Vienna
Trip Start
Jan 10, 2008
1
68
95
Trip End
Ongoing
Vienna,
Vienna,
Austria
Thursday, June 19, 2008
We arrived in Vienna mid afternoon on a Sunday and decided we needed lunch. We walked a fair way to find somewhere that we could have lunch, We ended up at an Australian bar of all places! Not very Austrian. After dinner we walked to the FanZone. As the ain reason for being in Vienna at this time was to see the Euro Cup being played in Austria and Switzerland. I had an early night which Matt and Chloe took in the nights game.
As all the soccer games were on at night it left the day free for us to explore Vienna. We started the day at Stephensplatz, the main square in the city where there is also a big cathedral (St Stephens). The atmosphere in the square was great as the Germans were playing the Austrians in Vienna that night and everyone was getting hyped up about the game. There were so many Germans around you could almost think we were in Germany
A not so happy Austrian fan
. After this we took the train to nearby to the stadium where the game was being played, there was another smaller fanzone here as well as the world's oldest ferris wheel and amusement park. We enjoyed wandering around the area and the amusement park and all the different types of rides.After a nap and some dinner we made our way back to the main FanZone to find that it was full to it's 180,000 capacity and there were people everywhere outside of the FanZone trying to get a glimpse of the large screens inside the FanZone to watch the game. We watched the first half of the game in an area with a lot of Austrians but as we are all so short found it hard to see and at half time moved so that we were watching the game through a gap in the fence where it was not so crowded. Germany won!
After the game we headed in to Stephensplatz as a lot of people were going there after the game. When we first arrived everyone was celebrating and the atmosphere was great, but it soon turned and it didn't take long for the riot police to arrive and the different sides were chanting at each other and throwing stuff. By the time we decided to move from the area there were flares lit. We decided to walk down the mall and as we were someone let off a firework which came wizzing past mine and Chloe's heads. Which gave us a big shock - any closer to our heads and it would have caused damage. After this we decided to get home away from the craziness.
The next day we decided to hire the bikes that are dotted around the city, you can pick them up at one spot and drop them back at another and the first hour is free. We rode around the city through the park and made our way to Karlsplatz (the Opera house). We dropped our bikes off and saw an exhibition about football (soccer), it was a rally fun and interactive exhibition where we were able to test our fitness, balance and reflexes among other things
and Matt found the Urinal
. That night we decided to have a typical Viennese meal - not that impressive, and then after that we met up with a friend, Thomas. We met Thomas and his girlfriend in Brazil, unfortunately Johanna had to work but Thomas and a couple of his friends came out for a few drinks and it was lovely to see him. For our last day in Vienna Thomas suggested Schonn Brunn palace as a nice place to see. We were amazed at the grounds. The garden were beautiful and we really enjoyed wandering around the gardens, trying our hands at the maze and walking up to the Gloriette. After the palace we went to the markets for lunch, there were many beautiful fresh foods on display and we had a great lunch. For our last night we went to the FanZone to watch Sweden Russia game. Russia won. It was interesting when we got back to the UK and watched games held in Vienna and we could see where we had been sitting in the FanZone, in front of the Rathaus (City Hall).
