New Thing #86 - Balkans Trip - Day 4 (Vienna, Austria)

June 16, 2015

Up and at 'em early today to get a fresh start. Either that or the damn trash truck in the alley that miraculously squeezed through my ear plugs. And I must have taken too long in the shower because the motion light went out on me. Again. I can't explain to you how difficult it is to shower in a foreign shower (where you try not to touch anything but your own skin) in total darkness. Those doors don't even let the tiniest sliver of light in. Luckily, I was almost finished, but still. I guess that is supposed to encourage you not to lollygag in there.

Instead of cold cereal and canned fruit cocktail (snooze) for the second time, we headed down the street to an adorable cafe to grab a quick breakfast. A flaky cinnamon roll loaded with nuts and a pastry wrapped around bacon and coated with cheese were a great way to start our morning.

Mmmmmm.

Adorable logo.

On the agenda for today was Schonbrunn Palace, initially created as a hunting lodge at the end of the 17th century, and then turned into the center of court life for European officials half a century later. It was a chilly start, but we still opted to walk. We couldn't pass up the beautiful scenery and the calm morning ahead of us, let alone the opportunity to burn off that cinnamon roll.

Beautiful morning for a stroll through the park.

The calm quickly dissipated as we arrived at Schonbrunn. Even first thing in the morning, this place was a complete and utter madhouse! Tour busses, school groups, gray hairs, you name it. I could not believe how many people were already there. And the sheer size of this estate was astounding.

This is JUST the palace itself.

Panorama helps show the walls AROUND the palace. Just stunning. And massive!

We didn't actually end up paying to tour the palace and grounds. Since this was our last day in Vienna, we had lots more to see. Instead, we took a photo of the grounds (through the window) to prove we were here.

Regular magnification.

Let's zoom in a bit.

So many people so early in the morning!

Had to come back to the front for some photostops.

This place is massive!

I feel like I could fit half my house on the balcony alone.

I could get used to this view.

Imagine walking out your front door to this view.

I totally made Nikki take a photo of me ruling my kingdom.

I felt right at home up here.

The walls surrounding the place grounds.

Since this was our last day in Vienna, we wanted to finish seeing the city center, the Danube and St. Stephansdom. Because we were quite far from where we needed to be, we took the train for the first time to Stadtpark and walked through a little park to the city center. This part was much nicer than what we had seen before, and was more in line with our little idealistic views of Europe.

Part of Stadtpark.

No thanks. 

This guy is perpetually surprised.

St. Stephansdom was absolutely breathtaking from the outside. It reminded me of the churches we saw in Italy, and I took about a billion photos while walking around. I always love how these old buildings are in the heart of a thriving city center, fusing old traditions with the modern world.

Love.

St. Stephens Selfie!

More carriages!

Not sure if the screen is to keep out unruly tourists/graffit artists or sky rats.

Albino sky rat.

This building is right across the street from St. Stephens, and the reflection in the windows is cool.

There always seems to be construction going on wherever we go, and I like it when they place panels up showing what it should look like rather than just big white panels.

Tiny church!

We were only a few blocks from the Danube, so we headed to the famous river to enjoy the beautiful weather. Sadly, we were disappointed by what we saw. It was dirty, smelled of dead fish and sadness, and the walls were covered in graffiti. Our descent down to the water level only lasted a few minutes because the stench was so overpowering. But hey, they did have some beach chairs to hang out in if you wanted.

Bunny graffiti? And dog butt. You're welcome.

The Blue Danube. That's a lie!

If you can stand the smell, you can catch some rays.

At least it was a beautiful day out!

Brenda had also recommended our lunch locale: Figlmueller. We couldn't very well visit Vienna without trying their schnitzel. And Figlmueller was world famous for theirs. She warned us that they were big, and she wasn't lying. Heyyyoooo! The schnitzel was easily the size of my head, so luckily Nikki and I opted to split it. It came with a lemon wedge, and I found it to be quite tasty. I don't think Nikki agreed. :( We ended up sitting next to two couples from the U.S. who were doing a boat tour down the Danube. As much as I love traveling with my lady friends, I do hope that one day that will be me and my husband traveling the world together.

Ready to eat lunch!

There are two Figlmuller's right next to each other...

Reppin' the Quad Cities!!

I was fairly certain they put all of the tourists out here in the "patio" section.

World famous!

Not the best bread I've ever had. :(

House specialty for more than 100 years! I think they need bigger plates.

Roast potatoes. Very mustardy.

Is that a big schnitzel in your hand, or.....?

Half of it was still more than plenty for lunch!

After lunch, we wandered back through the city center, trying to soak up the rest of Viennese culture. Some of the streets were crazy crowded, and there were people standing everywhere (some in period clothes) trying to get us to go their opera or symphony or ballet or concert that night. And they were stationed every 10-15 feet, and really didn't like taking no for an answer. They reminded me of the guys with flowers near the Spanish Steps in Rome, or the guys with nudie cards on the streets of Vegas.

Water station!

Brightly lit candy store.

We headed to Demel, a famous chocolate place also recommended by Brenda, but I found it too expensive for my taste. Who needs to pay that much just for chocolate? Nikki did want to try some schneeballs, a sweet treat she had read about. Yes, schneeballs is a real word, and a real dessert. They ended up being a slightly drier and balled up version of a funnel cake, topped off with powdered sugar. We opted to eat on the patio to enjoy the beautiful day it was turning out to be, but the service wasn't ideal. I don't think our server appreciated that all we got were schneeballs and water.

Schneeball!

Next, we headed to Julius Meinl, essentially a coffehouse/market to check out their homage to Oreos and fresh food, but headed back to check out more of St. Stephansdom. I really wanted to go inside, and happily found that it was free to view. Oh my gosh, I can't believe we almost missed out on going inside this magnificent church. It's unbelievable inside.

