Hello hello!
Well, with one fifteen page paper down (hurray!), and only one more to go, I thought I’d write a post and tell you about the adventures we had in Vienna, Austria a couple of weeks ago.
I booked our flight to Vienna a few months ago, after we’d finally decided what city we wanted to visit for our mini-European getaway when Andrew was here visiting me. Paris? Rome? Prague? Vienna?! Yes, Vienna! Neither of us had ever been there, and we’d heard it was quite nice. 
Also, at the time, I was able to find really cheap flights there for only $130 CAD per person, return! We booked a very reasonably priced apartment in the city centre using the website that I mentioned in an earlier post – http://www.airbnb.com, and to Vienna we flew!
Well, actually, it wasn’t quite that simple. Our flight to Vienna left at 06:15, which meant that we needed to be there around 5:00 or so. It takes about 30 minutes or less to get to the airport by metro, and about 10 minutes to walk to the metro, so we got up at 03:45 (ugh!!), and ended up leaving my place by 04:05 or so. Of course, I had completely forgotten that the metro line was out of service between 01:00-05:00 for maintenance work that week- so there we were, thinking that we were about to smoothly embark on our romantic getaway, but instead, we found ourselves standing in the dark next to an out of service metro station in the middle of Amager, thinking that we might miss our plane.
Yikes.
At that moment, a city bus happened to drive by. Not knowing what else to do, we ran towards it. Calmly Frantically, we asked the bus driver how we could get to the airport, because everyone in Denmark speaks perfect English, right? Seriously, everyone does – except for this bus driver, of course! However, despite the language barrier, she told us that we could take this particular city bus to Christianshavn, and then from there, we could get to the airport. So – we got on the bus, and went to Christianhavn, all while watching the minutes on the clock tick closer to our departure time.
We arrived at the next bus stop, which was dark and completely deserted. The area showed absolutely no signs of life. I started to question whether we were supposed to be waiting for a bus, or whether we were supposed to get on the metro at Christianshavn? (After all, maybe it was just certain metro stops that were closed, and not this one?). Anyhow, the bus certainly wasn’t coming, so Andrew decided to run down underground and see if the metro was running. He’d been underground for a couple of minutes when I saw lights in the distance – of course, it was a bus with a sign reading “Metrobus:Lufthavn Airport”. I ran over to the metro stairs and started hollering down “Aaaannndrewww! Come baaaaaacck! The buuuuus is hereeeeeee!!!!”
Silence.
Thinking that he hadn’t heard me, I ran over to the bus stop in a slight panic, and flagged down the bus. I knew I somehow needed to distract the driver and delay the bus!
And then, miraculously, Andrew’s figure appeared in the dark at the top of the metro stairs, and he ran over, panting. He’d heard me after all, and he’d just run up six flights of stairs from the underground metro platform. Poor guy.
So we got on the bus. And we drove to the airport. And we ran all the way the to the gate. And got on plane. Omigod.
Our flight to Vienna itself though, was very nice.
Flying over Austria
We took a combination of buses and metros and arrived at our beautiful apartment in the heart of Vienna, right in the middle of the Museum Quartier.
We walked up the street and found the door to our apartment building.
Our apartment door – home sweet home!
Yeah, you think I’m joking – but I’m not.
We passed some excellent mailboxes on the way up.
Oh yeah!
And entered our gorgeous apartment.
Now that’s more like it!
Andrew unpacked his suitcase, and neatly put his clothes in the cabinet that you see on the left, and I threw my clothes on the floor. Typical.
And after a nice long nap (it had been a stressful morning after all!), we set off to explore the city!
Something that I was not prepared for?
Falling in love with Vienna! I think it just might be the most beautiful city in Europe!
Vienna
Vienna
Vienna
Vienna
The next morning, Andrew surprised me with a beautiful breakfast. The freshly squeezed orange juice and the pastries were incredible! Also, I couldn’t get over how cheap everything was in Vienna compared to Copenhagen!
Delicious breakfast – having a kitchen is another benefit of renting an apartment rather than a hotel room!
We bought a transit day pass and set off to explore more of Vienna.
So 80s. (Andrew disagrees).
I was surprised by how hot it was in Vienna. It was around 27/28 degrees when we were there, with little to no wind. The vampire/goblin in me was constantly seeking shade! I’m not one of those people that enjoys the heat. At all.
Still, it was a really nice day.
Vienna
We climbed to the top of the dome in this church! (St. Peters Church)
St. Peters Church
We took the ‘Panorama Lift’ up halfway, and then climbed to the top of the dome using the permanent scaffolding/staircase that you see in the picture the below.
