July 24-26, 2015
When I think of the word "wiener", the first thought in my mind is not a hot dog. It's something else, with a similar shape; something that 10 year old boys find amusing. The word still makes me chuckle every time I hear it. For example, my grandma had a wiener dog named Jasper, and I loved telling people that it was a wiener dog every time I could. Baseball fans consume wieners at ballgames, Germans eat schnitzel made from wiener, and my old roommate Geoff used to randomly say "wiener" all the time. All of these things make me giggle, and yes, including right now. Super mature, I know. After my first trip to Vienna, I now know that "Wiener" means "Viennese" in German! That's super boring, and almost ruined the word for me. So although I feel a bit more enlightened, I will still do my best to giggle any time someone says "wiener" to me (or anytime I see a sign in Vienna with the word "Wiener" in it - which was a lot).
About 2 years ago, Igors' sister Inga moved to Vienna for her job. Also about two years ago, I told Inga I would visit her there. Somehow two years passed and I still hadn't stepped foot in Wiener Town. So on the weekend of July 25, 2015, her last weekend there, I had to go, with or without Igors (and according to my parents' sarcastic joke on Facebook, they would prefer without Igors).
Zosia decided to come with, and we headed out on a Friday afternoon, without a single clue what we could do there (except eat wiener schnitzel and vienna sausage). By the way, a couple notes about Vienna Sausage.
1. I used to love the tiny canned sausages when I was a kid. Now they seem super disgusting, but still nostalgic, so I'd probably eat a can if it was in front of me.
2. Vienna sausage = Wiener sausage = Wiener wiener = 2 times the giggles.
I have a few travel tips to share with you, one of them brought to my attention thanks to my boss, Angela.
- there are two different trains that go from the airport to the city center...one of them "normal", the other "express", both of them pretty frequent. The price was something like 10 Euros difference, but it only saved about 10 minutes. So if your time is worth 1 Euro per minute, take the Express. Otherwise, normal people can take the normal train. Somehow, a lot of people still take the Express...either the marketing of the Express is really good, or these people aren't as "CCM" as I am.
- If you buy two tickets at the same time (i.e. put "2 travelers" into the ticket kiosk rather than each person buying them separately), the incremental price of the second ticket is 20 cents. One person costs 4.20, two people cost 4.40, total. At first I thought it was a mistake, but after clicking through the buttons again, it came to the same price. It's worth asking a stranger to buy a joint ticket if you are traveling alone...it can save you two Euros if you're CCM!!!!!
Inga was a great host. When we arrived at her apartment (after a super cold shower because it was so hot), she had 4 cold beers and snacks waiting. We tasted different Austrian beers, up to 14% in alcohol content. It was a great welcome drink. Inga even had a short presentation prepared for us to give some information about each style. I felt like in a professional beer tasting!
Not only was Inga good at having beers in the apartment, she was amazing at taking us around the city. I didn't have any idea or plan what we could see in the city, but Inga planned the days with very interesting sites, and most importantly, food. After beers we went to Rathausplatz (this name is hilarious - the platz where the rats have a house?) where they were showing ballet on a huge video screen in front of the city hall (apparently that's what Rathausplatz means), and thousands of people watching and walking around the outdoor food court. There were 20 restaurant choices from Austrian to Australian, American to Asian. I had to make a few laps before deciding what to eat. It was a really fun place to spend a casual evening, with good food, a couple drinks, some ballet and people watching. Inga took us around the center before getting back home, needing another shower due to the sticky Summer night.
Day 2 of Inga's Tour of Wiener Town was another enlightening one. As usual, the day revolved around food. After breakfast, we decided to have dessert, naturally, trying the famous Sacher Torte from the original shop, as well as some apple strudel. The strudel was better in my opinion. In fact, although it looks great, I don't know anyone who actually thinks Sacher Torte tastes amazing. It's OK at best. I'd try it if it was in front of me, but I wouldn't order it in a restaurant (I feel the same way about brussel sprouts and blood sausage, so it's not saying much). After some more walking, it was time for a rest in the park. Since we had already eaten breakfast and dessert, we weren't too hungry for lunch, so we picked up some snacks and hung out in the park next to the national library. It was super peaceful and relaxing, and I even snoozed off for a bit.
I learned about Gustav Klimt and his famous painting "The Kiss", which looks more like a girl with a broken neck collapsing to the ground, and the guy trying to keep her up. Not sure that's what he was going for, but that's what I see. I also witnessed Hundertwasser architecture for the first time. He designed several buildings around the city, and the most intellectual and professional word I can find to describe it is "fun". His buildings just seem happy. I also learned that the Empress Elizabeth (not to be confused with the Queen of England) was called Sisi, but I still have no idea how you get Sisi from Elizabeth.
Schonbrunn Palace was amazing, with an adjacent hill overlooking the palace, labyrinths, and garden. There were lots of joggers and we could imagine Alan organizing a WITC run up the super steep hills. Belvedere Palace Art museum had a bunch of Klimt originals, and of course I got in trouble for taking pictures. Naschmarkt was nice long strip of restaurants, bars and shops - a nice place to wander around, day or night.
