When I initially started looking at flights from Cape Town back to Newark, the cheapest one had a 20 hour layover in Vienna. 20 hours isn't quite long enough to do very much, so I pushed it out by a day, and the price went up by several hundred dollars. Then I tried two days and three days, and again, a huge price difference. Before I gave up, I pushed out my connection by a week, and the price went back down, so that of course seemed like a no-brainer. Therefore, on the way home from a once-in-a-lifetime trip through Africa, I also tacked on a week to spend in Europe on my own. My privilege is just off the charts.
So I left Cape Town after midnight on March 3, and landed in Vienna around 11am their time. The time zone change was only one hour difference, which was nice not to be terribly jet-lagged. I disembarked from the plane and went to the luggage storage area, and paid for a locker for the week to store my massive Africa backpacking bag, since I had packed my warmer, winter-weather stuff into a second, smaller backpack I had with me. Figuring out what to bring for African summer and European winter on the same trip had been a fun challenge when I was packing, in case anyone was wondering, which left me in Austria in March without a real winter coat. Thankfully, I had layers!
I had promised misadventures when I created this new website for my blog, and I don't want to disappoint, so please enjoy this (lengthy) story of my first few hours in Vienna by myself:
While I was in the airport connected to WiFi, I pulled up directions of how to navigate the subway system from the airport to my hostel, and then hopped on a train. My hostel was right near the Naschmarkt, a sprawling market which I'd never visited. I'd been to Vienna once before to visit my friend MaryBeth, while I was teaching in Spain and she was teaching in and living in Vienna, but Naschmarkt wasn't one of our stops. I came out of the subway station at the stop I'd pulled up on Google Maps while at the airport, and immediately realized I had no idea how to get to my hostel from the subway stop. I'd generated directions this far and I knew the hostel was only 0.2 miles from the subway station, but I had no idea in which direction. After walking in circles for several minutes, hoping I could either see the hostel if I walked around enough or hoping to find a McDonald's with WiFi (no luck on either front), I pulled out my phone and did a desperate search for WiFi. By dumb luck, there was public WiFi access at the Naschmarkt, so I was able to pull up directions for the 0.2 remaining miles to my destination and found it a few minutes later. I was too early to check in to my room so I dumped my bag in the hostel's storage closet and headed over to the market.
I walked around for a few minutes, admiring the selection of colorful fruits and exotic spices, did a lap through a couple of souvenir shops and antique stores, and settled on a restaurant where I could have brunch. I ordered what they called an Austrian breakfast, which was coffee, water, sliced deli meat and cheese, toast, and a soft boiled egg. I told my Australian friend Kate later, much to her dismay, that I'd never eaten a soft-boiled egg before, and certainly not served in its own little egg holder like what British people eat in movies, but I tried to soldier through anyway. I cracked the top of the egg with a spoon (again, like they do in movies, since I had no idea what I was doing), and tried to dig in. I found that eating an egg with a spoon is not the most straightforward experience, considering the egg white was still pretty stuck to the shell, and I was at a loss of how to really eat the deli meat, either. Did I cut it up and eat it with a fork? Or maybe use the toast and basically make a sandwich? I don't even remember what I decided to do but I know I ate all the food on the plate and as much of the egg as I could scrape out of the shell, so hopefully my server, who was lovely, didn't realize what a fool I felt like--but admittedly, she checked to see if I needed anything repeatedly, so she probably did.
My red-letter day continued on my way back through the Naschmarkt, as I stopped at a stall selling huge green olives stuffed with chunks of aged parmesan, a delicacy that I love. I asked the proprietor if he could give me a small amount, so naturally he took a shopping bag and started scooping olives in by the handful, and in short succession totaled it up at a cost of €25, which is about $30. I explained to him that I wanted a much smaller amount, like a handful of olives, max $10 worth, as he was swinging the bag over the counter at me, trying to get me to take it, which I wouldn't. He took the bag back, spilled out some of them, and put the rest into a plastic container. It was still entirely too many, like more olives than I could probably eat in a week let alone the snack I was planning on, but he was insistent that I take them (And I want to be clear, this was not a language barrier situation; he spoke perfect English, saw I was an easy target and a silly tourist, and took advantage of it). Even now, writing this, I still don't know what I was thinking or why I listened to him and actually purchased €20 worth of olives, but I did. Easy target, indeed. I took my small fortune's worth of olives and went back across the street to my hostel.