Oreo shrine at Julius Meinl.

Street art.

Passed an "American" restaurant.

Not sure what "Salad Chicky-Cheese" or "Chipmunk Salads" are. :)

Argentinian embassy, in case you were curious where that was in Vienna.

Simply gorgeous inside.

After some photo-stops inside, we walked around the back side only to discover an open door and a staircase. Hmmm, I wonder where that might lead? No one was standing there, so we started up the stairs, only to be halted a few steps later. Apparently, you have to pay for the dome walk. And, we can never pass up an exertion-filled climb to the top of anything, so up we went. 300 steps and a great quad work out later, we reached our ascent.

On the way up.

Partially there.

Naaaaaarow walkways.

Made it to the top. Hello Vienna!

It was nice and breezy at the top, which was a welcome relief after the sweat fest getting up there. But, just like most dome tours, there's really only so many 360 degree photos you can take before you have to go back down.

P.S. Why did no one ever think to build more than one set of stairs to get up and down these domes? Clearly, our ancestors didn't think about how difficult it is to go up when someone is also trying to walk down.

Tell me. How are you supposed to fit two people on these stairs?!

Afterward, we passed by the line of Mozart look-alikes, and one guy in particular was smitten with Miss Nikki. He kept following us around, trying to show us his book of shows, and even kept lowering the price for us. We really weren't interested in the show he was selling, so we left to sit down for a bit. A few minutes later, he walked up and found us, and struck up a non-concert related conversation. The funny thing is that he didn't look at me. At all. Even when I was talking to him. He just kept staring at Nikki and asking what we were doing later. And if he could be on her team. Yes, his pick up line was "Can I be on your team?" No matter how many times I go to Europe, I will never get used to how forward the men are over there.

Nikki clearly wasn't feeling Herr Mozart, so we left as soon as we could, zig-zagging a bit through the throngs of people to try to lose him. We found a shopping district, and thought we might pick up a few items. Well, until we found out the stores were Louis Vuitton, Dolce & Gabbana, Ferragamo, Fendi, Tiffany's, Marc O'Polo, Jones, Gucci and Prada. I may go to Europe a lot, but I stay in hostels, and bring my own snacks. I'm pretty sure I still can't afford stuff in any of those stores, even if it is the Austrian version. Oh, but hey, they did have an H&M, and a Claire's, in case I felt like piercing my ears.

I see what they did there.

Can't remember what this was, but it's pretty important. I think.

But, really, we were just killing time until Bockshorn opened. It was considered the oldest Irish pub in Vienna and had received great reviews by travel enthusiasts. (Not sure why we're obsessed with finding Irish pubs everywhere we go, but whatever.) We showed up right around 4, when they were set to open, and there was already a regular waiting to get in. The bartender showed up shortly thereafter to let us into the tiniest little pub in the world. I should have known since it was down a tiny back "street" with a seemingly fake address.

For the record, this is not a street. It's a damn sidewalk. Possibly a tiny alley, but I would not consider this a street.

Ceiling.

Kilkenny.

It was definitely unique and full of charm, so we sidled up to the bar, and ordered a few Kilkenny's to get the party started. We weren't to be alone for very long, as a few more regulars showed up. They all started smoking, so we went to to other room in the bar that was literally 10 feet away, so it didn't really make much of a difference. Nikki managed to misread the signs and head in to the men's bathroom. Luckily, she didn't get any visitors while she was in there, but the bartender inform her when she came out that she might want to try the other bathroom when she had to go next time.

Sadly, we didn't say longer (much to Nikki's disappointment), but the smoke was terrible. At least four guys were smoking, and there was no place for the smoke to go except into my eyes, my nose and throat. It was awful. I had forgotten how spoiled I had become with all of the no-smoking rules in the U.S. We found a Starbucks (hello free Wi-Fi!) and googled another Austrian brewpub on the way back to our hostel. We stopped in for a drink, but the food didn't look very appetizing. We split some kind of garlic bread/flatbread/pizza thing that pretty much just worked to soak up all the beer we had been drinking.

Wieden Brau Helles

Paradeiser Mozzarella Toast. aka Nope

We found another route back to our hostel (we were getting pretty good with directions by now, go figure), and stopped at an Italian restaurant, Frascati Pizzeria and Trattoria. Best decision we could have made. The penne bolognese was heavenly, and it was a nice change of pace from the steady stream of mostly meat we had had for a few days.

Cute patio at Frascati.

Yum.

Franziskaner - Hell

We weren't too far from our hostel, so we walked the rest of the way, but our Italian jaunt wouldn't be complete without some gelato by our hostel. Straccatelli for me! (chocolate chip). It was getting late now, so we decided to head in and pack up for our early train to Slovenia in the morning.

I suppose they don't want you to forget that swimsuits are for water.

This mannequin will give me nightmares.

Gelato!

Best part of Vienna: St. Stephens
Worst experience: I think we just had a bad attitude about it, which I do regret now. The weather and the walk in the wrong part of town didn't do anything to sway our fancy. If given the chance, I might go back to Vienna, but there are lots of other places higher on my list..

Random thoughts: The guy from our hostel looked liked Fred Armisen. Nikki was really disappointed by the sachertorte dessert. She just "really wanted a juicy cake." That could have been the beer talking though.

Ruthensteiner Hostel pros: sink in the room which was way handier than you'd think. The staff was really nice. The outdoor garden area was really charming.

Ruthensteiner Hostel cons: our room was really tiny, but that didn't bother me as much as the fact that the window barely opened so we couldn't really cool it off. It was also really loud and not near the city center. Though, we didn't really want to pay for the hostels closer to the center, so that's not really this hostel's fault. :) I'd still recommend it though.