A quick trip to Austria
Trip Start
Nov 05, 2006
1
43
48
Trip End
Ongoing
Vienna,
Austria
Thursday, April 30, 2009
My hostel is right across the street from Westbahnhof, which is useful. It's a 10 minute walk out of the main town, but the U-Bahn is cheap and fast and makes it a great way to travel round town. In other great location news, I'm just across the street from the best ice cream in Vienna - at Zanoni & Zanoni's. I recommend this place highly, a couple of scoops of mango and chocolate orange was the first thing I did after checking in.
After this, I took a brisk walk down Mariahilferstrasse, the main shopping street, to check out the vast amount of shopping to be done. Unfortunately, a quick look at the finances suggested this was not to be. I had brought more Hungarian forint than Euros, having underestimated just how cheap Hungary would be.
I picked up a 24 hour travelcard for €5.70, (this is valid for literally 24 hours after the first time you stamp it) then took the U-Bahn to Praterstern, site of Vienna's famous year round ferris wheel, the Riesenrad. I wasn't, however, expecting a full on funfair, including my personal favourite, the helter skelter - incorrectly named the "Tobaggan". Fun fairs of course mean more ice cream, this time I tried a scoop of pink and yellow coloured gloopy marshmallow flavour. I'm not entirely sure it tasted of marshmallow, but it was good, considering how hot is was. Seriously, though, did I mention Zanoni & Zanoni's?
There was a CSI exhibition called the CSI Experience, which I couldn't decided whether I wanted to try out or not. It was in German with English subtitles, but it was €12, which is pretty expensive considering the museums are €9 tops. I'm guessing you'd have to solve a crime, and knowing how gruesome CSI can be, I'm not entirely convinced I'd want to do it by myself.
Next stop was Stephansplatz, where I wasn't expecting anything in particular, but it's the centre of the old town, but at the very least would be an opportunity to pick up postcards, which I did. In the centre of the square was a large cathedral undergoing some renovation work. People dressed up as Mozart were hanging around one side trying to nab unsuspecting tourists for a Mozart tour, and on the other side lots of horses and carriages. This is apparently a Viennese tourist tradition, called fiakers, to be driven around in a carriage by men in bowler hats and horses dressed in odd costumes. I gave this a miss - €50 for 20 minutes is for serious tourists!
As it's a national holiday tomorrow (Labour Day), the museums are supposed to be either closed or free - I can't get a straight answer from anyone about which ones are supposed to be free and which ones will be closed. I have decided to stay in Vienna for at least half the day tomorrow, as my flight leaves Bratislava late on Sunday night, and I think Vienna is a city which deserves more than 24 hours.
