I returned from Vienna yesterday evening, and all I can say is “Wow.” Although I was only there three days, it did not take me long to realize what an incredible city it is.
That said, three days is not nearly enough time to see everything. I would need a month to see all the sights and visit all the museums the city has to offer.
Before the trip I spent a good amount of time planning out an itinerary so that I could see as much as possible, but I still feel as though I did not see very much.
Unfortunately, I did not have time to post during my time in Vienna so here is a quick run-down of the trip:
Sunday, June 10
We arrived in the late afternoon. After dropping off our bags at the youth hostel on the north side of town, we proceeded to take a walk around the Innere Stadt (historic downtown area).
Our first stop was the Schatzkammer (national treasury). This place was amazing. It is basically where the Austrian government stores all the precious items including crowns from the Austrian–Hungarian empire, random gold plates used by the royal family, a piece of the True Cross and one of the nails from the Crucifixion. I confess that I am not a big religion buff, but I even found this stuff amazing.
All the “bling” at the national treasury was so amazing that, naturally, our next stop was at a nearby cafe for some coffee and cake. The service was not exactly fast, but that was a good thing since it started hailing while we were inside. It was the worst hail storm that I have ever seen. It hailed so much that the street was literally white. For a moment I thought it was snowing … in June.
The hail really messed up our schedule for the day. We had planned to visit a few more sights in the Innere Stadt, but we instead headed back to the youth hostel to wait out the rain.
Our evening concluded with a nice meal at an Asian-style noodle restaurant followed by a visit to the Haus der Musik (house of music).
Sunday was definitely my lucky day. On the way back to the youth hostel, I found 60 Euros on an escalator in the subway. Before finding the money, I only had around 50 Euros to spend so it was a substantial contribution to my trip.
Monday, June 11
In our group we had the choice of going with one of the two associate instructors, the program director or going it alone the whole day. I decided to go it alone.
After the class pleaded with the two associate instructors to not visit so much “artsy fartsy” stuff after they did in Salzburg, they did in Vienna anyways. I am not into all that is “artsy fartsy” so I went by myself around the city all day.
My first stop Monday was Schloss Schönbrunn. Completed in 1700, the palace has more than 1441 rooms. (One of the rooms was the historic meeting place of United States President John F. Kennedy and Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev in 1961.) Schönbrunn was simply amazing. It was by far the coolest thing that I visited in Vienna.
After taking an hour tour of the inside of the palace, I took a stroll through the gardens. It was also very stunning. I hiked up to the Gloriette that sits on a hill overlooking the gardens and the back of the palace.
I had only originally planned to be there for a couple hours, but in the end I was there for most of the morning and afternoon.
Next, I took a short tour at the Reichsrat, the Austrian Parliament building. What shocked me the most here was the fact that no one was there. The building was completely empty except for tourists … on a Monday. I guess American politicans are not the only ones who never work.
At 3 p.m., I met up with the group again at Cafe Sacher for some free coffee and cake courtesy Indiana University. I was glad that I was not paying for the expensive cake I was not really impressed with it. Sacher Cake is supposedly world famous, but I thought it was very dry like it had been sitting out for a week. I think I have had better cake at Denny’s.
We finished off the day by going to see the play “Reigen” at the Burgtheater. Besides being grossly under dressed in shorts and an “Indiana Basketball” t-shirt, I was so hot in the upper deck of the theater that I felt sick. The heat alone ruined the play since I spent the majority of the time concentrating on fanning myself with a booklet.
I felt so sick after the play that I went back to the youth hostel immediately, took a half-hour cold shower and went to bed.
Tuesday, June 12
Still not happy with the associate instructors itineraries, I again trekked around the city by myself.
After a short breakfast at the youth hostel, I took the S-bahn across the city to Schloss Belvedere. I decided to not take a tour inside the palace since it now houses the national gallery. Once again, I am not into all that is “artsy” and “fartsy.”
However, the gardens at Belvedere kept me busy for about an hour as I walked all the way from the north entrance to the south entrance.
My next stop was the Heeresgeschichtliches Museum (Museum of Military History), literally around the corner from Belvedere. I had a little trouble finding the museum itself and ended up in an apartment complex before someone pointed me in the right direction.
The museum itself was very interesting, but I should have purchased an audio tour so I could have understood the exhibits better. Luckily, I had my “Lonely Planet: Austria” book with me to guide me to some of the more popular exhibits.
The most interesting thing at the museum was by far the Franz Ferdinand room on the ground floor. It has the car the Archduke was assassinated in, the bed he bled to death on and his blood-stained suit. I have read about the Archduke and his assassination numerous times in history classes in America so it was amazing to be that close to the objects that played a role in world history.
I spent a good amount of time in the museum, and afterwards headed back to the youth hostel to meet up with the group. Mid-way between the museum and the youth hostel, I stumbled on a Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant. It had been close to a year since I had eaten at a KFC so I decided to try out the Austrian version.
We caught a train heading from Vienna to a city in Croatia that was stopping in Graz. Three hours later we were home without having to change trains once.