36 Hours in Vienna
Vienna is an old city full of architecture and history. A walkable city once you're in the city center, it's easy to get lost exploring for hours. I had 36 of them - 36 hours in Vienna, and did (almost) everything I wanted to! If you can stand the cold (if you visit in the winter) and are up for the exercise, WALK WALK WALK. Some of the best things I saw I stumbled upon.
FRIDAY 8:00 PM: Dinner at Lugeck. I met up with my sorority sister Kate at our Air BnB and we figured we'd treat ourselves to a nice dinner to begin my trip - she had had all day to explore before I arrived. I had a Sea Bass Filet with potatoes and breaded artichoke on the side (yes Mom, I branched out with my veggies). The meal was absolutely tiny but AMAZING. The place had great recommendations so if you're good with a small but deliciously savory dinner, hit up Lugeck. Unfortunately, I was too hungry to snap a picture of my dish - next time!
10:00 PM: We ventured around the area to see if there were any places to pop in to for a drink. We first checked out Roberto's American Bar (Fun fact: in Vienna, American bars are the typical bars that serve cocktails and mixed drinks while traditional Viennese bars serve regular drinks such as wine and beer). It was one tiny room with one bartender who made customized drinks, but absolutely crowded. We decided to ditch and check out this other place that was recommended. The crowd was older and people were able to smoke inside. Smoking inside was quite common in Vienna, not sure how buildings haven't burned down yet, but beware that your clothes may smell for a while after... After waiting around for seats that we never got and drinking our free drink (white wine with seltzer), we headed home for the night to prepare for an early start the next day.
SATURDAY 9:30 AM: We grabbed a small breakfast and caffeine at a bakery around the corner from our apartment. We then walked the mile to Schönbrunn Palace. The sun was shining and it was warm. The palace comes into view, with a large courtyard and fountain piece in the middle. Pictures weren't allowed inside the palace but I did sneak one of the gallery room; its painted ceilings and gold beg to be marveled at. The gardens in the back were a big open space. Sadly, it was winter and the flowers weren't in bloom but you could see where they planted mulch for them.
1:00 PM: We headed back into the city by foot, weaving in and out of streets with colorful buildings, walking in the middle of the road. After an hour, the GPS said we were still 1 hour away from the city so we took an Uber to Naschmarkt, Vienna's largest food market. The Uber drivers don't all know English but they know enough where we were able to get around. When we got to the market, vendors shouted at us to try their food as we passed by them, trying to ask where we were from. To not target ourselves, we said, "London." It was interesting that their response was "London, baby!"; they had no idea we weren't actually from London, despite our blatant accents. Austria is a different part of Europe and it was fascinating that they didn't know English and couldn't tell we were Americans, like everyone else in London can.
To warm up from the cold, we stopped into Stella's, a little cafe tucked away in the middle of the market. I got a huge lunch for only 8 euros: two rolls, a croissant, ham, cheese, a small glass of freshly pressed orange juice (so refreshing), and some tea. I also tried a traditional Apple Strudel!
3:30 PM: We strolled in the opposite direction of the food market to check out ornate gilded buildings. Walking down the street, we realized there was a flea market (presumably the Naschmarkt Flea Market which we had heard of but hadn't seen up to this point). It was in an empty parking lot with trash, mostly newspapers and pamphlets, everywhere. Vendors had set up their stands with virtually anything you could think of: old sunglasses, single shoes, 75 different chargers, old typewriters, books, jewelry, real mink fur coats (pictured below), handbags, hats, traditional Viennese blouses. And in the background stood those ornate gilded buildings. It was my favorite moment from Vienna, a coming together of people and places, the picture of every day life in the city.
4:30 PM: Most things close around 6 PM in Vienna, particularly the museums. It was cold and we wanted to see at least one museum before the day ended so we popped into the Wien Museum. The first floor told of Vienna's pop history, the second floor of immigration, and the third showcased a wonderful collection of art.
7:00 PM: Dinner at a local traditional Viennese place: Strasser Bräu. I ordered beef goulash that came with traditional Viennese egg dumplings and cornbread with a side of wine from the region of Weinviertel (as recommended by our Air BnB host)! We had been looking at fancy, top rated restaurants in the city when we decided to forgo that and look around the area we were staying at for an authentic meal at a cozy place. We ended up staying there for 2.5 hours! Heading home, we both had an early night.
SUNDAY 6:45 AM: Waking up before the crack of dawn was easier than I thought. Perhaps because of excitement from my morning of solo exploration I was about to embark on, perhaps because I couldn't sleep well in the first place from going on my phone for an hour before bed. Either way, I was happy to wake up in the dark and start my day. I took an Uber into the city to eat at Cafe Landtmann, which was pretty centrally located and one of the only cafes I could find that opened at 7:30 AM - I knew I wanted an early start to the day. It was a quiet, rainy morning and they welcomed me into their cafe, where I ordered a nice omelette with an "English muffin" (more like a bread roll really) and some tea. I made sure to say "Danke Shein" when I left, which is German for "Thank You."
9:00 AM: The start of my morning of solo exploration. An early Sunday morning in Vienna is absolutely dead and quiet to my surprise. Hardly any cars were driving around and I stood in the middle of the road, taking pictures of church steeples and lit up ice skating rinks, without even worrying about getting run over. I walked around the Ring, an area of Vienna with many important buildings and must visit places, including Volksgarten, the Austrian National Library, Maria-Teresien-Platz (in 1938, Nazi propaganda in the form of a temporary memorial featuring the emblem of the new regime was placed in Maria-Theresien-Platz. It is also where the History and Natural History museums are located), their Parliament Building, Museums Quartier, the Hofburg Theater, Hofburg Palace, the Spanish Riding School, and the Imperial Treasury among others. When I stopped to ask a couple to take a photo of me, they said they would wait for the guys in the background to pass; to all our surprises, the guys saw the camera in her hand and ran up to me to be included in the photo. Just strangers passing by - smiling, we all took a picture together!
