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.

Surrounding the market…

I do some sightseeing. I eye one church with some stone sculptures but I decide almost 10 euros is too steep a price to visit, maybe later.

Schloss Eggenberg

In the morning I tour Schloss Eggenberg. The state rooms are only accessed by guided tour so I sign up for the early tour. Eggenberg palace is another UNESCO protected building. It is a representation of baroque architecture. Schloss Eggenberg was created for the prominent Eggenberg family (yes the same one that had a presence in Bohemia – specifically Cesky Krumlov). The rooms are impressive but it is another in a long line of palaces that allow no photography so I have no photos to share. Many of the rooms were barely used over the years and it was a very large palace for the time when it was built. Regulations existed about having palaces with more rooms than what the current royals had so some rooms were not in use as a compromise. Also it was built with lots of math and astrology in mind: Hans Ulrich had items of the Gregorian calendar incorporated in the design (ie 365, 52, 31, 24, 7). Impressive because this was a time when the Gregorian calendar was not yet widely adopted.

We can take pictures in the gallery museum though. There is lots of religious themed art. I find Corpse of Saint Florian Guarded by an Eagle quite interesting.

There is also a large coin collection.

I stop at the Frankowitsch – Brötchenbar – Delikatessen to try their open face sandwiches for lunch. They are good. I love the spread on the sandwich Pumpkin seed oil. I also order a lox one because I love salmon.

After lunch I take the train up to Schlossberg the tall mountain area that overhangs into the town. I enjoy some great views from up there. I slowly walk down from level to level and finally get to those intimidating stairs. I am sweating just going down so I am not sure I would really enjoy going up this time of year but lots of other people are doing it.

Walking back to my hotel I decide to stop at a cocktail bar and try a couple drinks. Afterwards I walk around and finally get a night view of the city before I go back to pack. I head to Vienna tomorrow. Good night.

Living in fantasy until the sickness kicks in

Today is the day we visit some famous castles.
The logistics of getting to the awesome castles of Bavaria are too much for us to organize so we book a long day tour with Gray Line Tours. We join a line in front of department store. Meeting time is 20 minutes before departure but it clear that people line up earlier than that. We start boarding the bus. We would have left early but some dude on the bus had to run out and get a coffee so we waited for him and ended up leaving a little later than departure time 😦
I have been on many coach tours throughout the years, they aren’t my favorite since I get really tired on the bus. However coach tours are an easy and convenient way to see things that are out of the way, if you don’t mind sticking to their schedule. Plus usually the tour guide gives you some commentary that you just won’t get unless you are an avid guide book reader.
This particular day I am coming down with a cold. Nose is running. It is coming on but I am ignoring it. The snot comes out of my nose with an increasing frequency but I choose to pretend I am ok for the first part of the day; and it works for a little while.

Very beautiful drive through Bavaria. Hard to get a good picture while the bus is gliding down the highway though.
Today is mostly about King Ludwig II. This reclusive ruler was inspired by such palaces such as Versailles and wanted to out sparkle them. He pretty much went on spending spree with building opulent buildings that bankrupted himself, went insane, and died an early, mysterious death.

First stop on our tour is Schloss Linderhof. The king spent his days in this palace in solitude. Stories told on how he ate alone in a personal dining room and the wait staff was not even able to enter the room. The table was set with food in the story below and brought up to him using a pulley system. No photos were allowed inside the palace but the grounds were quite pretty.

The king was into role play. He has a little Moroccan house he like to use. It is now on the property with Linderhof. Around the Moroccan house is when I get violently attacked again by those nasty German biting bugs. I am being dramatic but the bites do hurt and those bugs would not leave me be.

Second stop was the charming town of Oberammergau. Oberammergau’s claim to fame is the passion plays it puts on every ten years. It is also known for its frescos. We had about an hour or so to explore the frescos of the town. I wish we would have had more time here.

Finally we get to the grand finale Schloss Neuschwanstein. There is a 20 minute uphill walk and I find my energy drained. We have some time before our scheduled entrance so we decide to eat at the fancier hotel restaurant instead of the quick service places. We had the place almost to ourselves. It wasn’t the cheapest but it was a nice relaxing meal. I enjoyed my food and the view of Neuschwanstein.

I have forgotten to bring the sunscreen so before we are to walk up I need to buy some, and water, since I have never have too much water.
We start our ascend and I am pooped but the view keeps getting better and better.

From where we enter for the tour we don’t have the best views of the castle but we do have some pretty good vistas of the surrounding area.

The audio tour was pretty informative but once again no indoor pictures. There is another 20 minute or so hike to a lookout area, we have just enough time for it but the sickness and long day has worn me down. I refuse to do the walk, and get the photo of a lifetime. My body says no. So I sit and wait for Carlos. I have some regret with missing out on the experience but I know what my body was telling me. At least I started feeling better the next day. I was able to steal this photo that my husband took. Enjoy!