Wien-- As the Viennese Say

Before I even traveled abroad, I knew that I had to visit Vienna, not because of anything I knew about the city but because I wanted to visit one of my best friends and cousin that are there for the semester. It seemed like a great idea to go to a place I would typically never consider visiting. Prior to traveling there, I had no idea what to expect. I did not do much research, other than finding it on a map and booking a train ticket.

            Last Thursday I took the night train from Florence to Vienna, which is about a 10 hour trip. Let me tell you, it is certainly an experience. The 2^nd class ticket, the one I booked, is basically a cabin with 6 seats that almost recline. One my way to Vienna, the cabin was filled with three men and two Indian nuns. Its hard to actually get a solid amount of sleep, due to the fact that almost every hour one of the train attendees barges in, flips the light on and asks to see your ticket. However the train ride into Austria is amazing. We traveled through the mountains and it was beautiful with the sun rising and fog gathering in the valleys. I successfully arrived in Vienna around 9am. Ivana was supposed to meet me at the train station and we were on the phone for maybe 10 minutes until we realized that we weren’t at the same train station. It turns out I booked my ticket to the wrong station (there are about 10 in the city of Vienna). Thankfully she was able to get to me in no time (That’s the wonderful thing about the city, public transportation is SO EASY. The Ubahn goes throughout the entire city and runs about every five minutes. I love it!) and we met up! Stepping off of the train was such a shock—it was about 70 degrees when I left Florence and traveled to cold, rainy, dreary weather. It was such a nice change, however I think I was wearing five layers of clothing.

            Unfortunately, Ivana and Will both had classes all day. It actually turned out to be perfect—Ivana showed me a great caffe to get breakfast and then how to get to the tourist information booth. I met up with her again for 45 minutes or so, just to walk her to her next class and get a tour of their school. The building where the students from IES take classes is absolutely beautiful. I felt like I was walking through a museum—with chandeliers and wonderfully decorated. Their study room was unreal.

            So for the afternoon, I just wandered around the city in the rain. The weather was intense, so much wind and rain! After finding the Parlaiment Building and the Univeristat of Vienna, I decided to find a museum. I literally just picked a building and ducked in there. I wasn’t quite sure what I had gotten myself into until I bought my ticket and found a brochure. The Kunsthistoriches Museum was built by Emperor Franz Joseph in order to house the collections of the Habsburgs. Inside is the Picture Gallery, Collection of Greek and Roman Antiquities, Egyptian and Near Eastern Collection and Coin Cabinet. What a gorgeous museum! I feel like the building itself was just as gorgeous as the collections it contains. I wandered around for a few hours, then decided to find another museum in the area (which isn’t hard, Vienna is filled with endless museums). Next was Neue Burg with the Collection of Arms and Amour and—my favorite—the Collection of Ancient Musical Instruments. I had a blast in that part of the museum. When I first arrived, I was given a headset to listen to descriptions of the pieces in the museum. However, in the area with ancient instruments, I could type in a number and it would play a song of each instrument. I think I could have spent hours in that section, the music was beautiful. I loved roaming around these museums with the cold and rainy weather. Barely any one was out and it felt as if I had the entire museum to myself.

 This is a clock in the city. Every hour, it chimes and there are little figurines that move around. However at noon, every figurine moves around in the clock tower. We were lucky enough to catch it then!

 The Parliament building

 The Kuntshistoriches Museum

Neue Burg Museum. 

            Shortly afterwards I met up with Ivana once her class had finished. We ate dinner at an authentic Austrian restaurant (I insisted on it). I had this bread-dumpling dish cooked with eggs and onions while Ivana ordered this delicious fish. For dessert we ordered apple strudel, of course. Ivana said it was the best she’s had since arriving in Vienna, which is a huge deal!

That evening Ivana and I just wandered around the city. Actually, she led me around the city. She refused to tell me where we were headed but took me to the most beautiful places. I don’t think I could remember all of them, lets see, Mozart’s apartment, the Opera house and a million others. Even though it was a bit chilly, it was such a fun walk and wonderful spending time together. We cut our walk short to meet up with Will and his friends for a bit. I was so happy to see Will and catch up! It was so great the way that weekend worked out and how he was able to spend time with me. There is something so special about spending time with family. I just had to laugh when we first met up though, him and his friends had their musical instruments with them, just finishing up a jam session. I wouldn’t expect anything less from my cousin.

