Our day today began with a local tour guide meeting us at the hotel after breakfast. Our first destination was to Schonbrunn Palace where we were given a tour of this palatial estate. The palace is the summer palace, (not to be confused with the separate winter palace) of Empress Maria Theresa. We were given a tour of just a few of the 1441 rooms of the palace. (What does one do with that many rooms? And how long does it take to clean and dust? Oy.) The unique decor of the palace was incredible. The ornate detail to the wallpaper, chandeliers, and crown molding was definitely special. In the back of the palace were the Imperial Gardens. The landscaping of this enormous space was immaculate. I could easily see myself living there.
After the palace tour, we were given a tour of the city of Vienna on the bus. This was very helpful to me because it helped me understand the layout of the city better and get my bearings. We were shown all the important buildings in the city on this tour and then dropped off in the center of town at 10:45 to do our own thing until our dinner at 5:45. This was basically a full day of solo exploring. I was excited. I had my list of places I wanted to see and my map marked. Before we took off, we all walked to the main shopping drag and were taken to the Swarovski store. Even though the name doesn't sound Austrian, this is very much so an Austrian company. We got a mini tour (and use of free bathrooms!!) and then I was on my way to explore.
Since I only had little to no basic knowledge about this county and its sites (similar to how I felt in Germany), I had done a little bit of research on what should be seen. And it really wasn't that much. It wasn't like London or Amsterdam where I had so many sites I had my heart set on seeing because I knew more. Austria, Germany, Switzerland, and Monaco were the four countries I didn't know much about and am doing more group stuff with when there, while I did a lot on my own in London, Amsterdam, and plan to in Italy, and Paris because I had more background info.
On my solo journey, this was what I saw today:
- Karntnerstrasse ( This is the main shopping drag in the city.)
- Saint Stephan's Cathedral
- Hofburg ( the winter palace of the Empress. With over 3000 rooms, this one is almost twice as big as Schonbrunn. Yowsers.)
- Natural History Museum
- Parlament
- Rathaus (church)
- Wein University
- Votiv Kirche ( yup, another church)
- Staatsoper ( Austria's major opera house)
During my journey, I stopped and got lunch from a street cart. Street meat if you will. However, I got Turkish street meat (not Austrian), which is very popular here. Since one of my favorite restaurants in NYC is Turkish (shout out to Beyoglu. What, What?), I got a Turkish sandwich called a kebap sandwich. No, that's not a typo. It's kebap, not kebab. I couldn't tell you what kind of meat was in there, but I can tell you that albeit being a giant salt bomb, it was freaking good. I couldn't look at or smell another sausage or bratwurst so I wasn't going to get that for lunch and since Turkish food is very common here, I went for it. Good call by me. Naturally. The food in Austria and in Germany is very heavy and rich and I'm over it. Lots of meat and potatoes and other starches. I love when to eat that type of food, but not everyday. I will be thrilled when we hit Italy tomorrow for some new cuisine.
I finished seeing all the sites on my list pretty quickly so had a lot of free time on my hands. I enjoyed having actual leisure time and not having to rush to go from site to site trying to fit everything in. This was the first time in a while I really had time to sit back and enjoy the city. I obviously wasn't just going to go back on the hotel to lay around (especially with only one English TV channel), so I wandered back down to Karntnerstrasse. I found a bench and did some reading and some people watching. When I had had enough, I came back to the hotel to drop off some stuff and then went for a little walk along the Danube canal. Because Vienna is not near the ocean, there are no beaches; however, along the canal there are all these places that put out sand and beach chairs and people lay out and drink along the river. For a price of course. But it's very cool to see. Additionally, there is some amazing graffiti along the river as well.
Tonight I went on another additional excursion of dinner and classical music. At a palace, but of course. Palais Auersperg. How could I come to the home of Mozart and not listen to classical music? I don't usually listen to it on my own, but do can find soothing if its on. (In fact, during the day, there are numerous guys dressed as Mozart selling tickets to classical music shows. Its quite a touristy and local thing to do.) For dinner, I had Wiener schnitzel (which I was very excited about) and the famous Austrian dessert sacher. It's a dense chocolate cake with whipped cream. Meh. All in all the night was pretty great. Once again, this was not something I would have gone to on my own, but really enjoyed myself. I felt immersed in Viennese culture. The food, the ambiance, the music, etc... And that's the point of a trip like this, isn't it? While the music was playing, I found myself fascinated watching the musicians and their fingers. It's amazing how it can be a great talent to move your fingers a certain way while using a wand (I don't know the official term for that thing. Sorry. Ooops) on a violin or cello. But I guess, people can think that about putting a ball in a basket. Right?
Tomorrow we are off to Italy. First Venice, then Florence, then Rome. I am super psyched for this. Super psyched. Perhaps I will have more encounters with bidets and may finally figure out how to use one. A girl can dream...
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