Back to Vienna

Monday was all about Vienna. I have been here before, during the summer of 2012. I feel so lucky to have been able to return to a place as beautiful as Vienna. Not everyone even gets the chance to visit once, and this is a city not to be missed. We left our hotel in Budapest at around 8am and got to Vienna at 12pm. We started out with another English guided tour. We went to a lot of places that I’ve been before, but our tour guide was this witty old man with some wild white hair and he made the tour very enjoyable. Let’s be honest, I didn’t remember anything from the tours I took in Vienna a couple years ago, and I learned a lot of new things this time around. It was fun though, to see the things I did remember.

First we made our way around the Hofburg Palace. It doesn’t really look like a castle or anything like that, but you can go inside and see the old royal apartments and the Imperial Treasury. We just walked around outside and enjoyed the beautiful architecture and statues. We went inside a parish church nearby that people like Marie Antoinette and Napoleon were married in. However, in both of those marriages, the wedding consisted of the woman getting married to a proxy, so there’s that piece of information for you.

Pumped to be back!

 

It was, however, a little windy and chilly

The happiness is out of control

 

 

 

Lots of green statues, my favorite

The tour guide showed us different things like the Roman ruins that can be found beneath the city and the Spanish Riding Academy. We also saw a shoemaker’s shop that is allowed to make shoes for the court (even though there isn’t a court,) the outside of St. Stephen’s Cathedral, and the place where the royal family were buried. The last empress was buried there in 1989 and our tour guide witnessed it! That was crazy and super awesome!

This tour guide was ah-mazing

 

The entrance to the Hofburg areas

 

After our tour we all went to lunch at a place where we could get some iconic Austrian food. We got cream soup, schnitzel and potatoes, and apple streusel for dessert. It was delicious and so nice to sit down and get out of the cold for a while.

After lunch, Kate, Alysha, and I headed out for our free time. We had about three and a half hours for ourselves, so we got started. We headed back to St. Stephen’s Cathedral so Kate and Alysha could see the inside of it. On our way there, we stopped to get some macarons because Kate has never tried them. We were only in St. Stephen’s Cathedral for maybe 10 minutes before we headed on to the next place.

 

Look at the size of that cathedral

I really wanted to go back to the Naschtmarkt, which is a mile long market that has all sorts of vendors. My friends and I loved it the last time we were in Vienna and I really wanted to get some baklava. We were having a little trouble finding the metro, so I went up to a street vendor to ask for directions. He just stared at me. Finally he took his headphones off and we asked him where the metro was. His first question was, “Are you from Pakistan?” When we looked confused, he said, “What about Afghanistan?” He then proceeded to tell us about things that were “terroristy” instead of calling them “touristy.” He thought he was hilarious. But he did point us in the right direction of the market, and it ended up only being about a ten minute walk away.

Once we got into the market, I recognized it right away. It has a really specific smell that comes from all the spices being sold, mixed with things like doners and falafels and all the other things being sold.

Such big cheese for such a little mouth

Do you see the baby octopi?

We walked down the length of it, looking at the different things for sale and avoiding the vendors calling out to us. We did go over to one guy, and he was pretty entertaining. He wanted us to try this nougat stuff, and he insisted on throwing it into our mouths. I am happy to report that I caught mine with grace and elegance, so no need to worry. I got my baklava, and Alysha bought some falafels and a mixture of caramels and nougat, both of which she graciously let us try.

You can't really see it, but I'm about to catch some nougat...with my mouth

 

Baklava baby!

After getting our fill at the market, we headed to a place called Secession that the “terroristy” guy suggested. I think he was just using that place to make his weird play on words, but we took pictures by the lion statues he mentioned because we could.

Roar like a lion

 

Mirrors in the metro

Across a little park was St. Charles’ Church. We meandered over there and enjoyed the beauty of the church and park. As you can see from the pictures, we were just having a fun time being in Vienna and exploring. The weather cleared up significantly and we were able to watch as the sky turned to a soft pink.

 

I'm glad someone likes me

 

St. Charles' Church

 

 
 

 

 

 

 

Too short to get up on my own

I'm slipping

 

Viennese mediation

With about forty five minutes left before we had to be back at the bus, we headed back down a street, walked through a courtyard where there are a few beautiful museums, and then down to the Parliament building. Around this time, the lights around all the buildings and statues were coming on. Vienna is beautiful lit up at night, so on our way back from the Parliament building, we went through the Hofburg grounds to take in the lights. It was another beautiful day.

Good old Maria Theresa

 

I'm content; Alysha is scared

 

Off to the Parliament Building

 

Vienna at night

 

Our hotel was back in Hungary for some reason, and our beds were a welcome sight. We had a really beautiful view from our room, but my main focus was a shower and then bed. Now on to Prague!