Vivi in Vienna

Leaving Budapest, I did begin to feel the strain that seven days of straight sight-seeing and traveling has on you. Luckily, my genius friends have a solution: wine snuck onto the FlixBus in John’s Hydroflask water bottle. This made the three-hour bus ride fly by and we were in Vienna before I knew it. We got off FlixBus and found Ethan, the last member of our spring break group, waiting for us at the bus station. We all bought our transportation tickets and were off to find our AirBnb.

Naturally, we immediately ran into complications. The email confirming my reservation neglected to include the actual house number of our apartment, which meant a half hour of high tensions and high stress trying to call our hosts and find the apartment. When we did finally find it, we all kind of collapsed and took a minute to re-center ourselves before we ventured out to grab dinner at a vegan burger joint just down the street. We did some light snack shopping before returning to our apartment for the night where we had a little night cap before turning in.

Our first full day in Vienna, Brynna and I decided to get the most out of it that we could, so we got up bright and early and got to the Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien as it opened at ten. After fighting our way inside past school and tour groups, we took in the amazing exhibits, wandering through wing to wing checking the map to make sure we didn’t miss anything. We saw the largest Breughel collection including “Hunters in the Snow” and “Tower of Babel”, Arcimboldo’s “Sommer” and “Feuer”, Dürer’s “Allerheilgenbild”, and the Stairway to Klimt exhibit which included his “Old Italian Art” and “Egypt” works. By the time Brynna and I had finished looking around the museum, the rest of our friends had caught up and were also done despite the almost hour head start we’d had on them.

Together, we ate lunch at the Gorilla Kitchen, a vegan friendly Mexican restaurant that was crazy delicious, and then went to Schönbrunn. The palace was gorgeous and we walked around the grounds and up to the top of the hill to see the Gloriette. From there we saw the entire city stretching out into the horizon and just enjoying the sun and good weather was wonderful up there. The ongoing “what are the odds” game that had been going on since before we got to Prague resulted in Kevin having to roll down the hill past dozens of fellow tourists and families, stopping multiple times to reorient himself and avoid scattered groups of people. As he was regretting his life choices, the rest of us could barely keep walked because we were laughing so hard.

After fulfilling the loud and obnoxious American abroad roles we were born to play, our little group headed back towards the city center and visited the St. Stephen’s Cathedral. The boys (- Oliver) climbed the tower while we waited and people watched, and then we all went to the Onyx Bar. The bar is located on the sixth story of a hotel right in the middle of the new town next to the St. Stephen’s Cathedral and we had a chance to sit and rest our feet a bit after our long day. We ate dinner at a hole in the wall Turkish diner, and I have to say it was the best meal I had in Vienna. We got a group of tables in the upstairs back corner of the restaurant in our on little area so we could really talk and goof off while we ate.

A trip to Vienna isn’t complete without a trip to Prater, an amusement park meets permanent fair in the northern part of the city. It was dark by the time we got there and we saw the city skyline lit up from the world’s oldest still operational Ferris wheel. This Ferris wheel is over 100 years old and has survived two world wars!!! I also went on the world’s tallest swing ride which reaches 117 meters at the top (and goes way faster than you think it should), and the best ride I’ve ever experienced the crazy spinny and terrifying Black Mamba ride. The image of the Vienna skyline upside down will always be burned into my memory.

We had so much fun running from ride to ride, eating cotton candy, and letting off some steam in the Prater Park, that by the time we left it was almost midnight. Still amped up on adrenaline and way to riled up to sleep, we bought some sodas from a vending machine and played an intense game of King’s Cup at our apartment when we got home. By the time we all went to bed it was well into the early morning.

Our rather late night led to a rather late start on our last full day in Vienna. Our group split up so everyone could see their desired attractions. Brynna was off bright and early and went to the Belvedere and the Albertina museums, Mazie and Oliver went and saw the Central Cemetery and visited the university, John and Kieran went to see the Butterfly House before visiting the Armor and Weapons Museum (over compensating, I know, but hey), while Ethan, Kevin, and I visited the Natural History Museum. The boys and I spent a solid hour and a half in the geology section of the museum alone, so suffice to say we had a great time exploring this place. We avoided several groups of kindergarteners celebrating birthdays while we looked at fascinating rock samples, played with the interactive exhibits, and looked at all the taxidermied animals.

Kevin, Ethan, and I ate a picnic lunch in one of Vienna’s beautiful parks before our group met up at the Opera House. We looked at the spectacular building and visited the one thing on Ethan’s “Vienna Must See’s List”: Bitzinger, a hot dog stand. I was heavily skeptical when Ethan mentioned it, I just didn’t understand why a hot dog stand of all places was so high on his list of things to see. At least, I was skeptical, until I bit into one and realized that it was the most amazing hot dog I’ve ever had in my life. I have to say, while unexpected, it was definitely worth a visit. After checking Bitzinger’s off our list, we headed towards my last Vienna Must See, the Saint Francis of Assisi Church. We took a little walk along our beloved and familiar Donau before heading back to our apartment for one last night together before we headed back to Regensburg.

Our group (- Ethan) had booked train tickets back home, and after so many long bus rides, the train was a welcomed change. The ride went smoothly and we were back in Regensburg and back at our dorms just in time to catch a good night’s sleep before the official semester begin on Monday.

Looking back on this trip, I can’t even believe how amazing it was. To say I spent my spring break gallivanting around Europe with seven of my friends, visiting three countries, seeing and doing things I’ve been dreaming of for years, is incredible.