            We went to a bar in the MuseumsQuartier where we sat and chatted for a bit. This place was hilarious. It had a huge disco ball hanging in the middle of the ceiling with classic American oldies playing. I wasn’t sure if we time traveled or if we were still in Vienna. Quite deceiving.

            Anyways, Ivana was so sweet and let me crash at her place for that night. Unfortunately she was going on a weekend trip, leaving in the morning, so it was great to spend a little more time with her before we had to separate. I had such a great time with her on Friday and wish our cities were closer. But needless to say, she did a great job showing me the city and informing me of everything that tourists need to know about the city (She absolutely amazes me about her knowledge. I love how she just goes to a museum when shes bored. I think she has her entire Vienna travel book memorized. She has definitely inspired me to take a more educational interest in Florence and to get off the beaten path a bit).

            Saturday morning I met up with Will at the Naschmarkt, which is essentially a huge outdoor market with cafes and various vendors. It is huge and stretches for several streets! I was quite proud of Will, he got up so early (I think we met at 9am on a Saturday?) and showed me around the market. We did a little grocery shopping to cook lunch, wandered around the flea market for a bit and even found him a sweater (5 euro, now that’s the way to do your shopping)!

Afterwards we wandered around the city and he took me to some famous places, such as the Monument to Empress Elisabeth and Maria Theresa Square. Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful. Is anything not beautiful in Vienna?

            Quite tired after our long morning, we traveled to Will’s apartment where we made lunch (well it was more of Will cooking for me, he is such an expert!)—curried chicken and vegetables with brown rice. Delicious of course, he must get his cooking genes from Yiayia. I don’t know why, we must have been really tired, but after eating we passed out on his couches for a good two hours. I honestly don’t think I’ve slept that hard since I’ve arrived in Europe. It was amazing.

            The rest of the day was very relaxed, just hanging out with his housemates and enjoying a lazy Saturday. Squintz, one of Will’s friends, invited us to Mozart’s Requiem that he was seeing that night for a class. Oh my gosh. It was such an incredible performance, I have never seen or heard anything like it. Although the acoustics weren’t where they should be since it took place in a church, I was still floored from the concert. Seeing a musical performance while in Vienna was a necessity for me and I loved it. Plus, it was only a six euro entrance fee. To think, on any random night in Vienna you can attend things like this. Incredible.

            Sunday was the definition of a lazy Sunday. Everyone just hung out in the apartment and relaxed. After Will made another wonderful lunch (pasta with pesto and chicken) we went to the Schonbrunn. It was such beautiful timing—the morning was freezing and raining, certainly not motivating to go out and do anything—but when we ventured out of the apartment the sun had peaked out and warmed up the city a bit. Schonbrunn, only a few Ubahn stops away, was the summer residence for the Habsburgs. I was absolutely blown away by its magnificence. The estate is enormous with gorgeous gardens and amazing fountains. It is hard to imagine that people actually lived in a place as extravagant as this. I tried to take some pictures but they certainly don’t do it justice.

Also, the weather was incredible. With the sun starting to set, illuminating the bright colored leaves, and the cool, crisp air, I felt fall surround us. It was almost like a piece of the Midwest fall had creeped into our afternoon. Needless to say, Will and I had a wonderful time together. It was great to catch up on life and simply spend time together. We wandered the estate, not quite paying attention to where we were headed.  Eventually, we headed back to his apartment, made a quick dinner, and then headed off to the train station. Will was so sweet and took me to the station where I needed to catch my train. And that’s where my wonderful weekend in Vienna ends.

       
 Fall has arrived!










    I don’t think I can thank Ivana and Will enough. They were such great hosts and took the time to show me the city. Their love for Vienna was quite evident and made me fall in love with the area. I would honestly recommend this trip to anyone. Vienna has a certain charisma to it. No matter what the weather or circumstances, there is always something to do or see. I was so surprised when I first arrived—everywhere I turned my head I saw the most beautiful buildings that date back to hundreds of years ago. Incredible. I know it’s a stretch, but I would love to travel back for the Christmas markets the city is so famous for. But that’s too far away to think about right now.

            Now, back to Florence. Even though traveling is a blast, I always look forward to returning back to this city. I miss understanding the language (German is such a complicated language and like nothing I’ve studied before) and crazy Italian life. This week, like all of them, has completely flown by. I guess that’s what happens when every day is filled. Well, I better cut this off before I continue to ramble since I could for hours.  

To end, as Ivana loves to quote Billy Joel:

"Slow down you crazy child
Take the phone off the hook and disappear for a while
It's alright you can afford to lose a day or two
When will you realize...
Vienna waits for you."