Vienna Waits for You or Graßes and Straßes and Platzes... Oh my!

Hello! I'm writing on the train ride to Prague (or Praha as it is called here). I didn't have much time to write in Vienna, as I had to take care of a bunch of NYC and Columbia stuff via email every night. Should be all sorted now, though! We basically had three full days in Vienna, because of the overnight train. It was so nice. Once we recovered from our absurd travel-day experience, we ventured into the old center to get wurst (naturally). SO GOOD! Although, we totally ate it like tourists -- wrapped in a roll instead if a roll on the side -- oh, well, still good. Then, we did Rick Steve's Wien (Vienna) city walk. We started at the beautiful opera and took a very long time walking through all parts of the old center. Towards the beginning if our walk, we saw particularly striking anti-war and anti-fascism monument. Simply white blocks of stone with bodies carved here and there, it resonated with me in a way that other overly ornamental monuments had not. We continued on -- walking up the pedestrian only shopping street, and taking in St. Peter's Cathedral (where we did another Rick Steves tour). We decided to take a break after walking for a fairly long time, and we went to a recommended Cafe. Wien is famous for its cafe scene -- amazing coffees and pastries, where you read the newspaper for free and there are coat racks and old-time charm. Naturally, I had high expectations and the cafe we went to was kind of a bust (barely anyone was there...we felt awkward). I did try a Wien coffee drink called a Melange, which is similar to a cappuccino and it was good -- but overall the experience was more awkward than anything. That was the moment when I realized that a little tourists are better than no tourists at all (unless you can speak the language or have a friend in the culture). We continued our walking tour to Graben, which is another pedestrian only street filled with shops and cafes (and a monument and a church -- both built once Wien survived the plague). We sat for a while and people watched. Then we went into Dremel, which is basically what I think the restaurants on Main Street Disneyland want to be, but this was real. Gorgeous cakes and chocolates, couches and tables and turn of the century feel... We all rather fell in love with it. Trying not to get too attached (and wondering if we could replace lunch with coffee and cakes) we continued onto the Hofburg palace (home of the Habsburgs). We learned a great deal about the Habsburg family -- who ruled Austria and the Austrian empire for centuries -- as we travelled through Wien. They were and incredibly powerful family, but the line died out with the assassination of Franz Ferdinand (which started WWI). Anyways. Habsburg statues are all over Wien and they lived in some pretty ridiculous palaces. After we gawked at Hofburg, we walked through the volksgarten (one of the many parks in Wien) and stumbled upon what looked like a little Roman Temple. Inside, was a fantastic modern art installation; thousands of tiny bronze discs filled the floor, representing confetti thrown at weddings, parades and other celebrations throughout time -- brief joyous moments, and the the confetti is left to be walked all over. Knowing that the floor would look different everyday, we were encouraged (or at least given permission to) interact with the piece -- throwing around bronze discs etc. It was a pretty incredible piece. After that, we walked across the park and found the beautiful Parliament building. We saw spires of some sort of gorgeous looking building near by, so of course we walked toward it. The building ended up being city hall (which looks like a church -- I've never seen such a city hall) and we had stumbled upon the Wien Summer Film Festival and Food Circus. Every summer they set up at HUGE screen on the front of city hall and screen all sorts of performances once it gets dark (for free!). All sorts of food vendors set up booths in the plaza and in the parks -- everything from Wurst to Asian food. We hit gold. We pranced around looking at everything and then we each picked a dish to share (I selected a wurst salad, Kelly - beef stew and rosemary potatoes and Sharon- some yummy Austrian dish). We had a delicious feast and then I tried an "iced vanilla latte machiatto" which was amazing and Sharon and I split some Knudle (Austrian jelly and Chocolate filled donuts basically). It was awesome. We didn't stay for the film, and walked all the way back to our Pension through the artists district. We got back to our comfy beds (right before it started to rain) and passed out.

Observations about Vienna before I go on: I took German in highschool and can certainly speak enough to be polite, but they just speak English back to me no matter what -- in Italy, the let you try, and help you out, while in Austria it's just like, clearly I speak English better than you speak German. Oh well -- I can at least read signs and understand announcements for the most part. Also, EVERYONE smokes here. It's one if the only things I don't like about the city. That, and the old center smells like horse due to the touristy horse-drawn carriages. I do love that everyone has dogs and brings them everywhere (and they are very well behaved). I also love that art is everywhere -- there is a ton of public art and if something is under construction, it is beautifully decorated. Seriously -- the wood construction frame in front of one shop had knitted sleeves! It is also very clean, which is nice. Okay, day two.

