This entry took a little longer, but here it finally is from 2 weekends ago. My next is my crazy weekend in Interlaken, Switzerland!
This past weekend was one of my favorites thus far. I fell in love with the country my Grandpa grew up in, Austria. But before I get to mywonderful weekend in Vienna, I guess I should start out with the week leading up to it.
On Tuesday we went to class like usual, I am definitely ready for it to be done!But after class we met up with Dionne and Mikey and walked around the Gothic Quarter (ate some amazing chocolate), went to the Boqueria and had lunch inPort Vell. It was a beautiful dayout so we just soaked up the sun and our last few weeks here in Barcelona. I have definitely grown to love this city much more than I anticipated. It just has everything I would ever want, city, beach, shopping, nightlife, good food and great people. As my trip is nearing the end I am learning to take in every moment I have here and not miss out on anything.
I went back home to work on a 20-minute presentation I had the next day but the girls went off to get some decorations for that night. The Thursday we were leaving to Austria was Julia’s30th Birthday, so we decided to throw her a party at our apartment before we left. It was a surprise party and we invited all of GSE to come and have dinner and cocktails. Luckily everyone showed up with enough time for Julia to come up to have a “quiet dinner” with us, but soon found out that it was a huge party just for her. Everyone enjoyed themselves and ate the pasta and salad we made and the “chocolate croissant cake” we made for Julia(my favorite!) It turned out to be a great party and Julia was definitely very emotional when she walked in but was so thankful. She definitely deserved anight dedicated to just her with people around her that love her! The girls all went out but I stayed in because I had to finish up my presentation for the next morning.
I woke up bright and early Wednesday to get everything ready for my presentation and walked to class. My presentation went very well and I was happy for it to be over with. We all relaxed the rest of the night and packed for Vienna. Our flight was really early so we all went to bed quite early.
I feel that waking up early is becoming a routine on our weekend trips, but this time I didn’t care because I was so excited to go to Vienna!! At 9am we boarded our 2-hour flight and anxiously awaited our arrival into Austria. I didn’t know too much about Vienna but I heard it was gorgeous, so I was excited to explore it for myself. I was even more excited because my grandpa grew up in Austria and just being there I felt as if he was with me the whole time.
The others who had already been to Vienna recommended us a hostel, that was supposed to be really fun and really clean. Our hostel was called Wombats, and there were two in Vienna.The first night we stayed at “The Base” and the next two nights at “The Lounge.” The hostel was so nice inside and out and definitely made sure we had the best accommodations for what we were paying. There was a lounge with computers, a kitchen and eating area, and they had its very own “WomBar.” There was a big group of us total that was going to be in Vienna but only Ash, Jess and I were staying in the hostel.
We got ourselves settled and met up with Mikey and Dionne who were staying at ahotel not too far from our hostel. We walked around the area where our hostel was and found a place to eat. We ate at the cutest Café that looked very typical of Austria and had some real Viennese food. We were all starving so we were all ready for any type of food. I wasn’t going to come to Vienna without trying some traditional Austrian food. I got “Rindsgulasch mitNockerin und Salat” (Beef Goulash with Dumplings and a salad). I thought it was soo good and it definitely filled my starving body. I think that we all ate so much that we went into a deep food coma and were all ready for nap, which was exactly what we did. After traveling and good food, we all needed some rest time.
After our nap we all got up and got ready to go out later that night. We headed down to the “Wombar” for some cocktails and some snacks since we weren’t too hungry. We were planning on going out into the city center but with all the great drink specials and snacks, we ended up staying at the hostel all night. We met some Italian boys from Milan and they kept buying rounds and rounds of tequila for us, so we couldn’t just leave them, so we laughed the night away and the three of us girls had a blast!!
