‘Hey I saw you had these pancakes at the counter, I would like one of those!’ ‘Ehm those were the home-made Turkish Börek our chef’s mom uses to bring him to work.’ Well, hello Vienna, Lisa has arrived! This trip to Vienna is something I’ve always wanted to do. Why haven’t I? I kept postponing, partially due to others. I can get very committed when it comes to making plans with friends. But sometimes things just don’t turn out the way you were planning to and the best in that situation is to be flexible and simply adapt your plans to meet your own needs. So I grabbed the opportunity and my sweet friend and just went to finally visit Vienna.
Visit Vienna last minute
Yup, just having returned from my latest trip in Egypt where I went for scuba diving, I felt that urge to get back out there inside of me right when I got back. Easy solution for that problem is to simply book the next flight. Barcelona is what came to mind first but flights were crazy expensive and at stupid times during the day. I was jokingly making plans with my friend to go on a road trip to Bruges, Belgium instead. But then, I came across an awesome flight so it was time to visit Vienna. Well, Bruges I’ll come check you out eventually as well. It’s a thing you gotta love about Europe, being able to hop on a plane and interact with all kinds of different cultures without having to take an intercontinental flight.
A Cappuccino, please!
I was living off cappuccino the whole weekend. Didn’t expect it to be so good I gotta admit. There were too many cafés to check out so we had countless cappuccinos. And another thing I definitely didn’t expect was the variety of clean food choices. I basically was expecting schnitzel, applestrudel and ‘Mozartkugeln’ (side note: they do not only have the Mozartkugeln sweets but also ‘Mozartkugeln Schnaps’). What I found instead were hip cafés with various clean food options like tasty bowls and all home-made dishes. A cute choice to start the day is ‘Figar 1070’ or ‘Treubleiben’ which is located right next door. They are both cute places with the Vienna typical seating areas on the street. A definite must and bit more fancier option is ‘Motto am Fluss’ – do me the favor an go, it’s overlooking the water and we caught an insanely beautiful summer day and got the full experience. You will have to see and taste it for yourself.
Save the best for the last. In the midst of a secluded area in Vienna, we found ourselves wandering around. Almost loosing hope we would ever find that insider tip we had read about. Luckily my friend and I think alike so we just kept going, took a turn left, walked inside a house, and there it was….our breakfast oasis ‘Turnhalle’. I honestly had the best breakfast in my life there. Everything was home-made and clean food…from several pies to sweet potato rings baked with eggs to vegan jam and nut nougat spread. If you, on top of that, want to see something very traditional you should visit ‘Café Central’ which is built inside a Palais. The food looked delicious. Unfortunately, we were still too stuffed from our brunch at Turnhalle.
Love for Detail
One thing I found particularly adorable during our trip to Vienna were the many details you would find when wandering around the city. The traffic signs are designed with such a cute love for detail. In the u train they had the mindful announcement. ‘Please reconsider and keep in mind that other passengers might need your seat more necessary‘, very classy. You should also take your time to walk through the art district away from the typical historical tourist attractions. I was so surprised how much of an arty and vibrant touch Vienna has to offer.
Amazing History to see when you visit Vienna
I never expected the city to have such a hip culture side as well. If you want to cover the historical side of Vienna though you should of course visit ‘Castle Schoenbrunn’ and ‘Castle Belvedere’. Historical building like the ‘Stephansdom’ and ‘Karlskirche’ are definitely worth a visit as well. Good thing about Vienna is that history and modern aspects mix together. While strolling along mid town you will easily come across some of the historical spots. I was a fan of that concept since I don’t want to devote all my time to visit museums but rather want to focus on really experiencing a city.
Unique Art by the Artist ‘Hundertwasser’
Another very famous aspect of Vienna is that it’s home to the famous artist Hundertwasser who designed numerous buildings with his very unique playful yet modern style. We actually thought the ‘Kunsthaus Wien’ was a bit better to explore since there is more space on the street and I personally liked the style even better than the original ‘Hundertwasser House’. One thing that is never mentioned in all the tourist guides but extremely unique is the ‘Spittelau Waste Incineration plant’ that was also designed by Hundertwasser. We got lost in one of the districts and surprisingly came across it. We had so many moments of ‘luckily we got lost or we hadn’t discovered this and that’.
Best Way to end the Day when you visit Vienna
Now to finish off the day, you should grab an ice-cream at ‘Tuchlauben’ at the infamous ‘Karlsplatz’. It’s the hub for all the u trains and will take you anywhere you want to go underground. Above ground you’ll find amazing buildings and shops. Also, between U Karlsplatz and U Kettenbrückengasse you will find the ‘Naschmarkt’ which is a big market with all kind of different food selections and a great vibe. Now, if you want to see something completely different in the late evening hours make your way to the ‘Donauinsel’ and hang out in one of the beach clubs (We went to ‘Vienna City Beach Club’, not sure about the crowds hanging out there how hip it actually is but we definitely had a good time sitting right at the water watching the sun set) or go for a wake boarding session. I thought it was super cool that you are actually able to reach these with public transportation.
Our hotel is in district 19! District? Are we in Panem, or what?
Our hotel ‘Nadland Apartments’ was supper funny as it didn’t have a reception and we had no human contact at all. We checked-in by entering a code for the main door. Afterwards, we simply opened a locker box with a second code to receive both key cards. Simple as that. Again a technological level I didn’t necessarily expect in Vienna. Great apartment by the way, not the most central but a very big room and the most comfy box-spring. And finally, complimentary water to your coffee. Germany is so strict when it comes to that. But in Vienna you didn’t have to worry as they always serve a big glass of water with your coffee/drink. Now my story with my friend I went with is again something special. Actually we had lost contact for a couple of years and randomly got back in touch. Now, we keep joking that what belongs together apparently finds its way back to each other. Well, I guess this doesn’t always solely have to apply to romantic relationships.