We woke up and went down to breakfast (our Pension had a buffet breakfast!). Our Austrian breakfast included juice, yogurt, fruit, cereal, different types of delicious rolls, cheeses, cheese spreads, jam, brie, cold cuts, hard boiled eggs, toast, sweet breads and cucumbers, tomatoes etc. I went for rolls, brie, ham and more rolls with jam and lots of fruit. They also brought us a delightful pot of tea! Ah, it was wonderful. We left ad Herr Kraml warned us that it was going to be 32 (very hot) and then thunderstorms in the afternoon. He advised that we take refuge in a cafe. No problem! That morning we ended up seeing a different side of Wien. We walked along the canal -- which was full of graffiti art (some good, some bad) and then went over to Prater to see the 100 year old ferris wheel. Prater is a huge park (used to be some Habsburg's hunting grounds) and part of it is an amusement park. I didn't think it was particularly special, but it was definitely bizarre. We took the U-bahn (subway) back to the old center to go to Naschmarket for lunch. It's a gorgeous open-air market that goes on for ages. However, we were pretty hot an hungry by that point, so we did a once over and the grabbed sandwiches to eat in Karlsplatz (a nearby park). We relaxed a little and people watched. By that time, we had become experts at Wien's public transportation system -- which is EXCELLENT. The subways are consistent, clean and come every five minutes. Also, the buses, subways and trams are only one ticket -- so if you have a day pass, you can use it for everything. It is such and efficient system and I love it. We hopped on it again to see the Mozart statue in Burggarten ...and nap a little. There were signs everywhere telling people to stay off the grass, but no one was paying attention to them. Once it got absurdly hot, we walked over to Osterlaa - a wonderful, bright looking pastry shop. I got an eiscafe, which is espresso over ice cream... Really good espresso over really good ice cream.... So delicious. Possibly my new favorite coffee drink. After our coffee hour, we headed over to Schoenbrunn (the Habsburg's summer palace) to walk around the extensive (and free) gardens. Unfortunately, that's when it started to rain. We got rained on a bunch before we even saw the palace, tried to wait it out and ended up turning back. Instead, we took the U-bahn and a bus up to the outskirts of town and got hot chocolate overlooking the city. Then, we took a nice down-hill hike through Wien vineyards and woods. Our hike ended in Nussdorf, where there are three "Heurigen" side by side. Heurigan are wine gardens specific to Wien. You order food by weight and drink wine from family vineyards. Well, I didn't drink wine, but Kelly liked it. We were a little confused at how to do things, but the Austrian boy at the counter was helpful with suggestions for food. We tried a bunch if different Austrain dishes (so good) and the atmosphere was lovely. It started to rain a little again, and we headed back to our Pension.

Our last full day in Wien started with another lovely breakfast at Pension Kraml. Then we headed into the center to pick up "city bikes," which are bikes placed all around the city that you can rent for free for the first hour and only one euro for the second etc. Wien has amazing bike paths around the Ringstrasse (circular street that borders the historical center). You aren't riding in traffic at all -- there are distinct pedestrian and bike trails set away from traffic. Our bike tour might be my favorite thing we've done -- we rode through parks, saw sights we hadn't seen yet, and generally had a wonderful time. It was a fabulous way to see the city. We ended our bike tour next to all of the museums (big, old, gorgeous) and then headed to Schoenbrunn palace for our second attempt to see the gardens. Luckily, the weather held and we made it. We walked into the gardens and were like "alright, this is nice" and then we turned the corner and saw the giant expanse of gardens and were like ".....ohhhhhhhh" We walked around admiring the splendor and imagined aristocrats at court walking the grounds. The gardens have actually been a public park for over two centuries (so cool). After we'd had our fill of walking, we took the U-Bahn back and I used some mad money to celebrate Sharon's last day on the trip: we went to Dremel. We sat upstairs in the non-smoking section (unfortunately not on the couches) and it was so worth it. I had the house coffee with cream and a strawberry creme cake. Now, when I say coffee with cream, I mean they gave me a plate of whipped creme (not overly sugary though) and it made for one of the best cups of coffees ever. It was perfect -- strong enough to have body, but not overly bitter and the whipped cream made it frothy....so delicious. My strawberry creme cake was indescribably phenomenal. Kelly and Share had Eiscafes that were also incredible -- it was an amazing and one of a kind experience. After that, we tried to find postcards (shockingly limited supply), and then trekked over to the philharmonic building. Our postcard quest took us to the museum quarter, which is the coolest complex of museums and public space I have ever seen. After wandering round there for a bit, we headed to meet up with some friends from UCLA whose itinerary matched up with ours. We went to the food circus ( I got my second wurst -- delicious) and then watched a screening of the San Francisco ballet (in Vienna? What?). Sharon and I left early to pack, only to realize that Kelly had the keys once we got there. We were able to get into the front door, but ended up sitting on the stairs waiting for Kelly. This morning, we walked Sharon to the train at 5am which was sad and emotional for many-a-reason. I miss her already. It's just Kelly and I for a week and a half until we meet up with Jordan in Paris! Until then, I'm excited for Prague!