We woke up the next morning and packed all our stuff up because we were going to be staying at the other Wombats hostel tonight. Before we left, we had the 3.50 euro buffet breakfast, which was great and got so much for our money. There was everything you wanted, fruit, cereal, meat, bread and a treat, Peanut Butter, which we don’t see much of in Spain! We walked about 10 minutes with our luggage to “the Lounge” and checked in. We left our stuff in the luggage storage and met up with Alex and Goose to do some sightseeing. We figured out the metro and tram stations and ended up in front of the State Opera House to catch the hop on/off bus tour around the city. We got our tickets and got on to do one of the three tours around the city. We took the bus around the whole loop so we could get a taste of Vienna and see all the gorgeous buildings, churches and cafes along the way. We ended up back at the Opera House where we ended up buying tickets for later thatnight to a ballet/opera/orchestra all in one. I was so unbelievably excited because I love this type of stuff and I really wanted to get a taste of the Austrian culture.
We stopped for coffee and apple strudel at a cute pink café near the opera house called, Aida. It was our first apple strudel and wow was it good! After we had some good dessert we headed to the Vienna Museum of FineArts to look at some classic paintings and other exhibits. It is one of the most famous museums in the world for the type of art it holds, and it definitely held up to its name.There was room after room of gorgeous paintings from Spanish, Italian and Austrian painters. We went around admiring the art and then exited to go on to another museum, The Museum of Natural History. It ended up being 8 euro to get in but some how Alexand Mikey got us in for free so went on in. It was actually a really cool/creepy museum which I would probably not pay that much to get in, but since it was free, I liked it. It basically consisted of every single animal you can think of…stuffed!! That is the creepy part of it! Haha but itwas interesting to see all these animals up-close. We didn’t stay too long because looking at dead animals for more than an hour isn’t really our thing, so we headed out.
After going to the museums we decided to go to the Belvedere Palace (yes, like the vodkaJ)and took the tram to get there. The public transportation is really easy and is actually “free.” I say it like that because they never checked for tickets, so we walked right onto the trams or metros. The palace was incredible and had gardens are either side. We walked around the grounds and the gardens taking pictures and just loving the scenery before we all decided we were hungry for lunch. We literally walked across the street and found the place we wanted to eat, after Jess popped her inside and thought it was a good choice. Everyone took risks and had Schnitzels, Pasta, and as I know them as,“German hotdogs”. It was allso good. Since we were the only ones in the restaurant the owner came out and seemed to like us a lot so he brought us a bottle for wine “on the house.” The owner was from Greece so he gave us some wine that was typical from there, and it was actually very good. He kept coming over to our table and filling up our glasses and by the end of the meal we had drank three bottles of wine. By the end of the lunch we were all pretty tipsy, not by choice, but we felt obligated to drink the free wine given to us. J
We headed back to our hostel and got our stuff from the luggage room and situated ourselves in our new room. We met up with Lisa who was coming with us to the opera and decided to go downstairs for happy hour in the Wombar. I was pretty “wined” out so I just stuck to one beer for the night. After everyone had a few drinks we took off to go to the opera. I was so excited because this was our first real “cultural experience” in Austria and I of course love the ballet. It was absolutely beautiful and I just had a smile on my face the whole night. It switched from orchestra to ballet to opera, which was good because none of us got bored. The last ballet piece was from Swan Lake, one of my favorite ballets, so my smile got even bigger! It was definitely worth it to go and I personally loved every minute of it. On the way home Ash and I decided that is a good time to sing the ENTIRE Rent soundtrack, and that is exactly what we did. I had my Ipod on me, so when I say the entire soundtrack,I’m not lying! It was actually pretty hilarious watching everyone stare at us but we didn’t care because we were in the best moods and just living the life! We went back to the WomBar for a little bit when we got back but I was exhausted so I left the group and just went to sleep.
