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Austria Day 3: Vienna
We woke up early the next day and hit the road for Vienna. Miri drove the nearly three hour drive to the city after not driving for 4 months while in Northern Ireland, so I guess driving really is just like riding a bike. When we arrived we parked the car and took the U-Bahn (underground/subway) to get to our first destination which was Schöbrunn Palace & Gardens. We walked through the gardens first, but we didn't see the entire garden because it's very large. We passed by a botanic garden and didn't go in because it costed money, but it was still a pretty building from the outside. Besides, after my awful allergic reaction to the botanic garden in Amsterdam, I wasn't exactly about to be first in line to go into this one.
Eventually we reached the palace itself. The grounds of the palace and the palace itself were beautiful. There was also a very large fountain across from the palace which was very pretty as well. You could even walk up and stand directly behind the fountain overlooking the palace.
After walking through the palace grounds for a while longer, we headed to a market to search for some lunch. We settled on a sit down restaurant where we were able to sit outside and enjoy the nice day. We ended up all ordering the wiener schnitzel which was good, but I think I liked Miri's mom's schnitzel a bit better. For dessert we had an apple strudel because I felt like I had to get one before I left Austria and it was very good.
One thing I definitely won't miss about Europe is how long restaurant outings are compared to in America due to the slow pace of service. Everyone just seems to take their time and once you have your food, you have to hunt down your waiter in order to get anything else or to pay. Because of that, a meal that should take maybe 45 minutes can easily turn into an hour or an hour and a half. Something that surprised Kendyl, Jess and I was when Miri was talking about how much we should tip our waiter. We had gotten so used to not tipping in Europe because unlike America, it's not expected or normal. Apparently though, Austria is more like the US in that way.
After finally paying, we moved on and roamed around Vienna. We walked by many architecturally beautiful buildings while making our way to St. Stephen's Cathedral. Just before going to the cathedral, we stopped at the famous Manner shop. Manner is a Vienese wafer-type cookie that is very popular in Austria. We quickly became obsessed with them. After purchasing some, we went to the cathedral which was stunning, with the exception of the construction that was occurring on it. That was one thing that caused me to not like Vienna as much; all the construction on the buildings we wanted to see.
I also found myself not loving Vienna as much as I thought I would because it was very crowded and touristy, and people didn't seem very nice. The city itself also wasn't as charming as I had hoped and pictured. However, one small cute thing that I did enjoy about Vienna was that the crosswalk lights were of little couples, both heterosexual and homosexual. I thought that was an adorable little feature.
Our last stop was at the historic Prater Amusement Park. The park is free to the public to enter, you need only pay if you want to ride a ride, play a game, or purchase food. When we first entered the park, I noticed they had one of my favorite rides: the swings. Kendyl and Miri agreed we should go on it, until Kendyl noticed another similar ride that stood high over the park. I wasn't so sure about swings plus heights, but once I saw that the swings weren't moving too fast, I decided I would try it. We walked towards the ride and as we got closer and I began to look further and further up, I began second guessing my decision to ride this ride. I'm not normally too afraid of heights, but looking straight up at that ride was really getting to me. Kendyl convinced me to go by shedding light on the fact that I'd likely never again be able to say I went on a super high ride in an amusement park in Vienna, Austria. When in Wien I guess.. So I did it and I lived to tell the tale. It really wasn't too bad. It was definitely very high up (117m/383ft to be exact) but the view was incredible and I felt like I was flying.
On the drive back to Miri's house we got to witness a prominent double rainbow behind us, as if it was Vienna's way of saying goodbye.