My day finally started looking up when I got into my room in the hostel, because I was able to snag a bottom bunk. Hauling my large self into a top bunk in a crappy bunk bed is never fun, and it's a great fear of mine that I might crush the person below me one of these days, so a bottom bunk is a real treat for me. I relaxed in my bunk for a few hours before heading out for an evening walking tour of Vienna.
The walking tour was of downtown Vienna, most of which I'd seen with MaryBeth when I visited in the past, but I enjoyed getting the lay of the land again and hearing the history behind many of the buildings. I heard about the Habsburgs and Empress Maria Theresa, saw the different facades of Stephansdom, the cathedral of Vienna, as well as St. Rupert's church, which is largely considered the oldest in the city. I didn't take photos except the one below because I've been to Vienna before so I have a lot of them, and also because it was nighttime and rainy so not ideal for photo-taking.
Inner courtyard of the Hofburg Palace
The tour ended over near St. Rupert's, which was a hike from Naschmarkt and I seriously considered trying to get a cab or an Uber but I decided to save money (since I'd blown so much of it on olives, of all things) and hoof it back to where the tour started so I could grab the subway. On my way back to my hostel, I got shwarma for dinner and, combined with the trusty olives, had a delicious dinner for one in my hostel.
In the morning, I got up and headed for the train station to take a day trip to Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia. I got to the train station on the outskirts of the city and took the tram into the city center thankfully without incident (since I actually used my GPS correctly this time).
Bratislava Opera House
I had taken the tram to Hviezdoslav Square (thank God this is in writing because I couldn't pronounce it if I tried) because a walking tour of the city left from there, but not for awhile, so my first priority was having lunch. I found a restaurant right near the square that served Slovak pirohy, which is basically the same food as the Polish pierogies that I grew up eating and absolutely love. Pierogies/pirohy are filled pasta dumplings, usually with potato and cheese. The Slovak version was a sheep cheese dumpling with bacon crumbles and sour cream on top. I love central European food so I was in heaven.
After a hearty lunch, I set off to meet up with the tour, which I very much enjoyed and was very informative. Bratislava is such a pretty city, and although being there in March definitely didn't do it justice, I really enjoyed visiting.
"Man at Work" sculpture, which was originally intended to be a temporary joke but was so wildly popular that it's now the most photographed site in Bratislava
The historic main square of Bratislava, Old Town Hall, and Maximilian's Fountain, named after King Maximilian II of Hungary, but who many believe represents Roland, a local hero and defender of the city's rights
Michael's Gate, the last remaining city gate from the former medieval fortification walls that surrounded the city in the 1300s. You can hear some local accordion music (and my tour guide talking) in this video
Monument in Slovak National Uprising Square, commemorating the attempt to depose the Nazi government takeover of Bratislava in 1944
The Church of St. Elizabeth, aka the Blue Church, is a Catholic church designed by Hungarian secessionist architect Ödön Lechner, who was known as the Hungarian Gaudí for his intricate colors and original designs
We finished the tour shortly after visiting the Blue Church, and I went to a McDonald's nearby to warm up (since it was March and again, I had no coat with me) and figure out my game plan for the rest of my time in Bratislava. I seriously considered getting a cab or an Uber to take me up to the Bratislava Castle, but decided again to save money, so I bundled back up in my sweatshirt layers and hoofed it up to the castle. Naturally, just like any medieval city with a castle in it, the castle in question was on a hilltop, so it took me a fair amount of time to climb up to it, but I made it eventually, and it was worth the climb.
Bratislava Castle, situated on a hilltop overlooking the city and the Danube river
View of the Danube from the castle, and the "UFO Bridge," so nicknamed because of the flying saucer-shaped structure in the middle, which houses an observation deck and a restaurant. This bridge is also the longest one pylon bridge in the world.
View of the city from the castle
Bratislava's Holocaust Memorial, and you can see the towers from the castle peeking
above the other buildings
I was again pretty chilly by this point and it was getting dark, so I hung out in a cafe until it was properly dinnertime and then made my way to another traditional Slovak restaurant. MaryBeth had of course visited Bratislava while living in Vienna and told me I had to try haluksy, which is the national food of Slovakia. I thought it would be similar to the Polish haluski I had growing up, aka cabbage and noodles, like the pirohy was similar to pierogies, but it turns out Slovakian halusky is potato dumplings covered in cheese sauce and fried bacon bits. It was absolutely delicious.
