Vienna 1

Vienna Day 1

Today marks my first trip outside of the United States.  Seriously, I haven’t even been to Mexico or Canada! So, I must say I am extremely excited.  I will be traveling to Vienna and Salzburg in Austria and then Munich, Germany.  I am embarking on this trip with my boyfriend and his mom.  Brian’s mom has wanted to make this trip for some time and was gracious enough to ask us to come with her! 

Technically today spanned January 2^nd as well as January 3^rd because of all the traveling.  Our flight took off from Chicago O’Hare around 6 p.m. and arrived in London at 7:45 a.m.  We had to taxi above the airport for around 30 minutes due to high winds.  These high winds also caused a 3 hour delay for our plane to Vienna.  We sat at Heathrow until around 2 p.m. and then arrived in Vienna at 5 p.m.  It was a long day of traveling, but I was lucky enough to sleep quite a bit on the first flight and in the London airport. 

When we arrived in Vienna, we were fairly exhausted, especially Brian and his mom since they slept much less than I did.  However, WE WE’RE FINALLY IN VIENNA! Brian and I took a shuttle to our youth hostel and his mom took a taxi to her hotel.  We freshened up a bit (I NEEDED to brush my teeth, it was grossing me out) and then we met up for dinner and to do some sightseeing.

When I say we met up, I actually mean: Brian and I got seriously lost walking to his mom’s hotel, did a ton of walking, and finally found her.  The hotel is about a mile away from our hostel, but after missing the street, not being able to find street signs, and actually getting the street name wrong, we did a lot more walking than one mile.  We finally found her hotel, which looks very nice, and we asked the front desk for directions to the Stephensdom (smart move this time).  We were also pretty sick of walking at this point and so we asked the lady for directions involving some form of transportation.  She recommended the U-bahn, which is the high-speed subway system in Vienna.  I was a little nervous about this because I really did not want to get lost again, but it was really easy to use and the directions we received were extremely simple and clear.  We hopped on the train and made it to the Stephensdom, no problem. 

The Stephensdom: the number 1 must see attraction according to our Vienna travel book.  It did not disappoint.  This giant, gothic cathedral was absolutely stunning.  I was completely awed.  It was under construction and we could not access all areas, but what we did see was amazing. 

After the cathedral, we walked around and found the Mozarthaus.  This was closed, but we were glad to find it and at least see the outside.  We might make it back to check out the inside, but we only have three days here and our trip became even shorter after our travel delay. 

After all of this, we were STARVING.  It was around 8:30 p.m., which in Austria is called 20:30, and therefore, our bodies felt like it was 1:30 p.m. and that we had missed a whole night of sleep.  Needless to say, we were feeling a bit strange, but we wanted to eat.  We found this cute restaurant/café called cafe Diglas near the Mozarthaus, and I was sold as soon as I saw the dessert display in front.  Oh my goodness, desserts in Vienna are unbelievable! All three of us ordered omelets and then we tried a piece of the Sachertorte.  This is supposed to be one of the most famous desserts from around the world, the number one dessert in Vienna according to our book, and it did not disappoint.  It was amazing! This chocolate cake was coated with an apricot glaze and then covered with a thin layer of chocolate frosting.  Wow, it was good.

After dinner, we successfully made it back to the hotel by train (I was really excited by how good we were getting at this) and then Brian and I walked back (the right way!) to our hostel. 

The hostel is really very nice.  It is small, but it’s perfect for what we need: a place to sleep and use the bathroom.  There is even a breakfast area, bar, and laundry room.  Everyone here seems nice and the area is great.  We are on the Mariahilferstrasse, which is known for it’s great shopping.  Anyways, at this point in my day I was just so glad to be able to lie down and get some sleep.  Day 1: such a success.  I can’t believe I am here!  More to come tomorrow J Goodnight!