Vienna Travelogue

I visited Vienna last October while I was between jobs, as a way to recharge and reset before getting back to working. As usual, editing photos took a few months and by the time I was ready to start writing this post it was already May.

To be frank, I did not find Vienna to be particularly beautiful. However, it is full of history, and the architecture is nice. Getting around is quite convenient and the U-Bahn (i.e. subway/metro/tram) is easy to use and has many lines. If I were to return, I’d probably explore the Melk area, or take a train to the countryside for some mountain hiking.

Day 1

I took a red-eye flight from Toronto and slept for around 30 minutes (I can never fall asleep on planes, mostly because I feel boxed in by the people next to me). So by the time I landed in Vienna I already felt like a zombie. Fortunately the train station was connected to Vienna International and the info displays were much better than anything I’ve seen at Pearson. On the other hand, the first train I got on was delayed and then cancelled so I had to get off and buy a ticket for a different train. While riding the train to downtown Vienna (aka Wien) I noticed the sheer amount of graffiti on the walls of the industrial buildings. Vienna seems to have a rich graffiti culture, and I enjoyed seeing the similarities between graffiti in Toronto and here. Surprisingly, Oreks did not have any pieces here but I’m sure they’ll put something up soon.

I wandered around Wein Hbf while waiting for my hotel to be ready for check in. The station was a 3-storey mini-mall on the same scale as Square One, with almost as many people. I grabbed some ramen to keep me warm and picked up a loaf of bread at a grocery store in the mall (it later turned out to be fruit cake). I had to pay EUR 0.5 to use the bathrooms, but at least they were clean.

It is at this point that sleep exhaustion reared its head. I began to hunger for sleep. I’d close my eyes while walking and just savour the feeling of rest. I’d see people sitting on benches and chairs and feel irrationally jealous, because I knew I’d fall asleep if I sat down.

I dropped my bags off at a locker at Wein Hbf (I had to snipe a spot, as the lockers were almost completely full) and went for a long walk in the afternoon drizzle. Vienna was around 15c, grey, cloudy, and misty. At least the rain kept me from falling asleep. I stopped by Belvedere Palace but the next tour was in 30min and I didn’t think I could stay awake while waiting for that long. Instead I circled the block and passed by a Soviet WW2 memorial before going to the Military History Museum. The museum itself is located inside a massive fortress that stares at you as you approach it from a tree-lined walkway in an opposing park. The crows here seemed to be different from North American breeds.

The museum had a large collection of WWI/pre-war weapons and outfits, as well as Franz Ferdinand’s car and outfits at the time of his assassination. Gavril Princip’s guns were there as well. It’s easy to look at specific moments in history and wonder how different the world would have been if things went otherwise, but I think that perspective only comes with time and distance - there are no ‘great moments’ of history. Nonetheless, it was hard not to feel emotional while looking at all this.

I stopped by a nearby cafe and grabbed a croissant and an espresso in an attempt to fend off the exhaustion, but they did not seem to help. Caffeine in general seems to be hit-or-miss for me, either it makes me overly jittery or makes me even sleepier. I connected to the cafe’s wifi since there was no data signal here, and I found out that my hotel was already ready for check-in (I have no clue why I don’t get email notifications on data, maybe polling frequency is reduced). I took the tram back to the hotel, took the best shower I’ve ever had, and laid down for the first time in over 24 hours. As I showered, I thought about how a nice bath after a long trip is one of few universal human experiences. People thousands of years ago were still grumpy and tired after a long day of travel, the only difference is we now travel to the other side of the planet.

After forcing myself to get up for dinner, I stopped by a street kebab vendor and had the best meal in months, before grabbing supplies at the Spar and turning in for an early night. Today was a day of many bests. I slept on and off for a few hours and got out of bed at 11 the next day.

Day 2

My back and neck are still sore from yesterday and I’m feeling a little congested. I had a few bites of fruitcake before getting on the U-Bahn and crossing to the other side of the Danube. The old woman sitting next to me congratulated me for reading my ebook, as the youth these days don’t seem to value reading anymore. I couldn’t follow the entire conversation, but she had taken up some sort of volunteer position helping an Afghani refugee find a home here. She was now pregnant with a happy family.

I wished the woman a good day and walked along the riverside path. Slight rain and drizzle once again. I popped my head into the Vienna Islamic Center. I wasn’t used to seeing German in a mosque. They had a vending machine that sold boxes of dates.

