We left Sofia early on Thursday morning and landed in Vienna around 10 am. We then proceeded to take the train into downtown. That’s when the adventure started. It took us over an hour to find our hostel. We had to stop at a McDonald’s (where you have to pay for ketchup, what’s up with that?) to Google map it again. However, once we were there, we headed out again to start some major walking.
We didn’t really know what we wanted to do for sure, so we decided to do a walking tour of Vienna from the guidebook I had downloaded to my Kindle (which was very handy, but my hands were frozen from having to keep taking them out of my pockets to hold it, in spite of the fact that I was wearing gloves). Our tour was supposed to start at the Opera House, so we began heading that way. On the way, I saw a Steinway piano store. Be still my heart. If you are not a piano player or you have never had the experience of playing a Steinway, you probably won’t understand. Let me put it this way, Steinways are to piano players as Iowa is to pork (the best, obviously). Sigh. Ok, moving on.
We then walked past the Hotel Sacher, a popular hangout for spies in WWII, the Albertina Museum (which we didn’t go to, but had its steps done up to look like a Monet painting) and the Memorial Against War and Fascism. It is a very graphic memorial, which if you’re warning against something, makes sense.
Our next stop was the Church of the Capuchin Friars. It is a very unimpressive building that was built in the 1630’s. The impressiveness comes from below, where every Hapsburg ruler since 1633 has been buried. None of the titles are included with the names. The questions “Who comes here,” is a traditional question during the burial ritual and the answer (on the monarch’s behalf) is, “We come with a sinful mortal.” However, that is where the humility ends. The vaults are very impressive. Baroque style coffins are something to behold. 
Walking, we also passed Vienna’s famous auction house (the Dorotheum) and several buildings of the Hofburg Palace complex, including the National Library. Continuing on, we saw the parliament building and the Burgtheatre, wherein we were sidetracked by the amazing Vienna City hall and the giant Christmas Market in front of it, where my friend finally broke down and bought a pair of gloves. 
After a few more churches (there were a lot of churches on this tour), we arrived at the Plague Column. This ornate column was erected by Emperor Leopold I in thanks to God for delivering Vienna from the Black Plague in 1693. At the top, of course is God, but Leopold is on there as well, praying for deliverance. By this time we were on the fancy shopping streets that are pedestrian only (although, in Vienna, cars actually stop for pedestrians rather than speed up, so it is less needed). There is a tree trunk, preserved in a building behind glass that was a place journeymen would hammer a nail into to signify putting down roots. The tree lived from 1400-1440 and some of the nails were added while the tree was alive. Then, we saw St. Stephan’s Cathedral. The largest church in the Austro-Hungarian Empire after it was finished in 1433. Whew. Like I said, we walked a lot.
We then went and me our other friends for Thanksgiving dinner (totally legit with turkey, stuffing, and pumpkin pie) at 1516 Brewing Co. Clearly, a restaurant that caters to ex-pats and not Austrians. 
Day 2 started out with lots of fog and a trip through the royal treasury. Lots of gold (which would become a theme for the trip) and jewels and robes and tunics from the 1100’s that somehow survived. One of the crowns in the treasury was also seen on a skull carved on a coffin from the crypt the day before. Very cool.
After the treasury, we went to the Kunsthistorisches Museum. Located in a former palace-type building, it is a great art museum. It holds a lot of ancient Greek and Egyptian art as well as lots of the Dutch masters (such as Rembrandt). Plus, there was a really interesting exhibition on winter paintings. We learned about the symbolism and the development of paintings made to represent and take place in this season. There was even a crucifixion scene that someone had painted in snow (which is probably not how that actually happened, but, you know, art).
We went to eat at the Naschmarkt, a giant open-air market (which must be incredibly cold in January). We had great food. I had a chicken wrap, which doesn’t sound all that impressive, but it was really good. And, it was my birthday dinner J That evening, we took in yet another Christmas Market by St. Charles Church (Karlskirche). On the way home, I wanted chocolate cake. Where, you ask, did we find chocolate cake? McDonald’s. The McCafe, to be specific. So, while I felt ridiculous getting my birthday cake at McDonald’s, at least I got cake. Besides, it was a super classy McDonald’s with columns and crown molding. 
Day 3 we went to St. Stephan’s early in the morning. I learned that I love Gothic Churches. They are not covered with stuff from wall to wall, but have many interesting architectural elements and carvings. It was really impressive. It even had 3 pipe organs, one of which was gigantic. We then climbed the 343 steps (almost all spiral staircase- we were a little dizzy) to the top of the south tower. The north tower has an elevator, but it was never finished, so the view is not as good. Besides, we’re young, right? The view was amazing. Well worth the climb. Then, on the way back down, we saw some gargoyles out one of the windows. 
Sissy, or Empress Elizabeth, was 5’8” and 108 lbs. She was tall and thin and has the typical story of hating the monarchy and wishing her husband was not the emperor. She was very interesting and sadly was assassinated. But, you can Google her, if you really want to know. The palace was done up in red and it was beautiful. It was interesting, however, that the emperor’s bed was basically twin sized and the empress’s was not much larger. They almost looked out of place in the grandiose rooms. Interesting fact: the emperor was the only monarch in Europe that had open audiences once a week. Basically, any subject of the kingdom could come and the emperor would hear their concerns.
After the palace, we went on a tour of the Opera house (see above paragraph for the main details). It was really beautiful inside and I was really impressed by the stage. It is a 200m deep stage anyway, and then there is an additional 200m of backstage. So, it is 400m deep. Then the side stages are 50m a piece. This is humongous. Also, the lifts and hydraulic system for moving set pieces is impressive. They can drop an entire set through the floor, push it backwards, and then raise another set in less than a minute. This is handy, since they do a different production every night. Additionally, the opera house employs 1,000 people (the Vienna airport employs 4,000). That is a production in its own right. We then went to the Opera museum across the street and looked at some fabulous costumes.
Since we were in Vienna, we decided we should walk by the Blue Danube (we even hummed the waltz to make it extra authentic), so we did some more walking. Down by the river and then to the Prater, which is an amusement park with a giant observation wheel. We subway’d back to the Opera House to get in line for 4 Euro standing (though, I was almost willing to pay for a chair at this point) tickets to that night’s production, a modern ballet “Schritte Und Spuren.” Parts were really beautiful, and parts were really strange. You know, it was modern dance.
Then I walked back to the hostel, pried our luggage from the stuffed (and I do mean stuffed) luggage room and headed to the airport.
Overall, here is my impression of Vienna: It was fun and beautiful and impressive. I cannot function in German, at all. However, it was nice to blend in since I look very German (I definitely do not look Bulgarian). Ultimately, it was a city and I’m sort of a country girl at heart. So, it was a fun trip, but Auf Wiedersehen, Vienna. I don’t think I’ll be coming back.
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