Julie and John’s Excellent Adventure – Part 3 – Wien

It’s 5pm and dark already – winter is definitely on its way. Off the train from Venice we need to change to the U bahn, and then change lines to the Hostel. But – no problem, there are LIFTS, escalators and ramps – life is easy in Vienna

Dinner in the Naschmarkt – right out the front of the hostel, it is endless rows of fresh fruit, vegetables, spices, olives, nougat, pretty much anything you can imagine – then the bars and restaurants. We go for Vietnamese/Thai and get a special room out the back in the grocery store as it is so full – it’s actually nicer than being in a packed restaurant!

Spanish Riding School

Up to enjoy the Hostel’s €3,70 all you can eat breakfast buffet and then to the Spanish Horseriding School performance at the Hofburg palace. I love how it looks like a ballroom, complete with chandeliers until you look down and see the sand on the floor. It is such a grand and elegant city – I would feel perfectly at home here, pity I’m not eligible for a visa. Unless I marry an Austrian……..

The show has many segments, all MC’d in first German, then English – my favourite is when the perfectly trained white Lipizzaner horses perform their exercises that look like dancing and tricks such as standing on their hind legs – with the rider on their back. Amazing – such beautiful creatures

We sightsee the city – the Opera House, Hofburg Palace, St Stephens Dom , H&M, Zara, Museums Quarter…….and decide that it makes sense to eat dinner at around 5pm – the locals are doing it

Schonbrunn Palace

Bit of an adventure the next morning – head to the Hofburg Musik Kapelle to see the Vienna Boys Choir perform – location as confirmed with the ticket sales assistant the previous day. Getting a bit nervous when no one else is waiting 10 minutes prior to the scheduled performance time – then a couple appear and we are reassured – before they phone a friend to find out it is actually being held at another venue (where we collected the tickets from, thanks sales assistant) – they offer us a lift and we rush to their car and speed to the right venue. Only 5 minutes late we have to wait for the first applause break to enter – and the usher upgrades our standing place tickets (that we paid €6 for) to front row seats! We hope that our rescuers didn’t see us being swept down to the front row from their seats…………… fantastic 2 hour  concert of orchestra and choir all in an elegant ballroom of course – we feel slightly underdressed as apparently suits are quite normal here at 11am on a Sunday morning. I love it!

Dad's new job - guarding Schonbrunn

Wiener schnitzel and potato salad

A break to try the famous Sacher Torte and then out to Schönbrunn Palace to see how I was meant to live………a tour, complete with interesting insight into the daily lives of the Habsburgs, through 22 of the 1000+ rooms of the palace – one of the loveliest and most elegantly decorated palaces I have seen. The gardens are also extensive and beautiful – particularly stunning now with the autumn leaves in full display. A great restaurant recommendation from an ex-local leads us out the side entrance and into a Viennese style beer hall – the BEST Wiener schnitzel and potato salad I’ve had, plus a cherry schnapps that gets Julie quite happy and in fits of giggles on the metro home

Bratislava Castle

Bratislava city centre

Day 3 we head on an hour train ride to Bratislava, capital of Slovakia. The direction upon arrival was lacking but we manage to find the correct bus to get us into the main part of town.  A beautiful little place of less than ½ million people, lovely old buildings, quirky statues all through the old town and a castle on the hill with impressive views of the city. Would be great to visit in summer when you can arrive via boat on the Twin City Liner along the Danube. 

Vienna – So long, farewell, auf wiedersehn, adieu…………off to Salzburg!