Adventures in Europe: Vienna, Austria

As I left my hotel in Kosovo this morning, I had a funny experience with my manual rental car. I have had a tense relationship with manual cars while traveling, but so far had been quite pleased with how well I had managed while driving in Kosovo. Sadly, this final experience shook my confidence again; I had parked on a significant slope and had to reverse to get out, but found I was sliding forward into a hedge every time I let the clutch out, regardless of how much gas I was giving it. Fearful that I was about to plow through a hedge and potentially over a two metre drop, I had to recruit the friendly hotel waiter to bail me out. He did not speak English, but it was easy enough to communicate my problem and he had a good laugh with me as he (without any difficulty whatsoever) backed my car up.

I flew from Pristina to Vienna (on a plane mostly full with NATO peacekeepers) and reached Vienna in the middle of the afternoon. Later tonight I will carry on my train trip across Europe on the sleeper train to Amsterdam, but I had a few hours in Vienna first. After locking up my backpack at the train station, I took the metro downtown. It was beginning to rain, so I limited my time outdoors. In 2021 when I was in Vienna I had visited St. Stephan church, but had not climbed the tower, so I decided to do that today.

Three hundred and forty-three steps later, you get some great views, even on a grey day.

Back down on earth, I went for a hot chocolate at one of Vienna's classic coffee houses.

I spent the rest of my time in Vienna close to or in the train station, including the ÖBB lounge, which sleeper train tickets give you access to. Tomorrow I will be waking up in the Netherlands and fly home from there to Edmonton. 

Adventures in Europe: Vienna, Austria

After my Saturday morning in Bratislava, I caught the bus just after noon to Vienna, less than an hour and a half and 8 euros away. I was able to check in to the hotel before taking the train out to the airport to meet Diana, who was flying in from Edmonton via Paris. Once we had her somewhat settled at the hotel, we took the u-bahn to Stephansplatz to find some dinner and keep her awake. After a drink, we ate Chinese, believe it or not; you cannot deny jet lag cravings...

We began Sunday with a free walking tour, which met up at the Monument Against War and Fascism. I believe this monument is supposed to remind Austrians of their participation with Germany in fascism and the Holocaust, and the guide provided some well thought through comments; I felt this plaque, on the other hand, left something to be desired in terms of failing to take responsibility. 

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The monument itself would be difficult to capture in a photograph as it is made up of various pillars spread out over a square, but it was thought-provoking (and an interesting choice of a spot to begin a walking tour!).

Stephansdom, the cathedral for which Stephansplatz is named, was another stop on our tour, and we were seeing it in the daytime for the first time (it had been nicely lit up in the dark when we saw it on Saturday evening).

We went inside later, but never ended up climbing the 340+ stairs in the tower.

The tour also took us to the Hofburg, the Habsburg palace complex, which is sprawling. This is a very small portion of it, albeit the grandest of the entrances.

Part of the palace also includes the stables of the famous Lipizzaner horses, which you can look into as you walk by.

After our walking tour and lunch, Diana and I went into another part of the palace, what is now the National Library. A few pictures give a sense of the opulence!

After the library and a stroll through some of the palace courtyards, we went to a café the walking tour guide had recommended as a particularly good (i.e., classic but quiet) example of Viennese café culture. We saw that some of the more popular ones have lines down the block, but this one was quiet!

Diana's jet lag was hitting her badly as we sat there, so as the afternoon wore on we took a long walk out of the first district (the historic part of Vienna), and along the canal. It was a warm day, and the canal was a popular place to be on a Sunday afternoon.

After a drink canal-side, we went back to our hotel to do laundry and rest a little. For dinner, we headed all the way to the last stop on the U1 line to go to a traditional Viennese Heuriger, or wine tavern. The one we chose happened to be closing for the season after this weekend, so we got lucky! 

We ate some dinner and had some lovely Gemischter Satz. Evidently this made Diana very happy.

Today was rather dreary in the morning, but Diana still wanted to head to the Danube and see Vienna's forty kilometre long island park. 

We went for a long walk there, but unfortunately all the cafes and such were closed and it was raining off and on. Still, it was nice after the crowds and heat of yesterday.

Since we were committed to having a schnitzel in Vienna, we decided to do that for lunch. We enjoyed our "Schnitzel Fan" experience (yes, that was the name of the restaurant!), but really this is not an especially healthy meal.

By late afternoon the rain had stopped and we took the metro to the other side of the city to Nussdorf, which I would describe as Vienna's vineyard mountain. 

Because it was Monday and late September, many of the wineries were closed, but we were able to get a glass of wine at one and enjoy a really nice walk amongst the vineyards with a lovely sunset view of Vienna.

Oh, and besides vineyards, Nussdorf is also a tony suburb, where Beethoven once lived in this house!