Traveling Solo: Vienna and Venezia!

Wiener Schnitzel and Aperolspritzer

The German name for Vienna is Wien! Ha! I also think it’s funny that wiener schnitzel actually exists, and not just as a hot dog fast-food chain! Apparently the real wiener schnitzel is made out of beef however tourists often eat the cheaper pork version. I did but that’s mostly because no deep-fried breaded steak will ever be worth 16-22 Euros…. Stuff in Vienna was expensive! Because of the costs, for instance, I avoided the Hotel Sacher and their original sacher torte (chocolate tort with apricot jam) and went to Demel instead. (I think they may claim to have an “original” version of sacher torte also.) Unfortunately, the sacher torte was rather dry and the apfelstrudel tasted like it had been sitting out for a while. It was also about $25 for two drinks and two desserts – crazy!

Demel

It was a nice experience at the very least, getting to sit in a posh café on a Thursday afternoon :) I noticed that they seem to like apricot in their desserts – the eismarillenknödel from the famous Tichy ice cream shop was a vanilla ball with apricot jam in the middle. This was quite nice:

Eismarillenknödel

I have to admit that food wasn’t that exciting, but the drinks were: Alrndudler (sparkling apple soda), hollundersaft (elderberry juice), and aperolspritzer (wine mixed with an orange aperitif) were a lot of fun! And, speaking of drinks, I discovered that my favorite word in German is leitungswasser (LAI-tung-shwah-sser) – it just has a nice ring to it :)

Dinner at Einstein with friends :)

Despite the high costs of schnitzel and sacher torte, I thoroughly enjoyed Vienna. I ended up staying with Andrea, the wonderful girl I met en route to Budapest from Romania. Her friend Magdalena let me into their massive all-girl apartment at around 630am and after a nap, we went off to enjoy May Day. The international labor day is May 1^st (so I’m not sure why we celebrate it in September) and in Vienna, that means that the socialists and the communists rally. Red everywhere!

Town Hall

In front of the town hall, the very popular Social Democratic Party in Austria was rallying and in front of Parliament, the communist party was rallying simultaneously. There was also a parade of different communist groups with some so small that they had just enough people to carry their banners. It was a fun and festive atmosphere all day actually – who doesn’t love a day off and beautiful sunny weather?!

Hofburg Palace and the Upper Belvedere

Mozart Kugeln: Magdalena was with me when I first set on my quest for Mozart Kugeln, these amazing chocolate-pistachio-marzipan chocolates that my former boss first introduced me too. He used to bring them back from Germany. :) When I got to Europe, I found out that Mozart Kugeln is actually Austrian so though I saw them in a lot of countries, I waited to do my shopping until I got to Vienna. There were indeed tons of Mozart shops, but I couldn’t find the one I wanted. My kugel wasn’t perfectly round like the “original” Mirabell Mozart Kugeln I kept seeing in the shops. So frustrating! Then I realized there are several brands of Mozart Kugeln and a dozen shops later, I found the one I wanted. As it turns out, I like the German-made, Reber brand Mozart Kugeln chocolates. I got myself to a Mueller and had a chocolate shopping spree. Win!

"die echten Reber Mozartkugeln..."

Vienna is a wonderful city… tons of beautiful buildings and charming palaces…delightful parks and art galleries galore!

Inside St. Stephens Cathedral

Klimt is a very big deal in Vienna and I made the effort to see “The Kiss,” one of his most famous “masterpieces” at Upper Belvedere. Years ago, someone gave me a journal with “The Kiss” on the cover so I felt like I should see the real thing. I can’t say I’m a fan of Klimt and I might actually like his pre-masterpiece sketches better than the real things :) I did catch a really nice impressionist exhibit at the Albertina with Andrea; I enjoyed Vienna so much because of her. I couldn’t believe how incredibly kind she was to me… letting me stay in her apartment, fixing breakfast for us, and even coming with me to the train station to say goodbye! Thanks, Andrea!!

Breakfast w/ Andrea

A farewell at Wien Westbanhof

Venice: She saw me off on my overnight train bound for Venice. Italy here I come! I planned it exactly so that I’d arrive the morning of May 4^th and Mom, Stacy, and Kamal would arrive that evening. (Venice is quite hard for backpackers to afford especially when it comes to accommodation and I didn’t want to stay any longer than necessary...) When I arrived, I spent the morning wandering the city and getting lost in a bunch of alleys on my way to the Rialto shopping area and St. Mark’s Square. I’d been to Venice once before when I was 13 – I think I remember it being more magical…. This time, there were quite a lot of dilapidated buildings but on the upside, the Grand Canal seems to have been cleaned up a bit. (It’s still not as clean as the Venetian’s in Las Vegas :)) I picked up Mom at the airport and then Stacy and Kamal arrived a half hour later. It was a bit too late to go into Venice from where we were staying in Quarto d’Altino, but we had an amazing (!) dinner at the hotel.