I continued south through the Donau Park, which was a massive green space with lots of manicured lawns and trees, a la Niagara Falls’s park and got to the Donau Turm. I took an elevator to the top with the attendant. We were the only people in the elevator so after a quick hello, I decided to spend most of the ride looking through the glass ceiling while the ‘Mission Impossible’ theme song played over the speakers. The view was lovely, with the Wienerwald and hills to the northeast of the city visible here. Vienna has few high-rises, but lots of 4-5 storey housing - the only single family homes I’ve seen are here at Donau and I assume they’re just as expensive as Toronto. The tower has a multi-level spiral slide for children that goes from the restaurant down a few storeys to the observation deck. It is on the outside of the building and I am sure the idea of riding it has caused nightmares for many anxious children.

Next I took the U-bahn to Stefansplatz, which felt like a much larger version of the area around Notre Dame in Montreal. Except with much more expensive shopping, tourists (like myself) galore. I stopped at a touristy restaurant for some schnitzel, which was delicious. It was cooked in butter and not oil, which is probably why my homemade schnitzel didn’t taste as good.

I continued to the Imperial Crypt, and passed by a horse drawn carriage being ridden by some tourists. The man holding the whips was scrolling through his phone. The coffins at the crypt felt grotesquely large and ornate. Surely after you die you don’t need ornamentation? I left after a 10 minute walkthrough since the details of royal family trees did not interest me, and picked up tickets for tomorrow’s train to Bratislava. I passed by a man cosplaying as Mozart hawking concert tickets on the sidewalk before continuing to Peterskirche for a classical concert (don’t ask me what concert, I was still jet-lagged).

On the way there, I noticed that the ad displays on U-bahn platforms turn off when the train crosses or stops in front of them. This was a surprising level of attention to detail.

I grabbed a vegan currywurst before the concert (okay, though I do like the seasoning) and sat down in the church to wait for the show. As the woman two seats over to me excitedly pointed out the historical significance of the church and the minute details of its sculptures, her partner seemed uninterested. He kept ‘hmm’ing and ‘ahh’ing, but with the exact same intonation every time. This continued for 10 minutes. I’m not sure how she lives with this. I booked a ticket to Salzburg in the meantime.

The concert itself was fun. The acoustics of the venue really added to the experience, especially when I closed my eyes and focused on the sound. Everything seemed louder and more grand, and it was nice to see the musicians up close. I started to feel exhausted after the show so I headed back to the hotel and packed my bags for tomorrow’s Bratislava trip.

Day 3

I slept in a bit, but not as much as yesterday - my jet-lag appears to be recovering. I had few bites of fruitcake before catching the U6 to Meidiling and transferring to my train to Slovakia. The train had two different types of cabins; the front half consisted of trains headed to Bratislava while the back half would separate en route and continue to Germany. Fortunately I learned this as I was booking my ticket the night before.

The train dropped us off at Peterzalka station, just south of Bratislava, and even though my train ticket included bus access I decided to stretch my legs and walk the few KMs to the city instead. I stopped at a McDs because it was getting late in the afternoon and I might as well see what they had here (fried cheese balls with curry sauce were pretty good). I used the free wifi to buy a Slovakia SIM, since I didn’t realize my Austrian sim wouldn’t work here. I took a pedestrian bridge over the highway and continued north through a small mall. There was an arcade with the tagline ‘Winners Only’ below its sign - I don’t know if this was prescriptive or descriptive. Maybe the machines were rigged to let you win.

Eventually I arrived at the ‘UFO’, a circular observation deck and restaurant on the south side of the Danube that overlooks central Bratislava (UFO is its official name, I’m not poking fun at it). The elevator rises up through the angled legs of the tower, which was a strange experience. The view was lovely though.

I crossed over to central Bratislava, and followed w winding uphill path to Bratislava Castle. There is a large historical museum inside but I wasn’t in the mood for museums, so I explored the garden and panoramic view just outside the castle. This is the best place to get a view of St Martin’s Cathedral. You can also see the UFO from afar.

I spent the rest of the afternoon wandering around town and looking for souvenirs. I had some Slavic cola that tasted like it had cardamom and anise in it. I’m still not sure if I like it. My tour ended with a visit to Michael’s Gate, one of the only remaining pieces of Bratislava’s medieval city wall.

I began to feel sick at this point, so I cut my trip short and walked back to Peterzalka to return home to Vienna. I finished an entire packet of tissues while reading The Expanse. Half the train seemed to be coughing, so maybe something was going around. I grabbed a take-out sandwich at Stadhalle station and went to bed extra early.

Day 4

I didn’t sleep very well and my fever worsened, so I slept in until 3. Eventually I grabbed some ramen for lunch/dinner and picked up a slice of chocolate cake at the Lugner City mall before returning back to the hotel to rest.

Day 5

I slept better than last night, though that’s not saying much. I forced myself to get a sandwich and some tea at a local cafe and walked downtown.

