Tom and Lauren Take Europe: Vienna

Ahhh Vienna! So many wonderful things to say about this place! This past weekend we packed our bags and headed on our first trip since moving to Europe. We went with two other friends from Prague and we couldn't have asked for better company. We arrived in the evening and quickly learned that we don't necessarily enjoy coming to a new city in the evening. It was dark, many restaurants were done serving food, and learning a new metro system is difficult at the end of the day. Although we felt inconvenienced we were able to convince a kitchen to stay open a little longer and safely found a place to lay our heads for the night. When we woke up Saturday we were off to explore the city. The first thing we noticed was how much more modern Vienna was than Prague and also how wide the streets were. In Prague the builds are so tall and the streets are so narrow that you almost feel claustrophobic, where as in Vienna it was like a breath of fresh air! We walked over 17 miles on Saturday exploring the city. We saw all the major tourist attractions, as well as, a few of the local hang outs. One of our friends what we went on the trip with had a friend that lived in Vienna that offered to show us around. Our first stop was an authentic Viennese restaurant. We had the schnitzel and Le Cordon Bleu with side salads. Although, to our surprise the salad had potatoes and sauerkraut on a bed of lettuce, tomatoes, and carrots. It was a very strange looking salad, but surprisingly good! One of our favorite parts of our visit to Vienna was the Naschmarkt. (Sadly we didn't think to get pictures) The Naschmarkt was a combination of a flea market and farmers market. They had fresh fish, wine, beer, fruits, tea, specialty treats, meat, freshly pressed juices, and much more. We also visited St. Stephan's Cathedral which was absolutely breathtaking. I thought the churches in Kutna Hora were beautiful but they did not compare after seeing St. Stephan's. Overall, Vienna was a beautiful city that we would love to go back to! They have two rivers that run through the city that make for amazing walks and beautiful scenery.