I am IN LOVE WITH THIS CITY!! It is beautiful, affordable for
tourists, and Serbian is as prominent here as Spanish is in the US. This
means that I can get away with not knowing German! In fact, I got a hot
dog today from a street vendor and I was overwhelmed by the options and
worried that I'd get something spicy, but fortunately the vendor spoke
Serbian so he explained to me exactly which
wurst was the best. haha.
First, we arrived at the
flughafen
and took the CAT (City Airport Train) to downtown Vienna. Then a short
metro ride took us to Kettenbruckengasse, the metro station nearest our
hostel, which is AWESOME!!
We are staying at Wombat's Hostel. This is my first hostel experience
and I LOVE it! The lobby is set up like a lounge, with lots of comfy
couches and nooks to sit in and use the wifi, which is accessible only
from the lobby. There are also lots of computers you can pay to use.
When we checked in, there were tons of young people hanging out in the
lobby. It got me planning an inter rail backpacking trip with my friends
- they would love it!
Our Wombat’s was located next to a market that sold everything from
souvenirs to Middle Eastern food. Our room also had a view of architect
Otto Wagner’s beautiful Majolikahaus.
My mom had read about a good Austrian restaurant nearby in a guidebook,
but when we got there it was closed so we went to a Chinese buffet
instead… I’m not complaining.
While my mom and sister were finishing up eating, I wandered around the
restaurant a bit with my camera. I found a really cool passageway that
takes you up stairs and through courtyards filled with cafes and shops.
It ends on Mariahilferstrasse, the Viennese equivalent of London’s
Oxford Street in terms of shopping.
After lunch we walked to the Albertina Museum, which was very well
advertised in the airport. They had an amazing collection from some very
colorful artists… Monet, Magritte, Picasso, Kirchner, Kokoschka, and
more. There were also a few masterpieces by Durer. The museum was
perfect.
Next we wanted to take the ring tram, which gives you a nice panoramic
tour of the city, but we got on the wrong one and ended up in the middle
of nowhere. However, what we found in the middle of nowhere was a cool
new Hundertwasser project in progress near some energy buildings.
