Very Grand Vienna
Museum of Fine Arts
Vienna completely desensitises you to massive, grand buildings. The Museum of Fine Arts, Hofburg, Opera house, Parliament building and City Hall are just some of the monumental structures scattered throughout the city centre. Each is impressive on their own, but put them next to each other and it all looks a little unbelievable. Combine these buildings with lush parks - filled with huge shady trees and bright flowers arranged in intricate patterns - and you find yourself in one beautiful city.
Hofburg (Imperial Palace)
We arrived in Vienna on Wednesday 16 April after a two and a half hour train trip from Salzburg, and started seeing the sights right away. What I enjoyed from the beginning, and frequently during our stay, was strolling past the Museum of Fine Arts and City Hall, and through the Volksgarden.
Volksgarden
A must-see sight in Vienna is the Schloss Schönbrunn, the Habsburg monarch’s summer palace. It is a little out of the city, but was easy to get to using the metro. Unfortunately the flower garden in front of the palace had not been fully planted when we were there, so we didn’t get quite the full effect. However, it’s fair to say the grounds were spectacular all the same. After walking around, and taking lots of pictures, we also went through the maze and labyrinth, which was a bit of fun.
View of the Schloss Schönbrunn from the Gloriette Monument on the other side of the palace gardens
View of the Gloriette Monument from just in front of the Schloss Schönbrunn
Not only is Vienna easy to cycle around, but it also supplies city bikes. At stations throughout the city, you can register at the terminals using your credit card and this releases one of the bikes that is locked up nearby for your use. The bike can be returned by locking it up at any of the stations dotted around the city centre, and there is no charge if it is returned within two hours. We found them very handy to ride out to the Sigmund Freud museum, which was an interesting museum to learn a bit more about the life of Freud. Although, to my disappointment, the museum did not pay much attention to the details of his work.
City bikes
Cycle path that goes around the city
As luck would have it, a friend from the UK was in Austria while we were there and spent the weekend with us in Vienna. The weather was sensational, and much time was spent outdoors - chatting, eating and drinking. On Saturday, we wandered the Naschmarkt, which was filled with delightful foods and trashy wares. I don’t know who purchases shower heads from a market, but there were plenty for sale.
A bike festival was also held that weekend outside the City Hall. There were some impressive jumps, with even more impressive riders doing stunts against the somewhat incongruous backdrop of the ornate City Hall.
Rider at the bike festival going over a jump in front of the City Hall
Our best meal in Vienna was at a cafe right near our hotel on the first night. I had a chicken risotto, but Mikey had the more interesting spinach and polenta strudel.
Spinach and polenta strudel
Of course, being famous for the Wiener schnitzel (which means Viennese cutlet) and the sacher torte, we also tried both of those during our stay. We went to a schnitzel restaurant one night and valiantly tried to finish the meal put in front of us…but alas we were both unsuccessful.
Schnitzel (hand provided for scale)
Our time in Vienna was thoroughly enjoyable - a city very worthy of a visit.
Gardens in front of the Hofburg, with City Hall peeking out from behind the trees