Vienna, Austria

I take the train to Vienna from Graz, I didn’t upgrade myself this time but its ok because I get a four seat to myself almost the whole way.

When I arrive to Vienna central station it doesn’t take me too long to figure out which train I need to transfer to. I end up buying a multi day pass even though it’s expensive to simply things. My train drops me off at Prater, a transportation hub right next to a large park that contains an amusement park. I realize later that there is a subway train I could have taken from there to make my walk even shorter or I could have taken a short cut through the amusement park. Instead I follow google with its long walk around the parameter of the park to almost on the other side of the park where my hotel resides. Yes, I am sweaty. And I feel like I am not close to anything except this theme park. Did I make a mistake booking this hotel?

My room is ready when I arrive. I check in and clean up. I have a Mozart concert and dinner scheduled tonight at Schloss Schonbrunn. The package includes a tour of some of the rooms inside. Very impressive. Of course no pictures allowed again. I learn so much about the Hapsburgs during the audio tours of the rooms like Maria Theresa, Elizabeth (or Sissi the beautiful wife of Emperor Fran’s Joseph) and finally the famous Marie Antoinette, the last Queen of France – how did I not know she was a Habsburg? Anyway I enjoy the big room with Rococo frescos, the white gold trim in the grand room.

After the tour we take a long walk to a restaurant down the street for our dinner that is part of the package. Come to find out it is a fixed menu with the choices being beef or vegetarian. I was really looking forward to trying some authentic schnitzel tonight but I guess it will have to wait. The food is lackluster and the service is unbearably slow. I stared at my wine and water on the bar for 15 minutes before I finally got up to tell a waiter (not mine) that those drinks were mine. If I did the package again I would skip the dinner and get fast food somewhere.

After dinner we walk back to the orangerie or large room outside the palace where the concert will be held. I chose upgraded seats that included a Prosecco. I sip my Prosecco while I wait for them to let us in. I can’t film inside but it is a great performance. The singers and musicians are delightful and seem to really enjoy their job. I am glad I bought the tickets this evening.

After the show it is late and google is telling me I have to take a train a very far walk away. I decide to ignore it and go to the train I arrived from. The train is running so not sure why google would give me bad directions. (Note: It seems to be the first of many bad directions for my last week or so of travel). Luckily I get back safely and timely using my instincts.

In the morning I have a wine tour scheduled. They don’t pick up at my hotel so I commute down to another part of town and walk through a park on the way that has seen better days.

We are taken out to a wine region called the Wagram region. Our first stop is at the Holzer Winery that is run by a husband and his wife. We meet the wife who introduces us to some wines and tells us her husband’s family winery history while we sip wines on a lovely table by a vineyard. It is a nice day at the winery. As these tours go we are all very friendly after a couple glasses. This region is known for its Gruner Veltliner which a very popular wine for a long while in Austria but has only begun to get the spotlight in the USA in the last maybe ten years. I discovered my love for Gruner in an Austrian restaurant in Brooklyn that had it on tap as did other Brooklyn bars during my life in NYC.

We then have an Austrian dinner where I try some pork schnitzel and lots of other items. I forget to take pictures of the meal but I do take a picture of the delicious rum cake they serve as a dessert. Another winery brings us wines to try while we eat instead of us visiting another tasting at a winery. I purchase one of the bottles of red since I still have three nights left in town to enjoy it.

We head back in town and I am dangerously low on clean clothes so I force myself to do laundry. Hopefully this is the last time I need to do laundry before I go home.

The next morning I wake up early for the highly anticipated Naschmarket. I enjoy the flea market portion of the market but the food vendors are aggressive, especially in the nuts/sweets spices section. Had one almost run after me to try his nuts “only one man”. It seemed to be many vendors selling the same things. There are some unique sellers and restaurants thrown in there but not enough to add it to my recommendation list especially when I’ve been to some pretty cool markets in the past.