Day 123, 124, 125, 126 & 127
Everytime we mentioned to someone we were heading to Vienna we were always told that two nights was more than enough. We had booked for 5. With our plans to go to Slovenia before Austria ruined by the long distance and our flight to Rome booked out of Vienna we had no other choice then to spend some time there. Whilst we did have a lot of what I like to call "chill time" we also had a lot of fun. We explored mazes, checked out the club scene, did some sightseeing and even caught a street artist at work. Vienna was very similar to Berlin with a indie/alternate scene. However it it did not have as much history, well interesting history, behind it and thus not much we wanted to see.
The place we stayed was a hostel recommended by people we had met in Prague called Wombats on the Nachsmarkt. Upon receiving their advice we had one question and that was, what exactly is a Nachsmarkt? They simply told us, "it's a place where Asians sell weird fruit". Intrigued by this we booked the hostel right away and couldn't wait to get there. The Nachsmarkt was not exactly as advertised but was a huge market where people sold not only weird fruit but weird everything. Nuts, meats vegetables, candy, cheese and for some reason falafel were all over the place right outside our door. At least once a day we were there grabbing something to eat. The hostel itself was also fantastic, still with the brand new feeling. Our dorm was once again a 6 bed that quickly claimed as a private. We did have some girls staying with us for the first 2 nights but they were the only visitors. The shower there was also something to be mentioned, being the best shower I have ever had. Topping even the one at home, it had the best pressure of all time.
Now sightseeing was mainly featured on our first and last day there and not really in between. Whilst we were constantly exploring the town and finding new places to go, the only days we set out to tour famous places was those two. Our first day was a trip to the palace which was unlike any we had seen before. Being one of the most expansive palaces we have ever been to we spent a good amount of time there only coming home once it was cold. Whilst you can't go inside the palace we had an incredible amount of fun in the gardens. We played with squirrels, climbed mountains to see awesome views, found our way through hedge mazes and labyrinths and went to one of the best playgrounds around (it had a giant metal eagle that you could make fly). It was a solid day of exploring.
The last day we were a bit all over the place hopping between any attractions we could see. We started off with another clock that had moving people similar to the Glockenspiel. It once again was a huge disappointment and once again we left before it finished. Next we headed to Judenplatz which as you can guess was the Jewish Plaza. There we saw Austrias holocaust memorial but that was about it. Without that being there we would never have noticed that the area was Jewish. From there, after swinging past an awesome comic book store we made our way to the Amusement park that was just out of town. It ended up being pretty lame and pretty expensive so we didn't compete on the bumper cars as we usually would. We took a walk around the place, walked through the stores Our final bit of sightseeing for the day was actually by accident as we headed back to town just looking for a place to chill. On the way we stumbled through parts of the city we had never seen before finding massive gardens and important looking buildings. We took a look at them and some photos but didn't go much further. We were tired and just wanted to chill out in museums quarter, a place I will tell you about later.
Vienna was very similar to Berlin in that it had a big indie scene. Everywhere you went there was street art, big art galleries and crazy shops with everything alternate. There was so much to look at that one of the galleries actually published a map known as the urban explorers guide. It told us what we should check out, where street art was and what clubs we should go to. It was our perfect guide. Many days were spent using this map hunting down everything and anything that looked cool. One place that caught our eye in particular was Museums quarter, an awesome chill out square right near our place. Surrounded by museums, clubs and shops (even a gameboy store) this square was filled with weird looking yet surprisingly comfortable chairs that we could kick back in no matter what time of day.
Food, as always, was a big thing for us in Austria as we ate such a variety of dishes. From sushi to Italian and the famous Weiner Schnitzel I can happily say we did not go hungry. We even found an Aussie bar that sold good old fashioned meat pies, however they were quite pricey. Despite all this food being fantastic, one place in particular stood out amongst the rest. I have never had such a fantastic piece of cake (sorry dad) in my life. Cafe Demel is a huge cake and chocolate shop that is apparently famous around the world. From the windows out front filled with life size cakes to the chefs in back that you could watch making wedding cakes this place was spectacular. After walking through we couldn't resist having a piece of their cakes and man was it an experience. I'm not sure what was in it, but it was incredible. Anyone who heads to Vienna you have to check this place out.
Our nightlife here was not as wow as usual but that's not to say we didn't have any fun. Visiting a couple of clubs we checked out places that ranged from Hip hop to Techno and weird stuff in between. It was at the bars however that most of the excitement took place. Two bars that caught our eye were on two completely different sides of town. The one, conveniently located in our hostel was called the Wombar (Wombats hostel remember) and was always a pit stop before we headed out. Cheap drinks, lots of people and good yet extremely loud (and not the good kind of loud) music made it a fun place to hang out before a big night. One night in this bar stood out however as the bartender made me lay down on the bar. Confused as I was I went along with it and before I knew it he had placed 4 Jagerbombs on my chest. Then he handed Aidan a waterpistol and told him to shoot the jäger which was balancing on top of the glasses into the Red bull. Whilst everyone else laughed and had a great time as he did it, I walked away quite wet. It was very cool to see, I just wish Aidan had a bit better aim.
The second bar that we fell in love with was quite a train ride away but worth absolutely every minute. Called Travel shack it was an Aussie bar that we visited many a time. With some fantastic shots and awesome challenges (to earn a place to draw on the roof) we had a great time there. We even played a so called "Aussie" game we have seen many times here in which you have to use a pointed hammer to hit nails into a wooden log. It was very entertaining especially with those who weren't sober. I dont want to boast but I did walk away with first place. I must have more mechanic in me than I thought.
One more thing we did whilst we were here was watch the Aussies take a beating from the Kiwis. We woke up bright and early after a big night and headed to Travel shack after being told they were showing the game. Arriving there 15 minutes before kickoff we thought we had plenty time to kick back and relax As we walked in the door they told us they weren't showing it as they forgot to order it on tv. So we trekked to the other side of town with one of the bartenders funnily enough, to watch the game at an Irish pub. We only got there about 15 minutes in to the game but it was still worth the trek. Thank god they won against Wales on Friday otherwise it would have been really depressing.
Next stop Rome.