Day 1
Flixbus describes an overview of overnight buses on their website… “Comfortable seats and extra legroom allow you to relax and sleep all the way to your destination so you’re fresh and ready to explore your new city when you wake up”. What Flixbus doesn’t describe is that it’s impossible to sleep all the way to your destination unless you’re heavily sedated. You’re actually woken up at every stop by the bus driver announcing the current location and new passengers make as much noise as possible encroaching into your personal space! That aside we arrived in Vienna stress free!
We were a bit early to check into the hostel so we spent the early afternoon exploring the Museums quarter and the Naschmarkt. I’m really looking forward to trying the Sturm wine and Eleanor is looking forward to trying
Sachertorte, a specific type of chocolate cake invented by Austrian Franz Sacher in 1832. First impressions of Vienna is that it looks stunning, especially with Autumn fast approaching! After a relaxing afternoon we explored Vienna by night and confirmed it, Vienna is stunning.
Day 2
Before going to sleep last night Eleanor told me that we were going to a posh café and that I should at least wear jeans. Completely forgetting this after looking at the warm weather forecast this morning we arrived at Café Central for breakfast wearing my un-smart, yet comfortable grey Asda shorts! Thanfully they still let us in…This is the place as shown in Richard Ayeoade’s Travel Man Vienna episode where they try Sachertorte. Thankfully it did not disappoint and neither did my salmon and egg breakfast which was also reasonably priced! Win!
After breakfast we headed to the Viennese Giant Ferris Wheel, built in 1945, which had panoramic views over the city. The afternoon was spent exploring more of Vienna’s streets where we discovered Hundertwasserhaus house, certainly different to the rest of the Vienna architecture and also an Opera singer and flutist buskers, very cultured!
After 10 miles of walking today and plans to see the Belvedere Palace and tomorrow we’re having a restful night in the hostel using our free drink tokens in the hostel bar!
Fun observations: Ed the cat, and Krampus chocolate Santas!
Day 3
All the walking is starting to catch up with me so today I was knackered! When we got to the Belvedere Palace we sat down for a good half hour…
The palace and gardens were stunning, we didn’t pay to go in to the palace as we’re trying to find the right balance of experiencing the places we’re going to but also being mindful about budget! On that note, after walking around the palace gardens Eleanor pointed out the shop “Cheese and more” which had free samples of SO MUCH CHEESE! I was in dairy heaven. Eleanor the lactose intolerant however was not! The most unusual cheese was the pumpkin flavoured and my favourite was the 1 year matured “sheep cheese”.
Goodbye Vienna – up next…Sarajevo!