I visited the Austrian National Library and explored the Globe Museum and Esperanto Museum, both of which were available with the same ticket. They were quite small but it was still very cool to see something written in Esperanto in a real-life museum.

I picked up some medication, bought tickets to a Four Seasons violin quartet concert later tonight, and stopped by the hotel for some rest. Before heading back downtown for the concert, I had some more schnitzel. The blandness is starting to get to me, but the Austrian potato salad is lovely - I will need to look up recipes when I get back. I also took a quick peek at the Roman-era ruins of Vindobona by Kohlmarkt. Seeing people buying luxury clothing right next to 2000-year-old ruins was a unique experience.

St. Stefan’s church was much larger and more grand than Peterskirche. Reading Vivaldi’s sonnets while listening along to the concert made the experience much more enjoyable. Two Palestinian women sat next to me, one of them a lawyer - we talked work, immigration to Canada, and so on. She pointed out that I, being left-handed, tended to clap with my left hand on top of my right hand, and also asked why I wasn’t married yet.

TD’s mobile app is down so I can’t buy train tickets yet (3DS auth is extremely common for online purchases in Europe, probably doubly-so because I’m buying from an unfamiliar merchant), so I’ll try again tomorrow morning. I also decided to bid for a business class upgrade for my flight back - given how exhausting my flight here was, I’d really appreciate the legroom.

Day 6

I grabbed some beef noodles at a Chinese restaurant near Westbahnhof (finally some spice!) and took the train to Melk, a town of 6,000 just over an hour from Vienna. There were a lot of bike tourists on the train and at the station - I would later discover that one of the Eurovelo routes went through Melk. I’d like to have a biking vacation along one of these routes some day.

Thew view of the abbey from Melk Station is imposing - it towers over the city and looks impossibly wide. I wandered downhill and over a small bridge that crosses over one of the Danube’s tributaries, and took some photos of the western edge of the abbey. The path continued through a forest to the Danube proper, where a well-maintained bike path ran long the southern edge. The path was also busy with tourists embarking and disembarking from various cruise boats, similar to Bratislava. Melk feels like a quiet travel destination - I’d like to stay here again, maybe in the summer.

I followed the path in a loop and returned to town. I stopped at the town square (now mostly empty since it was the off season) before continuing uphill to the abbey. I arrived at the entrance and found a bench to sit on while I caught my breath. These monks must be incredibly fit. The courtyard was quite large, and the sheer scale of the building was almost overwhelming. I waited for a wedding procession to leave the area and circled around to the parking lot, where there was a panoramic view of the town and surrounding hills. I bought a small jar of abbey-made honey and stopped by a shopping mall to grab a snack before taking the train back to Vienna. They were playing Wonderwall, I hate that song.

After resting in the hotel for a bit, I decided I was tired of eating spiceless food and grabbed a kebab wrap for dinner. Kebabs might be my favourite food. Perhaps this is what politicians mean when they talk about demographic replacement.

Day 7

My bid for the business class upgrade was rejected so I splurged for a cash upgrade because screw it, I’m not going to spend 10 hours squished between two people while having the FAs constantly bumping against my shoulders while the person behind me tries to stuff a 2L water bottle against the small of my back. I think I’m getting a little homesick, grumpy, and peopled out - 1 week is probably the upper limit of my solo trips unless I’m in the middle of nowhere.

I had a bite of fruitcake and walked downtown towards the Schmetterlinghaus. I grabbed a vegan sandwich (Vienna seems to have more vegan options than downtown Toronto) and some coffee on the way. Fortunately my fever is finally gone, though I do feel a bit fatigued.

Both Schmetterlinghaus and the Palmenhaus were jam-packed (understandable considering it was the weekend) so I found a quiet bubble tea shop in the area while planning my next steps. I decided to take the U4 to the Jubilaumswarte, since the city outskirts should be nice and quiet.

It wa a ~1h mostly-uphill hike from Hutteldorf. I was reminded of just how unfit I was as I wiped the sweat from my eyes despite it being 15°. The trail was well-marked and there were few people on the way up, which was a relaxing change from downtown Vienna. The view at the top was beautiful, and I wish I had brought my ‘real’ camera. Sunrise/sunset views at the tower must be lovely.

I hadn’t had enough walking, so I spent another hour walking downhill to Ottakring, and took the U bahn back to the hotel. After resting for a bit, my tinnitus and headaches began, so I took another paracetamol and forced myself to get food. I went to Lugner City looking for another slice of cake to cheer me up, but the stall was closed so I satisfied myself with some pasta from a street stall by Stadthalle station.

I gave a local blind man directions while I was headed back home, which felt strange as a tourist.

Shower, pack, set alarm for 7, bed.