Waking up to a rainy day can be a battle when in Europe. The sound of the rain pelting the rooftops and pavement gives you that all-too-good feeling of wanting to stay curled up in bed all day, but when in Europe and having only the day to explore the city of Vienna before heading to another country; the rain can be a devastating situation. However, lucky for us, as we walked to the next Wombat Hostel the weather was on our side as Mr. Sunshine came out to party for us and off we went to accomplish as many tasks as humanly possible!
We used a ‘One Day in Vienna’ flier from the hostel to get an idea of where we wanted to start our journey, and of course we choose to head straight to the Viennese Palace of Schonbrunn! Needless to say, while the palace itself was enormously beautiful, that is not the piece of the grounds which took our breathes away. All we had to do was turn the corner to start our walk around the side of the castle to find our utopia, the amazingly intricate Schonbrunn gardens and hedge labyrinth that appears to be never-ending…I could definitely run a marathon just in that section of the grounds and never retrace one step! After frolicking through the labyrinth and gardens while taking some time out for photo opportunities we headed to the zoo (the oldest one worldwide), which was on the castle grounds! Here we decided to not spend the money to go in, but we did FINALLY find our first pretzel of the trip, and needless to say…it was definitely a ‘venti’ and it was beyond delicious!
After we had our fill of the palace, well not really our fill, but we knew we would have to leave immediately or we would find a way to live there forever, we jumped on the U4 and headed to Karlsplatz. Directly upon getting off the U4 we headed to Ring Road which circles the center of the city. Soon after we began our journey we found ourselves directly in front of the State Opera House where we intended to try to find standing seats for a show later in the day. However, the Opera was sold out for the day, but we were stopped by two men dressed in costumes and they informed us of a smaller show that would take place in the MuseumsQuartier that would consist of classical music, opera singers, and ballet; we were sold. As we continued our journey on foot through the city we came upon St. Stephen’s Cathedral which is the highest religious building in Vienna. Next came souvenir shopping on our way to the Gr4aben which is decorated with fountains and memorials. Since we had tickets to a 6:30pm show we felt it might be getting late, but to our shock it was only 1:30pm and we had accomplished almost everything we had set out to that morning. Banking on the fact that it was five o’clock somewhere we found a beautiful area outside in the sun, surrounded by trees and umbrellas to sit down and relax with a nice cold Viennese beer before trekking back to the hostel to get ready for the rest of the evening.
Dolled up and ready for an evening of new experiences we arrived at Palais Auersperg to watch the Mozart and Johann Strauss Concert put on by the Weiner Reidenzorchester (Vienna Residence Orchestra). While it was not at the Opera House, this show was lovely as it was performed in a cozy room that allowed for the audience to participate in some of the numbers. If you ask any one of us what our favorite part of the show was (classical music from the orchestra, opera singers, or the ballet) we will all give a different answer, but in all reality the entire show was out of this world and an experience we shall not soon forget. Towards the end of the show hunger overtook us and it was time to find dinner, but the temperature had dropped significantly since we had went into the show and our shoes were killing our feet (except for Amy) so we decided to head back towards the hostel and find a restaurant along the way.
During our travel to and from the show, it appeared that everyone was staring at us men and women alike. However, the women would point or give evil glances, and the men many times stopped in their tracks. Turning to the girls I (Mandi) said, “Why do you think everyone keeps staring at us? Do women not wear dresses around here?” Amy and Krystal stated that they did not understand what everyone’s problem was because our dresses were simple, cotton, and appropriate in length. I then came to a conclusion, they do wear dresses, but they always wear those hideous spandex leggings or pants underneath them; what a strange cultural difference! Regardless we got a kick out of it all night and enjoyed another amazing meal consisting of dumplings and cheese, gnocchi with bolognese sauce, garlic soup, and meatballs with mashed potatoes.
Rather than going out dancing like we originally planned for the night we decided to have a relaxing evening at the hostel WomBar because we had many extra WomDollars for free beers. While quickly switching our shoes we met our new roommate from ‘Canadia’ (as we call it) and invited him to meet us in the bar. After getting our drinks we found our roommate from the night before at the other Wombat Hostel in Vienna and went to check in on how his day went. Shortly after our new roommate and friend appeared and the five of us enjoyed a couple hours filled with fun, stories, YouTube, and laughter before we all headed to bed in preparation for tomorrows travels. However, upon reaching our room us girls realized we had to new roommates who had just arrived and were headed to bed. Since we are obnoxious and ignorant we kept joking with our new Canadian friend despite the fact that the other two were trying to sleep. However, the other girl laughed it off and said she didn’t mind, and even made fun of her male companion for his ridiculous and ceaseless snoring; the thought of smothering was brought up many times…haha! Good night to all and best wishes until we reach our next destination in Munich J!
