This weekend was an all group trip to the city of Wien (A.K.A. Vienna, the capital of Austria). We left bright and early on Friday morning by bus to travel to the city of Vienna. I was excited for the weekend, mainly because I didn’t plan a single part of this trip, and all of my classmates were going so it makes for a fun weekend. We arrived at around 12, found our way to the hotel (We stayed in a hotel! Not a hostel, but a hotel. Life was great.) We had two lovely tour guides who took us around town and it was very impressive. Their buildings are all so big and ornate that everywhere you go, the views are breathtaking. A little background on the history in Vienna: it is the biggest city of Austria that it has over 1 million inhabitants and is the only city in Austria that has over 1 million people. It was built to be the capital of an empire (The Habsburg Empire, also known as the Austrian-Hungarian Empire that collapsed with the end of World War I) and the city is so much bigger than I expected it to be. Vienna is known for the waltz, museums, classical music, and operas. Mozart is a big claim to fame for the city (FYI Mozart was born in Salzburg, but lived his adult life in Vienna. Both cities have Mozart relics, chocolates, and touristy stuff to do). They also have tons of gardens, so it makes for a pretty city. It almost felt a little like Paris, just minus the massive iconic landmarks. Vienna’s biggest landmark is Saint Stephen’s Cathedral. Part of it was under construction, but according to our tour guide, there is always scaffolding present.
After the tour, we basically just walked around the city and found more and more massive buildings and parks. It was very cold but we made the best of it. After eating an early Italian dinner, we headed back to the hotel to regroup and decide what to do next. It was decided that we would go to the opera. Now, I’m not much one for classical music. On the contrary, in fact; I pretty much don’t like it, no matter how much I try (Lyrics are necessary, in my opinion). But I paid my 3 euros for standing room only, to feel a little underdressed and out of place on this night out on the town. The first half was pretty much awful. I couldn’t really see the stage or the english translation screens, so basically I listened to the actors sing for a while. The inside of the building was gorgeous, so that makes it a little bit better (see pics below). During intermission, I was caught up, and during the second half, a lot of people decided to call it quits, so I got a way better view and I saw the translation. I was surprised at how much I did enjoy it as you literally don’t understand anything their saying, but just that they sound beautiful. We saw Aida, which is the equivalent of an Egyptian Romeo and Juliet. Basically, it was one big drama fest of people hysterically singing monologues. It was a really cool experience, and I never thought I would say that I saw an opera in Vienna. Our feet hurt so bad that we went back to the hotel and called it quits.
The next day we had a guided tour of the art history museum, which was really cool as well. I’m not a huge art person but it was just enough time that I wasn’t completely bored out of my mind. The best part about art museums is imitating the sculptures/paintings. (It’s harder to do in a country that you could get deported out of, so we tried to be very low key). Sorry we’re children.
Then we walked down to this huge farmers market/antique flea market that they have set up on Saturdays. I had never seen so much delicious food in my life. The antique flea market, however, was basically like a blown up version of a garage sale. Not really my thing, but it was interesting to see some of the stuff they were selling. Next, we walked to another massive church, followed by going inside the National Austrian Library. It has tons of old books and documents, and the architecture itself was really cool. The exhibit they had set up was about Franz Josef I, Emperor of the Habsburg Empire for 68 years until his death at 86 in 1916. The Austrians love themselves some Franz Josef. He has statues all over the place, and he was truly beloved until his death. It has been very interesting to hear Austrian history, considering I’ve learned nothing about it previously. I knew generally about the empire that was taken down after WWI, but nothing really specific about it. Being a bit of a history nerd, it has been really neat seeing how Austria has been shaped over the years.
After this, and not really knowing what to do, we decided to take a break in the hotel and grab some (!!FREE!!) drinks. We decided to a Mexican restaurant that we had passed the first day. I used the term Mexican loosely as it is apparent after eating that Europe has NO idea what Mexican food is. Honestly, I just feel bad that they’re missing out on traditional Mexican food is. I got nachos, that seemed promising at first, but then quickly realized that there was a sort of dill/ranch sauce on top of it. Just no. Also, there was some weird refried-bean like things on the bottom (I’m not sure exactly what they were). The chips were surprisingly good, along with their green chile sauce. The dill sauce was all over them however, and it was not a good combination. Rachel thought she was ordering a tortilla of some sort, but come to find out, it was actually bread with a mixture of ham, salsa, and those bean-type things. Becky’s entree came with french fries. Meghan’s looked the most traditional, as she got enchiladas with green chile sauce. It was a funny experience, so no ragrets (not even a single letter), but it is clear that Mexican food is not in the expertise of European chefs.
Today, we had to get up even earlier (!!!) to go to Schloss Schönbrunn, which was the summer palace of the Habsburgs. The palace is massive, but the garden areas were even bigger. It was amazing. They also had Easter markets also set up in the front of the palace with food and cool antiques. After this, we drove to Melk Abbey to take a tour. It is still an active monastery but we got to tour some of the inside. It was really cool, and the church was exquisite on the inside.
We finally headed home after, for some reason, a very exhausting weekend. Overall, Vienna was cool. It’s not my favorite city I’ve ever visited, but it was an interesting city to see. If you like looking at buildings, classical music, and museums, Vienna is the city for you. Maybe it’s just because I live there (most likely this is the reason) but I like Salzburg so much more. It’s smaller, but we have mountains, the Sound of Music, and Red Bull. What more could you want?
Spring break is up next, and Becky and I are hitting the ground running with 5 cities in about 2 weeks (refresher: Munich, Amsterdam, Brussels, Paris, and Florence. I’m tired just typing that). I will try and update when I can, but no promises. I’m so excited to visit these cities and wish us luck!
Ciao,
Tayler
Confessions of a Millenial Mind 