Saturday was our last full day in Vienna so we wanted to make it our best, and we definitely did! We got breakfast at the hostel, which everyday I loved more and more (well because of the peanut butter!) We took the tram to the metro and tram to the front of the opera house and hopped on the tour bus again. This time we took a different line that brought us around to the Belvedere Palace as well as the Schönbrunn Palace. Since we already went to the Belvederewe decided to just stay on the bus until it took us back to the operahouse. I love just sitting backand taking all the scenery in with no specific agenda. I feel as though I appreciate it more and also because on the bus we are given headphones that explains the history of each place.
We got off back at the State Opera house and walked to the Naschmarkt, an open-airmarket very similar to our Boqueria. We of course immediately loved it because of all of the fresh fruit,meats, cheese and a ton of outdoor restaurants. We walked up and down it working up an appetite and stopped at Sushi restaurant that looked very appealing. We all got some amazing sushi, a little weird because we were in Austria, but it was really good! After lunch we continued walking down and ran into the “flea-market” which was basically people’s old crap everywhere. I actually found it quite interesting to look at all the old stuff people had and I even bought some buttons from a lady that had thousands and thousands. It was a great day of walking around and really taking in what Austria has to offer, I loved it! We all had the bathroom so we decided to find a café to go but ended up staying and having a cappuccino. The waiter was really nice and loved the fact that we were from America so he gave us “special” coffees. We were a little nervous to see what they were but he ended up giving us coffees that were nicely decorated with flowers made from the foam and chocolate. We took our time drinking our cappuccinos and when we were finished we made our way back to the Opera House, buying dried fruit on the way.
We took the last route around Vienna on the hop on and off bus, which went more outside the city and near the Danube River. We were all so tired so we didn’t get off at any of the stops but just stayed on and enjoyed the views. Once again we were dropped off at the State Opera House and this time walked to the metro station instead of taking the tram. We walked to Hapsburg Palace, which was beautiful, and had horse drawn carriages outside everywhere. We walked into the square where we found another cute café but this time we wanted apple strudel. It was a famous café that had a whole part of the menu dedicated to the history of it and the amazing apple strudels. And let me tell you it was some amazing apple strudel! It was warm and had vanilla ice cream with it.We have definitely found a dessert treat in every country that we love to have…. Spain- chocolate croissants, Italy-Gelato, Portugal- custard pies and Austria- apple strudel…. maybe that’s why my pants are fitting a little tighter these days 
After we had some delicious dessert we walked to Volksgarten and it was so gorgeous. The buildings surrounding it were big, white and looked so grand and the gardens surrounding were so lush and green. We were trying to find the exit when we ran into a little playground, which of course we ran to like little kids. Probably for a good hour we played on the seesaws and merry-go-round type thing like we were kids again and had the best time!!It is probably one of my favorite memories of this entire trip because we were so carefree and just laughing hysterically the whole time.
We went back to the hostel and met up for Lisa to have our last dinner in Vienna. Our hostel recommended a really good Viennese restaurant that was around the corner, so we decided to go there. The food, wine (Jess of course made a cheers to our trip) and beer were all so amazing and the ambiance of the restaurant just made it the perfect night. I had potato dumplings with ground beef in the inside, which was so so good but didn’t feel too well on my stomach. It was a really heavy meal so I ended up just going back to our hostel and passing out.
Sunday we flew back to Barcelona, which was a bitter sweet because I absolutely loved Vienna! It has to be one of my favorite places I have been thus far. It was so great to learn and enjoy apart of my heritage and to see where my Grandpa was from. I definitely would like to go back with my mom to the town where my Grandpa grew up in and really learn more about my family. Next stop, I need to go to Germany with my grandma so I can learn about where she grew up and where she came from!
We got home and just relaxed the rest of the night because we were ready for another crazy week in Barcelona. Ashley’s sister, Chrissy was in town for a week for her spring break, so we knew that it was going to a busy week.
Pictures:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2121887&l=7496d&id=24605373
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2121903&l=12ed3&id=24605373
LOVE YOU ALL SO SO MUCH!!!!
