Vienna, Day 1

In Travel by Simmie23 Comments

vienna

It’s been a long day. I haven’t had a proper sleep in about 36 hours. It’s been fun though, so no complaints here.

We arrived at the airport and quickly got a taxi to take us to the hotel. There are 7 of us plus a baby and surprisingly everything went pretty smoothly. Having a boss who speaks German with you also doesn’t hurt. We got to check in early and drop our stuff off before we decided to head out for the day.

An hour later and freshly showered, I was ready to see Vienna. I was also ready to take a good long nap, but I couldn’t let that stop me. Our hotel is right next to the museum quarter so we headed over there first.

museum

I forget what museum this is, but it’s the one across from the Museum of Fine Arts. To be perfectly honest, this picture just came out better.

maria_theresia

This is Maria Theresia. She’s a big shot around here. She was the only woman to rule during the Habsburg Monarchy and totally rocked out. They like her. Which is why she has a ginormous statue in the center of the Museum Quarter. And our hotel is the K+K Maria Theresia. Also, apparently she really like green and yellow.

hofburg_palace

From there we headed towards the Hofburg Palace. The Hofburg palace started as the palace for the aforemention Habsburg Monarchy, but since then has expanded to house a bajillion different things including performances of the Viennese Boys Choir and the Spanish Riding School where  you can see horses break it down.

hofburg_palace_1

Stephansdom

Then, we started hitting up the churches. Because this is Europe. So you practically trip over churches. The Stephansdom (or St. Stephan’s Cathedral) is right in the center of town and pretty awesome. Just like in Scotland, when they are doing renovations, they put a tarp with what the building should look like over all the scaffolding. I like how they try to make it less of an eyesore that way.

stephansdom_inside

Of course, the inside wasn’t too shabby either. The stained glass windows were beautiful, but I couldn’t get any closer because a mass was starting.

Vienna1

Annette and I decided to leave the wimpy boys down on the ground and climbed up the tower in the Stephansdom. I was 137 meters (or 450 feet) up and who knows how many stairs. Let’s just say I was a little (a lot) out of breath when I reached the top. But the views of Vienna can’t be matched, so I think we decided it was worth it.

frankfurter

When we came down, the guys had decided it was time to eat. I was pretty excited about this, since the last thing I had eaten was that cheese on the plane. I had a Frankfurter Würstl with some pickles and bread. Basically it’s a hot dog. It’s kind of funny though – in Vienna (Wien) the call the Frankfurter Würstl and in Frankfurt, they are called Wieners. It was pretty good and I felt very authentic. And ripped off. Because that plate of food was like $8.50.

oper

We quickly passed by the Opera House. We also got told about that evening’s concert in three different languages, but I don’t think any of us had the patience or the will power to even think about attending a performance. They give tours too and I think if I had more time I would check it out. I took a tour of an opera house in Germany and learned if I’m looking for a quick buck, all I have to do is cut off all of my hair, because apparently that stuff comes at a premium.

karlskirche

We definitely had not fit our chuch quota for the day so we headed to Karlskirche. Besides it being Carl’s church, it has some pretty amazing paintings inside. It also has some unsightly scaffolding which allows you to get up close and personal with the paintings but kind of ruins the overall impression.

ceiling

However, I was able to hone my Jew-dar to find the bit of Hebrew in the place. (It wasn’t exactly hidden, more like the focal point of the incredibly ornate alter.)

hebrew

Then came the building we had been talking about all day. Ok, Obi had been talking about this building all day. I had no idea what it was. Turns out it’s called the Secession Building and has all sorts of architectural significance that I don’t quite grasp. But it doesn’t have a pretty giant gold ball on top!

succession_building

At this point we’re all practically melting into the street, so Carl leads us back to the hotel. But not until we see what I’m referring to the Viennese Walk of Fame. Hollywood has all those movie stars, Vienna has composers.

walk_of_fame

stars

So, Leonard Bernstein wasn’t actually directly next to Mozart and Beethoven, but he was the third coolest person I saw on the street.

Finally, we got back to the hotel and before my head hit the pillow I fell asleep. I didn’t want to be too jet lagged so I only allowed myself to sleep for 45 minutes. Miraculously this worked and I actually got up and took my second shower of the day. After a couple of hours of relaxing and prodding ourselves to stay awake we decided to head out for dinner. Conveniently dinner was just around the corner.

tafelspitz1

It was a nice restaurant with a seriously rude waiter. I have a feeling the term “dumb Americans” was running through his head the entire time we were there. There was lots of authentic Austrian cuisine so we dove in and gave it a try. I got Tafelspitz which is meat simmered in a broth and served with potatoes and horseradish applesauce (so good!) and a sour cream with horseradish dip. I pretty much had to stop myself from licking the plate. I also got a $10 bottle of water. Yes $10. That water better make my pee magical or something for ten bucks.

weinerschnitzel

Annette got Wienerschnitzel, because, well we’re in Wien, and somebody had to get it. She said it was really good too and I don’t think she left a bit on the plate either.

goulash

Calvin got Austrian Goulash which came with some ridiculous dumplings and the most intricately carved hot dog I’d ever seen. When I first looked at it, I thought it came with octopus which seemed like the least likely animal to find on that plate.

And then! I found it! APFELSTRUDEL! It was on the menu and there was no way I could pass it up. It came out warm and gooey, with a flakey crust and juicy apples. Ah the perfect end to one incredibly exciting, interesting, tiring, long day.

apfelstrudel

Tomorrow is more palaces, more food, and more pictures. I’m also going to look for some souvenirs. Any requests?

Comments

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  14. it looks so exciting! have a great time, I am officially going to die of work for the next 2 weeks, no days off!

    the apple desserts look delicious 🙂

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