I wont lie Vienna was a city that I have never
truly thought about visiting. I had
nothing against it of course I just never knew much about it so it was not on
my list of places I must see. The reason
we decided to go there was because it fit into our route nicely so it just made
sense. I can say now that of the four
cities we visited on this vacation Vienna was my favourite. Let these be my words of wisdom to you: Do
not ever assume you will not like something or find it interesting just because
you don’t know anything about it. We can’t
truly know how we will feel about something until we have experienced it.
From Budapest it was a 3.5-hour train ride
through lovely countryside. It was quite
foggy the entire ride which made the rolling pastures even more
entrancing. I was hoping to go through
more mountains on our train trips but alas Hungary and Austria are full of farmland
as well. The mountains would come later
in our journeys.
Vienna was quite modern and easy to navigate on the
metros so it made it easy to get to our hotel.
This was my favourite of all our hotels!
Huge beautiful room, giant bathtub and a shower door that kept the water
in (I honestly will never understand the showers in Europe), and a
complimentary breakfast that was actually awesome. We never choose a hotel because it has a free
breakfast, as it is usually not good anyway, but when they surprise you with it
and it’s a huge amazing spread we do not complain. Also very vegan friendly it wasn’t all just
meat and dairy! But do not fret you
monsters there is plenty of stuff for you as well.
Also the
hotel was just far enough outside downtown that it was quiet and very
reasonably priced but close enough that we could walk to the center in about 15
minutes. I would recommend you check it
out if you are ever in Vienna.
Our first night there we wandered around the city
center which just blew my mind. I do not
know how to put into words the sublimity of the architecture. These buildings had a massive and powerful presence.
Most of the facades were stark white and full of intricate carvings. Huge pillars stood in front of most doorways
making them slightly intimidating as I already feel very tiny most of the time.
The city swept me up with such a regal sensation. I fell in love with it in a moment.
There are a few connecting streets in the center
which hold the luxury shopping stores.
Honestly I have never even seen some of these shops before. Chanel, Dolce and Gabbana and countless others. The Holiday lights were strung up in ways
that made them appear to be waterfalls of light flowing down the strip. The buskers were playing violins and stand up
bass while the scent of roasted chestnuts filled the air. It was like a dream. I could not stop smiling.
The cathedrals and churches are unreal. We have seen a great deal of these in our
time here in Europe and we can always find something lovely about each one but
I will say the ones in Italy, Hungary and Austria are the most beautiful. They are so full of colour, they are warm and
inviting. I, as a pagan, never thought I
would enjoy being in a church as much as I do.
There is just something in the air that is calming and peaceful. I do not think you need to be religious to
appreciate sacred spaces.
We spent our first full day there wandering the
museum quarter which is just one incredible structure after another, beautiful
parks and a really charming Christmas market.
When people say Europe has the best Christmas markets they are not
lying. Austria in particular had such
fun and curious ones. There were so many
adorable trinkets and delicious smelling treats all over. We had to be careful not to indulge too
much.
Fun fact about Vienna: This is where snow globes
were invented in 1900. We do not ever
buy souvenirs though or we would have a ridiculous amount of just stuff that is
completely unnecessary. We do however
take a million photos.
Food in this city was bomb! They have everything you could possibly
desire so nobody will be left feeling like they couldn’t find anything they
liked. Tons of Vegetarian and Vegan options at most restaurants (seriously
Spain catch up). Austrian cuisine is
similar to most European countries though and is very meat centered so there
was not much in the way for us in traditional foods. Lots of schnitzel, goulash and sausages. We found great burgers, Indian and noodles to
satisfy our hunger, not to mention subway and Starbucks which made our hearts
happy.
We made our way to the Schoenbrunn Palace on our
last day in the city and were kind of disappointed. As with most touristy sites
there are usually a million people wandering around and waiting to see things,
which is totally fine and expected, however this particular palace was so busy
we waited in line to buy tickets for 45 minutes and then were told we had a two
hour wait before we could even go in. I think on a nice day this would not be
an issue but on a freezing cold and very windy day it sucks being told you have
to wait outside for that long.
There were a ton of gardens to walk through – all
barren as it is winter – and a hill with a stunning view of the city to
climb. It was nice to get up there and
see the city so I recommend climbing the daunting hill if you are there (its
not really that big, I was just cold and grumpy).
There was a saving grace to our wait which was the
gorgeous little Christmas market in the courtyard. We think they purposely make you wait just so
you have to buy warm food and drinks which we did. Awesome soup in bread bowls!
Then there was the palace itself. Now it was a lovely place but we felt kind of
bored by the story of the Habsburgs. They
give you an audio guide that tells you the story as you walk through each room
which I do appreciate because I like to know the history of the places we
visit. We were not allowed to take
photos though so that killed it for us a bit and there were so many people it
just felt like you were in a big line up the whole time. I think we would have preferred to spend our
money on a different site is all.
We spent the rest of our last evening here
wandering through the city center enjoying the lights, buildings and people
watching as well as enjoying a couple beverages at a cool pub we found. We loved the city and are so happy we made it
a stop on our tour.
It would have been nice to visit some of the
smaller Austrian towns and villages but there is only so much we can fit in to
our time here. If we ever visit Austria
again I would do it at the beginning of December so we can see the Krampus
parades! Keep those in mind if you are
planning a trip here.
Stay tuned for New Years Eve adventures coming in
the next post! On to Prague! …
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