Vienna

So I left off at least a week ago with my very uneventful first day in Vienna. I mean, I guess that eating a ton of great falafel really doesn’t count as uneventful, but seriously, I am in Vienna! The capital of classical music, Wiener schnitzel, and Hapsburg happenings. I need to take advantage of day 2.

And I would say I did.

The fam + Hillary heads into town on the metro after a good breakfast of pastries and fruit. Why Hillary and the family? Where is Hillary’s family? Well, they actually stayed back in Budapest to catch their flight back to the US of A.

Side note: The Hillary/Richard family departure was pretty entertaining. My family had seen all it wanted to see in Budapest (well, all we could fit in on our last day, there is definitely more I want to see but would need more time, oh, and definitely more paprikash to eat) so decided to catch an earlier train. I texted Hillary and got no response. At the train station we were bumming around, waiting for the train and wondering if we should wait for Hillary. Fifteen minutes before the train’s departure I spot Mrs. Richard, frantic. Hillary dashes across the platforms to buy her ticket. In a matter of minutes we are running for the train as Mr. Richard snaps pictures of the farewell and Mrs. Richard runs after Hillary. Classic train departure scene, I would say.

Anyways, our first real experience of Vienna is a great church with a tiled roof like the one in Hungary. Here, instead of saying a church, I will look up which one it actually was. Okay, it was definitely St. Stephan’s. So we exit the metro at Stephansplatz or something like that and see a beautiful church. Okay, so that’s done.

One more thing: We are doing this tour on our own. There are no free tours of Vienna. Hey New Europe Tour Company, get on that. Really Sandeman’s? A tour of Hamburg and not Vienna? The guide book two day tour will have to do. Thank you Lonely Planet.

Then we head in the wrong direction. My mom was in charge of our DIY tour at this point. We happen upon Mozart’s house. Only in Vienna do you get lost and happen upon Mozart’s house. We correct our direction and that takes us towards the Hapsburgs’ winter palace, the Hofburg. Their palace is right in the middle of things. Usually a ruler’s castle or palace is situated a little bit outside of the city, to keep the plebs at bay. Berlin had Potsdam. Paris had Versailles. Really Hapsburgs, you gotta displace yourselves from the commoners a little bit.

Well, we see the palace and emerge on the other side to see some towering gothic spires and neoclassical buildings. The neoclassical buildings are part of the Museum Quartier. Boring. (Actually, I would’ve loved to see any of the museums I missed on this trip, but like my parents and friends keep reminding me, save some things for when you come back. Fine.) We head for the gothic spires instead.

Some of these spires are part of the Rathaus. Others belong to maybe parliament. The Rathaus is the city hall. Sorry I can’t remember what the other spires belong to, but really, does it matter too much?

The Rathaus is pretty impressive though. It even had music emanating from the grounds. Turns out we happened upon a fun run that ended at the Rathaus. Why can’t I ever be a part of an event that ends at a building like that? There was music and food and all these fun activities geared towards children smack in the middle of the grounds between the Rathaus and the National Theater of Austria. Well, I guess that would be like partying it up on the National Mall in D.C. Some day.

After mulling around the area, we happen upon a nice church. Again, all these churches are blending together sadly. I couldn’t tell you the name of this one. It did have a nice tiled roof though. I guess that is pretty much what I notice.

Since we skipped the Museum Quartier we were about done with the day’s worth of itinerary so I thought the Naschmarkt would be a good choice to waste some time at. On our way we spot another impressive church or cathedral or whatever. This one happens to be unknown to me again. This time I will google it for you all. Okay, so it turns out this one is St. Charles. The other one? Votive Church. And it was under restoration like usual. At least it was right next to Freud Park. And the part that was already restored looked really nice, so good for them. Restoration is worth it.

Naschmarkt is mainly a flea market plus a fresh food market plus a flower market plus a cheap tourist goods market. I only got some falafel, but really enjoyed looking at all the steins and some of the lederhosen they had for sale. Sadly, all of the cool lederhosen that I liked were too small for me. Bummer. Also, all of the steins were still expensive. I want a nice five euro stein, I am not going to buy a stein for 20 euros at a flea market. And when I try to barter with you by offering 10 and you come down to 18 but won’t budge from there, that is just annoying.

After the market another fun family adventure for food begins. It is impossible to please all the Wachtl’s. Really, we are mainly indecisive and cannot for the lives of us make a decision. My mom is usually the only one who is a little picky but tries to say she doesn’t care. Then when we find somewhere she finds a reason not to eat there. Eating on family vacations therefore is postponed usually an hour. This is ever more common when we are in a foreign country. By the end of our epic adventure across town in search of the perfect restaurant, I turn to Hillary and say, “At the end of this I am going to be eating Doner and my dad is going to be annoyed.”

We get off the metro and my mom announces we are going to just get Doner. Fine. I was ready for this. Anyways, it is my pre opera dinner anyways.

That is right, I saw opera in Vienna. After lunch, which really became my dinner because of the time it took to find a place, Hillary and I go to the Staadtoper, or the State Opera House, to see if we can get tickets. We waited in line for probably an hour and quickly bought our standing room only tickets for, brace yourselves, Mozart’s Don Giovanni. Finally, a real opera, none of that American opera bull. But again, I felt really classy in my flannel as I mingled with the upper class of Vienna.

The opera was good, but having standing room only after a long day (and long past two weeks) of walking was exhausting. It was hot and the opera was 3 hours long. I could have left at intermission and would have been happy. That was just too much for me. Don’t get me wrong. The opera was outstanding and the music itself was impeccable. I was just too tired to enjoy it fully.

That concludes day one of Vienna. One more day left.