St. Peters Church
I wouldn’t say that I am particularly scared of heights, but hearing the sound of the scaffolding creaking with every step was not particularly comforting.
Freaky freaky!
Climbing to the top!
Lovely
Afterwards, we tried to find a place to try real Viennese coffee, but instead we ended up enjoying a latte at a lovely French cafe.
Coming soon, to an apartment near you!
Then, we stumbled upon a promotion where they giving away free lattes and assorted pastries! We really seem to be in the right place at the right time these days!
Enjoy a warm beverage on a fake red couch made of plastic? Don’t mind if I do!
Impromptu coffee break
We got on a public tram and ended up at the Wiener Prater – Vienna’s largest public park, often simply called ‘Prater’. The Prater is massive, and contains an amusement park, a planetarium, and a museum. There is also a tiny little pink train that takes you on a scenic journey through the entire park.
Naturally, we bought tickets immediately.
All aboard! (Prater, Vienna)
Just a casual passenger, enjoying a ride on an empty train
We ended up at the amusement park, where we bought tickets for the historic Wiener Riesenrad. The Wiener Riesenrad is a giant ferris wheel that was built in 1897. That’s right, it’s over 100 years old!
From the official brochure:
“The Wiener Riesenrad is a symbol of Vienna, and a cultural landmark. Unlike the giant wheels of London, Blackpool, Paris and Chicago, the Giant Ferris Wheel of Vienna survived natural disasters and tests of war. Soon after 1945, when most of the technical installations and all cabins had been destroyed by fire and bombs, the Giant Ferris Wheel in Vienna was turning again, symbolizing the reconstruction of Vienna.”
Neat!
We ended the day in a typical tourist-y fashion.
With a plate of wiener schnitzel. :)
Yummy?
The next day, after another delicious homemade breakfast, we solved my vampire/shade issue with a trip to H & M.
The solution?
Going incognito.
Practicing our Viennese-style yodeling
We spent the rest of the day watching wandering the city, and watching the random marijuana parade (?) that came past our apartment window.
Legalize marijuana parade in Vienna
In the evening we watched an opera, dance, and classical music performance, which was quite nice. The Viennese Waltz was performed, of course. Thank goodness I can check that one off my bucket list!
Classical music in Vienna
We spent most of the following day walking around Vienna.
We also paid a visit to the Hundertwasserhaus in Vienna! Friedensreich Hundertwasser created the idea and concept of this apartment building, and Joeseph Krawina was the architect. Hundertwasser was an Austrian artist, who later gained New Zealand citizenship. From Wikipedia, “Although Hundertwasser first achieved notoriety for his boldly-coloured paintings, he is more widely known for his individual architectural designs. These designs use irregular forms, and incorporate natural features of the landscape. The Hundertwasserhaus apartment block in Vienna has undulating floors (“an uneven floor is a melody to the feet”), a roof covered with earth and grass, and large trees growing from inside the rooms, with limbs extending from windows. He took no payment for the design of Hundertwasserhaus, declaring that the investment was worth it to “prevent something ugly from going up in its place”.”
Busy place!
Funny story — Andrew and I actually visited the public toilets that Hundertwasser designed in the small town of Kawakawa, New Zealand, when we were there a few years ago!
After visiting this unique building, we wandered back towards the Museum Quartier.
And we enjoyed some delicious gelato. (This was actually more of a nightly routine )
On our last day in Vienna, we went to the Sigmund Freud Museum. Andrew, being a psych major, was particularly excited. I thought the museum was really interesting too.
From their website – In Sigmund Freud’s former apartment and office, you will see an exhibition documenting the life and work of the founder of psychoanalysis, original furnishings, articles of daily use and antiquitites from Freud’s collection as well as temporary special exhibitions. You will enter the rooms where new science was created and where Freud and his family spent 47 years.
Too cool – Freud’s original doorplate.
Freud Museum, Vienna
Not too shabby! And definitely a great (and educational) way to end our time in Vienna.
I wish I could say that our journey to the airport was less eventful on the way home, but sadly, it was perhaps even more unfortunate. Long story short – the metro doors slammed shut between Andrew and I, and we found ourselves on different trains. Turns out “I’ll meet you at Landstraße!” (our final destination), sounds an awful lot like “I’ll get off at the next stop!” when yelling through a glass metro door! Needless to say, we eventually found each other and made it to the airport in plenty of time. 
Moral of the story?
Always hold hands.
Until next time,
Laura