Halusky and mulled wine
Also, another mishap for your reading pleasure: I ordered a hot mulled wine to warm myself up, and I don't know if you can tell from the picture, but there was so much stuff floating in it, and they served it with a packet of sugar for reasons I still don't understand. I used the sugar and noticed no change, so I don't know what that was about. The orange and raspberries I didn't mind, of course, but there was also a whole cinnamon stick and a handful of whole cloves floating on the top. Understandably, they didn't serve it with a straw, so I was trying to sip around the cloves and failing miserably. I ended up leaving more than half of the wine there because I couldn't figure out how to drink it. I clearly don't belong in nice restaurants since I was 0/2 at this point.
After I finished my dinner, I got on the tram back to the train station again, and made my way back to Vienna, where I was staying for one more night before moving on to Salzburg.
I hopped on a train to Salzburg in the morning, and the train station was close enough to my new hostel that I walked there in less than 20 minutes. I dumped my stuff and headed out to sightsee. I was headed for the tourist office, which was in Mozartplatz in the Alstadt, aka Old Town, and just so happened to get there right in time for a 1 hour walking tour--as in, I walked into the tourist office at 12:10 and it was leaving at 12:15. Talk about good timing. I didn't take as many photos as I should've because it was raining and juggling an umbrella and a phone to take pictures is a struggle, but I'll share what I do have!
Crossing the Salzach river into the Alstadt
Walking through the Old Town
Mozartplatz (He was born in Salzburg)
Salzburg Residenz on the left, which is where the Salzburg prince-archbishops used to live and is now a museum; the Fortress Hohensalzburg on the hill, one of the largest medieval castles in Europe; and the Salzburg Cathedral dome
A terrible photo the cemetery at St. Peter's Abbey (I apologize, I don't know what I was thinking when I took this)
Mozart's birthplace (with a grocery store now on the ground floor. Gotta love commercialism)
In case it isn't abundantly clear, I am the queen of tours, so I had another one booked at 2pm. Since the impromptu walking tour ended at 1:15, I walked in the direction of my next tour and grabbed a couple of pastries for lunch on my way, and ate them on a park bench. The next tour I booked was The Sound of Music tour, since Salzburg was the setting of the movie and the home of the real Von Trapp family that the movie is based on. I grew up in a family obsessed with The Sound of Music so to say I was excited about the tour would be an understatement, as you will see from the photos.
Very chill about being on the Sound of Music tour bus
Church where they filmed Maria and Captain Von Trapp getting married
The house Maria walks up to while she's singing "I Have Confidence" (she dances along the outer wall with her guitar case and then stumbles into the courtyard)
The house they used as the back of the Von Trapp's home, where the kids fall out of the boat before they meet Baroness Schraeder on the patio
The gazebo where Liesl sings "Sixteen Going on Seventeen"
At Mirabell Gardens (Nailed it.)
I had no chill about this tour, obviously, and was literally walking around Salzburg singing. I shudder to think if I was actually there with someone I knew, because I definitely would have asked to take more stupid photos and I think I probably would have made a (even bigger) scene.
I walked back to my hostel and warmed up for awhile before venturing out to find dinner. I went to a tavern near my hostel but when I walked in, there was no obvious host/hostess stand. There was so much noise coming from the bar and the main restaurant area so I could tell it was packed, but I was stuck in this strange hallway connecting the bar and restaurant. Going to a restaurant alone in a foreign country is awkward enough without having to deal with something like this, so I lingered in the hallway for a minute before I chickened out and went back outside. I went to an Indian place across the street and they told me it would be an hour wait for a table, so I steeled myself and went back to the tavern. I found a server and asked for a table, and he said there was one huge table in the bar that they were reserving for a large party, but they weren't coming for an hour, so since I was alone and would surely be done quickly, I could eat there if I thought I'd be finished in time? I agreed and had a dinner of potato and leek soup, a pretzel with beer cheese, and a Radler (a lemon shandy), so food-wise that is honestly me living my best life. I love the food in central Europe more than I can say, so I was really happy I was brave enough to come back to the tavern.
The hostel I was staying in played The Sound of Music every night at 8pm, so you know what I did after dinner.
Watching The Sound of Music in the hostel common room
Unfortunately, I wasn't as lucky as I was in Vienna and I had a top bunk in Salzburg, so when the movie was over, I went upstairs and hauled myself into the top bunk to get an early rest, because I had another full day ahead of me, as I had plans to visit Hallstatt.
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