We headed out of Prague well-fed and well-hygiened thanks to the Jarmans. We caught the train to Vienna and didn’t really know what awaited us. There are a lot of cities in Europe. Like many. Lots. Numerous. So it’s hard sometimes to be well versed in all of them.
We would've loved to have had more time in Austria. But as it worked out, we only had about twenty-four hours in Vienna, and some of those were spent trying to figure out how to get to Croatia. This was our first stressful experience with not planning well enough ahead. Months ago we looked into how to get from Vienna to Croatia, but never really finalized anything, and when we went looking for the train we wanted it wasn’t there. It was probs at Hogwarts or something. Luckily, we were able to find an overnight train and book some Airbnbs on late notice. Europe is pretty forgiving of poor planners like us.
We got to a rainy Vienna on Tuesday evening, walked around by the river a little bit and went to find another restaurant that had gotten the thumbs up from our friend Kelsey (thanks again for letting us copy all of your eats!). We've made it a big priority to try to eat as much traditional food as we can in each new country, so obviously our first meal in Wein needed to be Weiner Schnitzel. We showed up at Schnitzelwirt starving, and left the complete opposite of starving.
While we were waiting to be let into our Airbnb, we took this stunning glamour shot of our backpacks' backsides. I know they look huge for backpacks, but they are surprisingly comfortable and we're basically in love with them.
The menu was all in German, and only one of the waiters spoke English. It was perfect. What we didn’t realize was that the 6.50€ schnitzel was actually two dinner plate-sized cutlets of breaded pork (schnitzel) and we each ordered our own servings (rookie mistake). We really did make a valiant effort, but a stomach can only fit so much of the same thing. Just as we were about to throw in the towel (used to help keep our meat sweats at bay), the waiter gestured to ask if two men could join us at our table. (Jessica here: This is a European commonality that would stress me out to no end at home, but I inexplicably love it here.)
The two guys who sat with us were named Mattias and Patrick. They both grew up on the Italy side of the Italian-Austrian border, and their English was magnificent. Mattias studies conservation and restoration in Vienna, and Patrick is a doctor in Switzerland. They were seriously the nicest and funniest guys. We probably talked to them for two hours after we'd already finished our meals. We talked about the European perception of McDonalds, the Italian army and job market, and how we'd found such a local treasure to eat at (they were very impressed that we were there). We told them about Weinerschnitzel hot dogs in the states and they were appalled and so confused at how it could have anything to do with hot dogs. They also insisted on showing us the best way to do the first district loop in Vienna. We would have followed their itinerary exactly had the next morning not been so confusing.
I asked if we could take a picture of them, which was embarrassing, but I'm glad we did.
The next day we spent plotting our train route and meeting up with Jessica’s parents again (the team stopped by Vienna for a few hours on their way to Slovenia). Jessica ate more Weinershnitzel in more manageable portions but I had terrible dreams about the solid mass of chicken in my stomach so I opted for the goulash.
We strolled around the first district and saw as much as we could. The museums, palace, and government buildings and basically all the beautiful monuments you see are built in one giant ring where the city walls used to be so it’s pretty convenient to see it all. You just walk around in a circle tip you're dizzy. There is a pretty amazing rose garden near the palace where there are hundreds of varieties of well-manicured and old rose bushes. We gawked at Stephansdom Cathedral, which was very impressive inside. It had all these wires hanging down from the ceiling that I never figured out what they were for, but they gave it almost a smoky, mystical look so I wasn’t complaining. We wandered around the Naschmarkt and then just trekked around aimlessly fueled by Mozart balls and Coke. We didn't have enough time to go in any of the museums or anything before they closed, which was a bummer. There's a lot to do in Vienna (almost overwhelmingly so), and they have the easiest metro we've used so far. Definitely a beautiful place to try to come back to someday (maybe on a day with less wind).
And behold, photos of stuff!
The Hofburg Palace. Right in front of it is a pretty cool excavation site with Roman ruins.
The Austrian National Library (or Österreichische Nationalbibliothek because German is awesome.)
Mystical heaven strings inside Stephansdom.
The rose garden had hundreds of these tall bushes labeled with the name and origin of all the different species.
A really fancy and liquid-y picnic we enjoyed on the side of the street.
Naschmarkt goods
We really loved all of the window boxes spilling red geraniums all over the place.
And just because we were full of really mature humor all day:
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