a break from the long walk it took to get there. Another of our favorite discoveries was a public amusement park with incredibly fanciful and diverse rides. Totally amazed, we ended up coming back to the Prater park another day in order to ride the free-fall tower; Mitchell’s priceless face following the drop had me choking with laughter. Other particularly wonderful discoveries included a series of nearly magical book stores and shops with unique wares that will make perfect gifts and souvenirs and the adorable stop/go pedestrian lights with two people holding hands and a heart between them.
Spontaneous concerts continued appearing in Vienna - and by that I mean that we stumbled on a few more and felt like they were for us. In the Mariahilfer Kirche we listened for about 20 minutes to what appeared to be a pianist’s concert dress rehearsal. His skill was only amplified by the magnificence of the church itself and made a moving start to our morning. Later we got to enjoy an area of the U-Bahn station near us meant as a "stage" for performances of local artists. We listened to an uplifting and sincere duo with incredibly wide smiles on their faces, one man rapping in German and the other singing in English on ukulele. Mitchell and I (in addition to the large group of people gathered around them in the gray station) were hypnotized and encouraged. Luckily they had EPs available, so I bought one. I look forward to the rest of their songs and have already listened to the recording I made of them in the station a couple times.
The Kunsthistorisches Museum contains works of art all the way up to the later 19th century, I believe, and as far back as the age of Ancient Egypt, in addition to a coin collection. Made of multi-colored marble and filled with masterfully displayed collections, this museum was not only worth the hefty student ticket price, but it was also the best and most beautiful museum I have ever seen. We are both grateful that we decided to fork over the cash because this museum is the one that will now define our vision of Viennese art and culture. Additionally, we went to the Austrian National Library, splitting up so Mitchell could visit the Esperanto Museum and I could enter the library itself, which currently contains an exhibit on the Austria Freemasons in celebration of the group's 300th anniversary. The exhibit was a surprise, but still well done and quite interesting. Near the library lies a beautiful rose garden, so naturally Mitchell and I went there so I could take an excessive amount of photos.
Cafe culture - something essentially nonexistent in most of America but well-loved in Europe. One of the maps we read listed the “rules” about cafes in Vienna, explicitly stating that sitting there for hours is not only acceptable, but also expected. Mitchell and I happily obliged. We found a homey cafe on our first morning for a relaxed breakfast, but the second day we found the best cafe yet. On recommendation from someone Mitchell met at a church service on Sunday morning, we went to Cafe Jelinek. It was a cozy and bustling cafe plastered with picture frames in the most endearing way possible and deep red velvet. They offered probably the best hot chocolate I’ve ever had. A few days later we tried Cafe Hewlinka just off the very center of the city by the famous Stephansdom, supposedly one of Vienna’s best and well-known cafes. We quite unsure as to why that is, but it was certainly memorable for its lack of a menu and mediocre coffee and cake.
Wiener Schnitzel, for those who don’t speak German, has the city Vienna (Wien) in its name, so of course we had to have some. The first time we tried to eat at Figlmüller, a famous restaurant with a rather large line and no reservations available for almost a week, but ended up going down the street to Kaffee Alt Wien and split a great schnitzel there anyway. That night we also got apple strudel with vanilla sauce - delicious. The following night, we managed to get a table in the basement of Figlmüller and again split a schnitzel, though this time it was larger than the plate it came on and, to our delight, just as fantastic as it smelled. Later we ate at a Gelateria and finished off the night watching Final Portrait in German at a small Kino in the area.
Vienna lies on the Danube (Donau) River, which has three distinct parts: the canal, the Old Danube, and the New. In between the old and new is an island of sorts with a park and an U-Bahn stop. We walked across the bridge to the island, where we found a series of small beaches along the banks. After walking all day in my Converse for a week, my feet were ready to mutiny until I numbed them in the cold waters of the Danube and then proceeded to pass out in the grass for about an hour. Mitchell says a dog came up to smell me while I was sleeping - perhaps the best news I had heard all day! Exhausted, we took a series of U-Bahn lines to get back to Mariahilferstraße and eat at an Argentinian restaurant just down the street from our hostel. Mitchell, grinning from ear to ear the whole time we sat there, impressed the owner and our lovely server with his tri-lingual skills. We had spoken German initially, English with each other and later Mitchell switched to rapid Spanish when ordering his meal. Large smiles grew on the faces of the owner and our waitress as soon as they heard his Spanish. I heard the owner laugh and say something about “Well then, we have an amigo here!” as he was ordering. The food was absolutely fantastic and easily some of the best beef I’ve ever had. A cold Radler (or two) was perfect after the long, humid day.
On our last day, we finally ticked the largest tourist attraction in Vienna off our list, but thank goodness we went early in the morning. Schönbrunn is the former living grounds of the Austrian Imperial family. We went on a walking tour through the palace, wandered through the orangerie and labyrinth, ate a huge pretzel for lunch, and meandered out as the place was getting rather packed. Being in such heavily visited areas like Schönbrunn and Stephansplatz stressed us out a little, so instead of visiting the Mozart House in the center of town, we decided to go to his grave. (It was well out of the way of town and free.) Well…it was by far the most inconveniently located place we visited during our entire visit to Europe, requiring a rather long walk in order to get around a wall spanning the length of the main street. Maybe it went on forever, but we didn't care to find out.
[Bonuses: during a seemingly spontaneous and surprisingly aggressive rainshower, we met a sweet young woman asking for directions (oh boy, was she ever asking the wrong people!) and had a wonderful conversation with her while we waited out the rain together; we also had döner for lunch - always a plus - and tried a Almdudler (a quite refreshing Austrian lemonade that tastes like an Arnold Palmer mixed with ginger ale). As for poor Mozart, basically what we discovered was that they’re not entirely sure that they found his grave, so they erected a symbolic monument which was later moved to another cemetery (………our luck, honestly). This symbolic monument was then symbolically replaced with the monument which we found, a replica. So we can say we were at the original burial place of Mozart, at least. We think.]
We hit a few (overdue, really) bumps in the road this morning trying to get to Salzburg from Vienna. Thus far we’ve had good luck with FlixBus and our hostel in Vienna was quite close to the Westhauptbahnhof, so we
figured it’d be easy. After arriving more than half an hour early, looking all over for the stop, and missing two departures, we finally figured out that the “bus” tickets we got were actually train tickets. It was confusing and a bit frustrating and we now had a train ride ahead of us, so I went to grab some coffees. The cashier made my day as we joked gaily about the fact that I was trading in a 50 Euro note for a 4.30 Euro purchase. (I swear, not paying in exact change is a punishable offense in German-speaking countries.) After walking away with a huge smile on my face to tell Mitchell what had happened, I thought to go back and thank the man for his kindness, but he was no longer there and we had a train to catch. A daily reminder that attitude changes everything and another reason to be grateful for the warm hearts of strangers.
Adventuring in Austria has given the two of us much time to reflect on our experiences in Europe this summer and what has changed in our hopes for our futures, as well as analyze the differences between Germany, Austria, and the US. I am grateful to have a wonderful travel partner with keen senses of observation and an open mind with whom I can discuss such topics. I look forward to our last few days in Europe together, first in Salzburg and wrapping up with Munich on Sunday, when he leaves for home. I will stay in the area for a few days before flying out on Thursday morning.
It is hard to believe that the end is so close already.
