Vienna

We arrived in Vienna around dinner time and it was dark, cold, and rainy. Not the best way to start out visit. We checked into our hostel called the Ruthensteiner. It was a very nice hostel and Wang, James and I had a three man room so the privacy was nice. It was late and we were hungry so we asked the nice Italian guy behind the counter where we could grab some good Viennese food. He suggested a restaurant called Seven which brewed seven different kinds of beer and served local food. Their beer was good and the food was better. After a satisfying meal we walked slowly back to the hostel through the quiet, Paris-like streets of Vienna.

The next day we woke and James was up first. This is an oddity as he tends to be a night owl so I figured he was a little jet lagged still. He showered up and went out to get some fruit at the corner market. He returned with some oranges and plums. We were still hungry and wanted some coffee and a smoke for James so we went to a local bakery that served coffee and delicious pastries. They also allowed smoking but this is a moot point in Vienna because you can smoke EVERYWHERE. The ladies at the bakery were very nice and again spoke surprisingly good English so the language barrier was minimal. After our very French breakfast we walked to Schloss Schonbrunn, the summer imperial palace within the city. It was a huge building overlooking a palatial garden elevated at the furthest point which provided beautiful views of the city. We walked around the Palace and up to the highest point in the garden. We then took the 35 minute walk south west to the city center. We were headed for the opera house where we decided to look for food. We found a little eatery near the opera house and settled down for some local cuisine, sausage, schnitzel, and goulash. After lunch we headed to Stephans Platz to check out the shopping street and the largest cathedral in the city, the Stephans cathedral. It was a very large structure and what set it apart from other churches we had seen on this trip was its roof. It was fully decorated in different tiles making a very interesting design. After some more walking we stopped at Manner for some famous Vienna Wafer cookies.

Out of the city a little we walked to the Donau Kanal. There was a coffee shop right on the river so we stopped in to grab a coffee and use the facilities. It ended up that the bathroom cost 1 euro so we went across the street to McDonalds and used the free one there. I am getting sick of bathrooms you pay for. Wang wanted to see the old Ferris wheel so we walked to through Prater Park to see it. James and I decided not to make it just a trip to the Ferris wheel and hopped on the rollercoaster in the park. We figured when are we ever going to ride a rollercoaster again in our lives. With that realization the 4 euros was considered well spent and the ride was better than we expected.

After our fun we went back into the city center and saw the Hofburg buildings including Alte and Neue. Then it was onto the Parliament building and the Rathaus, the old town hall which unfortunately was under construction. We walked through Burg Garden to see the Mozart monument and Opera house all lit up at night. Wang snapped a few more pictures and with that it was dinner time.

James and I were drawn into a shoe store and while there James decided to ask the guy working where he suggested we grab some local food. This turned out to be the best idea all day and he suggested a place called Alt Wiener Beisl, Zu Den lieserln, which was only a few blocks away. We walked around, passing the restaurant because it was a very small place that is not well advertised. We walked in to find that it is probably the smokiest place on earth and that the front dining room had one large table for 8 and the rear had about 7 tables for 4 apiece. We were ushered back to the rear dining room which was even smokier than the front with absolutely zero air circulation. I swear there were clouds in this room. The waiter, owner, and english speaking smart ass was the best waiter we could have asked for. We all ordered ‘house specialties’ and some drinks. James and I both ordered different schnitzels and Wang had a mixed plate of meat. All three meals were FAR too large and included a side. Our schnitzel was so large it covered an entire dinner plate. We tried to finish it all but all three meals proved to be too large. James then decided to order dessert and this shocked the waiter. He gave us hell but we ended up getting out chocolate pancakes. We were then approached by a man from another table to chat with us. He had lived in the states and just wanted to strike up a little conversation. He proved to be overly chatty but nice either way. We then started talking to the two Swiss girls sitting next to us chain smoking cigarettes. They were our age and one was studying abroad in Vienna and her friend was visiting. They proved to be great conversationalists and we stayed for about an hour longer than intended. We walked back and called it a night.

Morning came and we decided to post right back up and the same coffee shop we had gone to the morning previous. After breakfast we walked to train station to head to Prague.