Backpacking: Vienna Part 2

This is really Day 3 of Vienna. I know, I'm missing an entire day of stuff that I did in Vienna, but that's something that requires me to write a little more extensively. Perhaps my most eventful day in Vienna came the day after Halloween and the day I was to leave Vienna. I told myself that I would hit as many things as possible before my bus that evening. 

So the agenda the following:

Hit the Danube

Get to Schönbrunn Palace

Eat Original Sacher Torte at the Sacher Café

I did it all in the day. The enormous backpack was left behind at the hostel and I forced my laptop in my crappy little backpack so that I was assured it wouldn't get stolen in the luggage room. Maybe not the best idea for my shoulder, but done nonetheless.

So not a lot to say. The Danube was not as grand as I thought it would be. The Spree in Berlin, the Seine in Paris, and the Rhein in Cologne are all significantly more impressive. I suppose that's the test of time right there or maybe I just didn't see a nice area of the Danube. I'm pretty sure I just saw a little crappy area of it. Oops. I don't know. So here's to you, Strauss.

I had ventured (a few times) near Hofburg Palace just because it was in walking distance to a few other historical things and it was quite touristy so it was easy to walk around. Unfortunately, I didn't check out more of Hofburg as I told myself I would get to Schönbrunn. Hofburg was not too far from the Herrengasse stop on the U3 and walking distance to Stephansdom, which was under construction. I, of course, didn't go inside, but oh well. If I had more time in Vienna and was less exhausted, I'm sure I would have actually looked at things more intimately.

So the big thing of the day was going to Schönbrunn, which I didn't really think too much about until I actually got there. I couldn't help but feel as if I was getting back to my family roots. Granted, I'm not some kind of royal descendent, but my family does come from the Austro-Hungarian Empire and this was the palace that housed the royal family during the time my family had been living in the area. That alone was a pretty interesting thing to see. And again, I didn't go inside, but spent plenty of time exploring the grounds of the Palace, which I think was actually prettier and more appealing than the Palace itself. I would guess that I walked along most of the grounds seeing the pieces that were added including the Gloriette structure and the Roman Ruin.

Strange little note about food in Europe is that street food is a lot different than what we're used to in New York. Perhaps it's just me, but I can't help but feel more like I'm absorbing a culture when I experience the street food. There isn't a grimy sense like one gets from the street food in New York and to see locals eating it too is a sense of relief. As I've seen in a lot of European cities there are people often roasting chestnuts and in Austria they have huge roasters that look like big tin barrels. They're usually roasting chestnuts, potato puffers, and wedges. So for about 2 or 3 Euro I got some potato wedges with garlic sauce...and as horrible as it is to say this was probably one of the best things I ate on break. And of course, as disgustingly full as I was I still said that I'd get Sacher Torte. Hey, those were the only things I ate that day except for some coffee.

So the Sacher Café is not too far from where I had originally started near Hofburg. It's a little bit more of a walk from there, but the Café is located next to the Stadtsoper. So I took the U-bahn to the Stadtsoper, but of course why not stop at the bathroom...the opera toilet.

And the wonderful Original Sacher Torte at the Sacher Café. Not too far from the Stadtsoper. I blush to say that I couldn't finish this. Pathetic, I know. I was still full from those cheap potatoes. Damn it, carbs!! Warum?!? But delicious nonetheless and worth the rather touristy visit to it.

And then came the 10 hour bus journey back to Berlin. Drove through the Czech Republic, stopped by German border control and arrived back to Berlin close to 5:30 in the morning. AWESOME.