Vienna: More umbrellas per capita than Portland

 "When will you realize, Vienna waits for you?"

- Billy Joel, "Vienna"

Heeeee's BACK!

That's right readers, Lisbon was only the beginning. Carlos and I met up in the Paris airport for a trip to Vienna, Austria! As you can tell in the picture, neither of us got much sleep before the flight.

S7 train from Vienna International to the city center

Vienna Magic

Carlos noticed the rabbit in a hat, so we took a quick tour of Vienna's oldest magic shop.

Inside the magic shop

We met a kind woman who showed us a few magic tricks!

Colorful Homes of Hundertwasserhaus

Overall, Vienna was not a super touristy city, at least not in April. That being said, this uniquely designed apartment complex was the most touristy spot.

Domkirche St. Stephan

Inside the cathedral

Donnerbrunnen

Schnitzel and bratwurst

Giant chocolate wafers

Old Town Vienna

Mozart Monument

City tram

Danube Canal

Donauturm

"The Donauturm was constructed during 1962–1964, as designed by architect Hannes Lintl, in preparation for the Viennese International Horticultural Show 1964." It is also the tallest tower in Austria. - Wikipedia

Donauturm Park

Carlos and I walked around the park for a while. We noticed a lot of heads belonging to famous Latin American leaders. I didn't see much online, but I'm guessing the park's designer, or the sculptor, was a fan of Latin American history.

Tools come to life

More mistletoe

No, I did not kiss Carlos.

Cafe Danube Tower

We went up to the cafe for a quick dessert. I got an apple strudel and hot chocolate, while Carlos got a raspberry cake. We relaxed as the city lit up and moved slowly by. The restaurant rotates 360 degrees, probably 30min/rev if I were to guess.

Modern Downtown

Quick Wu

We were still a little hungry after dessert, so we went for second dinner.

Mountain Dew Original Europe

We stocked up on some snacks for day 2 when I found both Mountain Dew and Dr Pepper Cherry.

Off to the Museum of Natural History

Pyromorphite

I found some more of my new favorite rock. Theses samples were not as big as the ones I saw in Chamonix. (There were 4 rooms of rocks...thousands of rocks in all).

Dinosaur Skeletons

We found a variety of mixed replica and real skeletons. I learned that since they only have 40-60% of a complete skeleton, they model the rest. There were diagrams below showing which bones were real.

Mountain Dew Break

At this point, I wanted to go to the zoo and see some live animals. Sadly, it was still cold and pouring rain outside. Thus, with our renewed energy, we plunged into the second half of the Natural History Museum (which is basically a zoo).

Japanese Crap

Infested Waters

I knew Logan would be jealous as soon as I walked into this room.

There were 33 rooms in total at the museum and I highly recommend a visit. 

Bananen Schnitten

We stopped at a deli for a bite to eat before heading off to the famous Schönbrunn Palace.

Schönbrunn Palace

It, uh, I was cold and wet. I do not like being cold and wet.

Hard Rock Cafe

After the palace, Carlos and I decided to warm up at Hard Rock Cafe. According to Carlos, this is a popular American style restaurant. I think I've heard of the name before, but Google maps only shows 1 location on the US west coast so I don't feel bad for not knowing.

In general, there were many weird restaurant interactions in Vienna. The first restaurant we went to was a nice sit down and, although I paid with card, I didn't get a chance to tip or increase the amount I wanted to pay. The waiter had us rung up so quick and seemed like he wanted to free up the table. I thought perhaps tipping is not a standard thing to do. Then, at the cafe, where we were given a simple dessert, the waiter stuck the card reader in my face and said, "Tip!". I had two completely opposite experiences with tipping. The next day, at the deli, an older guy, without saying a word, shifted the table that Carlos and I were eating at by about a foot, so that he had more space to eat. I'm not even going to get into what happened at Hard Rock... and the cherry on top was McDonalds messing with my order.

Somehow, the cheap Chinese place in the metro station was the most normal restaurant interaction I had in Vienna.

Katholische Kirche St. Peter

We attended the Vienna Classic Ensemble in St. Peter's church for our last evening in Vienna. It was kind of weird to watch a professional ensemble in a Catholic church, but it gave me lots of time to appreciate the art and design inside the chapel. (The tickets were also much cheaper than the Vienna Opera House 😁).

Some BYU grads

I mentioned something about BYU before the show started and to our surprise, the couple in front of us told us they went there! We got to meet Diego and Camilla, whose son started his freshman year this winter. Carlos and I wondered how we ended up in Vienna, in a Catholic church, listening to classical music with two BYU grads. I didn't even know Carlos 2 years ago.

Knoppers

I grabbed some Knoppers for the bus ride home. 

Compared to Paris, Vienna was extremely clean. The city and parks were beautiful, and it was way less touristy. The only downside was that it rained nonstop for two days.

I can't think of any better way to end my Europe trip than a weekend in Vienna with Carlos. I've got three more weeks here in Clermont before I end my exchange program. So you can expect at least one more ESC post 😉.