We used a ‘One Day in Vienna’ flier from the hostel to get an idea of where we wanted to start our journey, and of course we choose to head straight to the Viennese Palace of Schonbrunn! Needless to say, while the palace itself was enormously beautiful, that is not the piece of the grounds which took our breathes away. All we had to do was turn the corner to start our walk around the side of the castle to find our utopia, the amazingly intricate Schonbrunn gardens and hedge labyrinth that appears to be never-ending…I could definitely run a marathon just in that section of the grounds and never retrace one step! After frolicking through the labyrinth and gardens while taking some time out for photo opportunities we headed to the zoo (the oldest one worldwide), which was on the castle grounds! Here we decided to not spend the money to go in, but we did FINALLY find our first pretzel of the trip, and needless to say…it was definitely a ‘venti’ and it was beyond delicious!
After we had our fill of the palace, well not really our fill, but we knew we would have to leave immediately or we would find a way to live there forever, we jumped on the U4 and headed to Karlsplatz. Directly upon getting off the U4 we headed to Ring Road which circles the center of the city. Soon after we began our journey we found ourselves directly in front of the State Opera House where we intended to try to find standing seats for a show later in the day. However, the Opera was sold out for the day, but we were stopped by two men dressed in costumes and they informed us of a smaller show that would take place in the MuseumsQuartier that would consist of classical music, opera singers, and ballet; we were sold. As we continued our journey on foot through the city we came upon St. Stephen’s Cathedral which is the highest religious building in Vienna. Next came souvenir shopping on our way to the Gr4aben which is decorated with fountains and memorials. Since we had tickets to a 6:30pm show we felt it might be getting late, but to our shock it was only 1:30pm and we had accomplished almost everything we had set out to that morning. Banking on the fact that it was five o’clock somewhere we found a beautiful area outside in the sun, surrounded by trees and umbrellas to sit down and relax with a nice cold Viennese beer before trekking back to the hostel to get ready for the rest of the evening.
Dolled up and ready for an evening of new experiences we arrived at Palais Auersperg to watch the Mozart and Johann Strauss Concert put on by the Weiner Reidenzorchester (Vienna Residence Orchestra). While it was not at the Opera House, this show was lovely as it was performed in a cozy room that allowed for the audience to participate in some of the numbers. If you ask any one of us what our favorite part of the show was (classical music from the orchestra, opera singers, or the ballet) we will all give a different answer, but in all reality the entire show was out of this world and an experience we shall not soon forget. Towards the end of the show hunger overtook us and it was time to find dinner, but the temperature had dropped significantly since we had went into the show and our shoes were killing our feet (except for Amy) so we decided to head back towards the hostel and find a restaurant along the way.
During our travel to and from the show, it appeared that everyone was staring at us men and women alike. However, the women would point or give evil glances, and the men many times stopped in their tracks. Turning to the girls I (Mandi) said, “Why do you think everyone keeps staring at us? Do women not wear dresses around here?” Amy and Krystal stated that they did not understand what everyone’s problem was because our dresses were simple, cotton, and appropriate in length. I then came to a conclusion, they do wear dresses, but they always wear those hideous spandex leggings or pants underneath them; what a strange cultural difference! Regardless we got a kick out of it all night and enjoyed another amazing meal consisting of dumplings and cheese, gnocchi with bolognese sauce, garlic soup, and meatballs with mashed potatoes.
Rather than going out dancing like we originally planned for the night we decided to have a relaxing evening at the hostel WomBar because we had many extra WomDollars for free beers. While quickly switching our shoes we met our new roommate from ‘Canadia’ (as we call it) and invited him to meet us in the bar. After getting our drinks we found our roommate from the night before at the other Wombat Hostel in Vienna and went to check in on how his day went. Shortly after our new roommate and friend appeared and the five of us enjoyed a couple hours filled with fun, stories, YouTube, and laughter before we all headed to bed in preparation for tomorrows travels. However, upon reaching our room us girls realized we had to new roommates who had just arrived and were headed to bed. Since we are obnoxious and ignorant we kept joking with our new Canadian friend despite the fact that the other two were trying to sleep. However, the other girl laughed it off and said she didn’t mind, and even made fun of her male companion for his ridiculous and ceaseless snoring; the thought of smothering was brought up many times…haha! Good night to all and best wishes until we reach our next destination in Munich J!
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