I am a Gentleman, Not a Soap Boiler

When you're home from a trip, does it ever feel funny to think about how the places you visit continue on in the same way as though you were never there? All the wonderful places you visit continue being wonderful even when you aren't visiting them... for example, someone is probably eating a hot dog in a pretzel loaf in Switzerland or sitting on the beach in Puerto Vallarta or having pancakes in Stockholm... even though I haven't been to any of those places or done those things in a year or more... someone else is. I don't know why I think about that because it usually just makes me sad :P Anyway, Vienna is exactly as I remembered it being as though it didn't skip a beat. I remembered it as the most vibrant and colorful city I've ever been to (and not just because they fly rainbow banners from City Hall). Between locals, students and tourists, Vienna's streets and parks are always overflowing with life; music can be heard around every corner and options for eating and drinking are endless from the hundreds of cafes to food trucks and Weiner stands. It's a city that feels more lived in than simply existing for history and tourist attractions. It's easy to immerse yourself in the hustle and bustle and become part of the city rather than just visitor. Vienna welcomes you with open arms and live music to live for two days or for forever... and when you're not there... Vienna waits for you.  (No I did not purposely work in that quote... it just worked out nicely, didn't it?)

I don't have enough good words for this city. Andy asked me once why I describe Vienna as my favorite city in the world, but I didn't really know how to answer. I said because the way it makes me feel when I'm there. My heart just feels lighter and the city just feels so alive that it's contagious. There really is music playing everywhere. Maybe that has something to do with it? I've also always had gorgeous weather when I'm there which creates this illusion (that I prefer not to break right now) that Vienna is 75 and sunny every day of the year.

We arrived late Thursday night by train through the beautiful German and Austrian countryside. From Nuremberg, it's four hours and about forty five minutes to get to Vienna... actually faster than driving, though. Our hostel is so close to Naschmarkt that you could fall out of your bed and be handed a free falafel by the workers (if you're lucky, they'll dunk it in hummus first). Unfortunately, it's a far walk from the train station and it was 10pm by the time we arrived, so we took the subway... only three stops but two different lines. Eric and Emily were supposed to arrive in the morning, so we figured we'd get a drink at the bar before bed... since it was gin and tonic night. How do you turn that down, right? TWO gin and tonics for €5.50... two! The night got away from us... as you'd expect on gin and tonic night. We made some great new friends at the bar - Maria and Hiasl from southern Germany. Hours of discussion ranging from school, engineering, language to politics... American politics... German politics, Austrian politics, French politics... several gin and tonics and maybe a pint of beer later... we were being kicked out of the bar. Ooops... Eric and Emily were supposed to arrive in like 4.5 hours... ehhh, vacation. Memories are more important than sleep (and everyone wonders why I say I need a stay-cation after my vacations... it's because we don't sleep).

We woke up groggily about 5 hours later when Emily messaged us that they had arrived. They came in on a night train from Prague (don't take night trains, we all decided they're a bad choice... lucky for Andy and I, we decided that before we ever booked one. hehe). Since we had a private room and check out wasn't until 10, we all took turns showering before heading in search of breakfast made up completely of apple strudel... and coffee. Don't forget the coffee. We dumped all our luggage in storage as we won't be able to check into our 4-bed room until later. We found strudel really close by inside Naschmarkt, snarfed it down and then headed back to the hostel for the free walking tour. Breakfast of champions.

This walking tour was great but it was looooooooooong. It was given by a guy who is extremely passionate about history, culture and most of all... the history and culture of Vienna :P We didn't do a tour the last time we were in this city, so I think we quite enjoyed learning about all the beautiful buildings were were looking at. Probably the most invaluable part of the tour was our guide telling us where to get the best ice cream, apple strudel and schnitzel at the end. And if you're wondering if we possibly made it to all three places... yes. yes we did.

Where was that schnitzel place again? How many engineers does it take to read a map... ;)

"Found it" ... just kidding, we were looking for the National Library.

This statue is rather violent

It wouldn't be Vienna without festivals, food and music around every corner

City Hall!

Parliament

National Library! This was our first time here, it's €7 to get in, which was a little high but we're glad we did it. Besides it being a massive, beautiful library with a ceiling adorned with frescos, the museum portion is dedicated to the life of Habsburg emperor Franz Joseph I

The library is located in Hofburg Palace which housed all the monarchs from the Habsburg dynasty... can you imagine living here?

This was our first time seeing this building too! It's another concert house that's also used by the University of Vienna. 

"hey guys turn around"

That night we went to the opera at Vienna State Opera (Weiner Straatsoper)... We had bought our tickets months ago for nearly $100 each for decent seats. You can pay maybe €3ish for standing room tickets if you want to wait in line, though! Real tickets range from about €30 to €200... we weren't messing around this time. If you've heard about my last trip to Vienna... we bought really questionable concert tickets from guys on the street dressed like Mozart (don't do that!). You can buy your opera tickets online up to three months in advance and then you just pick them up at will call one hour before the show (just bring your confirmation). We picked up our tickets and then went and ate "the best" ice cream (as recommended by our tour guide) while killing time before the show.

The opera we were seeing was Der Rosenkavalier by Richard Strauss which premiered in 1911. The opera is in German, but each seat had a small screen producing subtitles in either German or English. Some of the translations were so comical, you had to wonder how accurate they were... although Der Rosenkavalier is a satire. At one point the main male role says "You're talking to a gentleman, not a soap boiler!"

If we do the opera again, it'll probably be in winter... much like all the other buildings in Germany and Austria, the opera house did not have any AC running. We're SO used to AC, you really realize how hot building with a lot of people can get without it. We were sweating throughout the show... fortunately we could spend the intermissions on the rooftop terrace where it was significantly cooler.

FLASHBACK: Concert hall of tickets we bought from the Mozart guys on the street (2013)

Vienna State Opera, 2016 :)

View from our seats

Rooftop terrace

View from the terrace

More of the terrace

After the show we drank wine and ate Weiners in loaves (not a pretzel loaf though) in the square across the street. Our walking tour guide said that it gets swarmed after the opera lets out every night and many people (including the musicians) congregate there to drink wine and discuss the show. Sure enough, the line was super long by the time we got there but it was well worth it. We didn't meet any musicians though... 

It was nearly midnight by the time we got back to the hostel bar (it was rum and coke night... gross... every night should be gin and tonic night) and we didn't last too long before heading to bed. It was our last night to sleep in; I still had a rose garden to see the next morning and we still had the best apple strudel and schnitzel to eat. It was a wonderful night to be in the most wonderful city.