And after a year, we've come full circle! It would have been nice if I could stay in Switzerland for Swiss National Day (August 1st) but my best friend who lives in Vancouver was patiently awaiting my arrival with our Couchsurfing hosts in Vienna. So all aboard towards the last month of adventures before returning home to Canada.
All in attendance: Kristen and her best friend Tom!
It was such a busy last 2 days of work that there was no time for nostalgic pauses. Before I knew it, I was at Zurich HB (possibly for the last time in a long time) and getting ready to leave. All my possessions in a suitcase and 45L backpack and I was off.
To embrace the spoils of European life, I bought some paprika flavoured chips, swiss chocolate (not shown because I already ate it by the time I took this photo) and my favourite Swiss Cheese (Maxx 365) to keep me company on the long train ride to Austria from Zurich. Oebb is great for giving you ridiculously cheap train tickets if you buy in advance.
I downloaded a few television shows to watch (mostly to see what all the fuss is about "breaking bad") but instead, I melted into the dreamy world of the passing landscapes and thought romantically about a whole year of adventure and traveling.
I arrived just an hour shy before midnight and (after a spastic train exit with my large heavy suitcase) I took the U4 to Hütteldorf, a cute community where my couch surfing hosts lived. Cue: 4 blocks of uphill stairs lugging all my possessions/
Needless to say, my hosts, Stefan and Gerald, were fantastic - receiving my sweaty panting self with open arms! Tom was already snoozing away on their luxurious couch so Stefan, Gerald and I sat on their terrace and talked about our shared traveling experiences.
They had recently went to Iceland for Reykjavik's Gay Pride where the mayor appeared to the crowds dressed in full-drag. They told me stories about their road trip around the country and the couch surfers they had met/were going to meet (the Australian surfers who came after Tom and I had flown into Vietnam and had made their way to Austria solely on land!).
The next morning, Stefan went to work (at a library for boardgames), Gerald went to work on his thesis and Tom and I went to work on our Austrian adventure - filled with instances where I showed off my new German skills to a friend from back home.
Our day began after buying some flaky pastries, and getting off the metro and following the flocks of tourist to the front of the Stephansdom (St. Stephen's Cathedral), notable for its bright tiled colour roof. After a pop inside, we continued down Kärntner Straße - a large shopping street that branches off of Stephansplatz. Cue: unsurprising disproportional ratio of women's clothing stores to men.
Humorously, Tom packed too many sweaters and other warm clothes and underestimated the scorching heat of Europe. I guess we're too use to the cold back home. So all throughout the day (and throughout the rest of our time together), finding Tom appropriate "summery clothes" was always a back-burner goal that we hardly ever got to doing.
Passing, Peterskirche and other nameless gorgeous buildings, we ended passing by the Hofburg Palace (currently home to many museums among other residences) and decided to have a look in the Leopold Museum. Notable drool worthy were Egon Schiele and Gutav Klimt exhibits.
Off to the Naschmarkt for a peak into an open air market and a healthly meal of Schnitzel. "The best Schnitzel in town", of course. We fought the heat with aperol spritzers (and gushed about how it is socially acceptable to have 'spritzers' in Europe).
We went to the Succession Museum where Tom became my personal art history
professor and told me about all the artists which contributed to the Vienna Secessionists movement. Notable was the Gustav Klimt mural in the basement "Beethovenfries" where a certain ghoulish woman reminded us of our friend Nili.
Off to the Karlskirche to dip our feet rudely into the big outdoor fountain. On our way to the apotheke, we passed by some crazy status and a demonstrations. Negative points go to the demonstration since their signs weren't all in German and since we had no idea what they were protesting.
That night we shopped for some yummy groceries and made a broccoli-basil mac and cheese for our CS hosts. It was so delicious that our hosts even declared me the queen of mac 'n' cheese in their CS review for me!
Next morning we went to the Schönbrunn Palace and decided to forgo the costs of entry and instead decided to just admire the view of the city from the nearby hill. Highlights include a really intricate fountain with mermaid warrior-soldiers riding horse-fish hybrids.
Continuing our regal mood, we went to the Belvedere Palace and the museum inside of it. Highlights include Gustav Klimt's "The Kiss" and feigning poor English and poor German (but top marks in deceit) so Tom could get a student pricing on admission.
This was followed by a lazy snooze in a park near the Votive Church (mind the eyesore scafolding) near Vienna's cityhall/Rathaus. We moved out of our CS host's home and into a room at the Strawberry Hostel Wien and finishing off the day with a meal at a nearby Chinese restaurant (spicy duck).
The next day we had time for a quick fancy cake from Aida's before taking a cushy 22.50 euro bus to prague.
Things I learned:
- Vienna can get scorching hot
- Fight the heat with an aperol spritzer
- Lugging around all your yearly possessions in a suitcase is the pits
- Vienna is a beautiful city to visit and to live in!
- CS is the greatest!
- Eat Sachertorte
- Too many to list - there are so many layers to Vienna!