A few quick Wiener tips:
- Check out the bars and restaurants along the river. There's even a barge on the river with a swimming pool
- There are free water fountains all over the city, so bring your own bottle
- You can buy newspapers from bags that hang on poles around the city - I guess you pay for what you take, on the honor system.
- Go to Salm Brau for almdudler radler beer, and the best schnitzel I ever had.
- Beware that Vienna sausage is just a hot dog.
- You can take up to 100ml of alcohol on the plane in your carry on. I never knew this, but it was no problem coming back to PL.
I loved the creativity (and social statement) of some of the pedestrian cross walks. They had different combinations of couples - guys, girls, or mixed, sometimes holding hands, sometimes just friends. I almost caused a traffic jam while taking pictures of the Don't Walk people, standing in the cross walk while cars were coming.
The most important part of the trip was that now I will not misspell the word as "weiner" anymore, since I know the root of the word is Wien. Wiener, wiener, wiener. See how good I am now? I'm one more step towards becoming a complete human being.
When I think of the word "wiener", the first thought in my mind is not a hot dog. It's something else, with a similar shape; something that 10 year old boys find amusing. The word still makes me chuckle every time I hear it. For example, my grandma had a wiener dog named Jasper, and I loved telling people that it was a wiener dog every time I could. Baseball fans consume wieners at ballgames, Germans eat schnitzel made from wiener, and my old roommate Geoff used to randomly say "wiener" all the time. All of these things make me giggle, and yes, including right now. Super mature, I know. After my first trip to Vienna, I now know that "Wiener" means "Viennese" in German! That's super boring, and almost ruined the word for me. So although I feel a bit more enlightened, I will still do my best to giggle any time someone says "wiener" to me (or anytime I see a sign in Vienna with the word "Wiener" in it - which was a lot).
About 2 years ago, Igors' sister Inga moved to Vienna for her job. Also about two years ago, I told Inga I would visit her there. Somehow two years passed and I still hadn't stepped foot in Wiener Town. So on the weekend of July 25, 2015, her last weekend there, I had to go, with or without Igors (and according to my parents' sarcastic joke on Facebook, they would prefer without Igors).
Zosia decided to come with, and we headed out on a Friday afternoon, without a single clue what we could do there (except eat wiener schnitzel and vienna sausage). By the way, a couple notes about Vienna Sausage.
1. I used to love the tiny canned sausages when I was a kid. Now they seem super disgusting, but still nostalgic, so I'd probably eat a can if it was in front of me.
2. Vienna sausage = Wiener sausage = Wiener wiener = 2 times the giggles.
I have a few travel tips to share with you, one of them brought to my attention thanks to my boss, Angela.
- there are two different trains that go from the airport to the city center...one of them "normal", the other "express", both of them pretty frequent. The price was something like 10 Euros difference, but it only saved about 10 minutes. So if your time is worth 1 Euro per minute, take the Express. Otherwise, normal people can take the normal train. Somehow, a lot of people still take the Express...either the marketing of the Express is really good, or these people aren't as "CCM" as I am.
- If you buy two tickets at the same time (i.e. put "2 travelers" into the ticket kiosk rather than each person buying them separately), the incremental price of the second ticket is 20 cents. One person costs 4.20, two people cost 4.40, total. At first I thought it was a mistake, but after clicking through the buttons again, it came to the same price. It's worth asking a stranger to buy a joint ticket if you are traveling alone...it can save you two Euros if you're CCM!!!!!
A fahrt in Wiener town. I'll never grow up.
Inga's beer and snack tasting tour
I think the space bar was broken
Not only was Inga good at having beers in the apartment, she was amazing at taking us around the city. I didn't have any idea or plan what we could see in the city, but Inga planned the days with very interesting sites, and most importantly, food. After beers we went to Rathausplatz (this name is hilarious - the platz where the rats have a house?) where they were showing ballet on a huge video screen in front of the city hall (apparently that's what Rathausplatz means), and thousands of people watching and walking around the outdoor food court. There were 20 restaurant choices from Austrian to Australian, American to Asian. I had to make a few laps before deciding what to eat. It was a really fun place to spend a casual evening, with good food, a couple drinks, some ballet and people watching. Inga took us around the center before getting back home, needing another shower due to the sticky Summer night.
One of many concerts/markets that we came across
Day 2 of Inga's Tour of Wiener Town was another enlightening one. As usual, the day revolved around food. After breakfast, we decided to have dessert, naturally, trying the famous Sacher Torte from the original shop, as well as some apple strudel. The strudel was better in my opinion. In fact, although it looks great, I don't know anyone who actually thinks Sacher Torte tastes amazing. It's OK at best. I'd try it if it was in front of me, but I wouldn't order it in a restaurant (I feel the same way about brussel sprouts and blood sausage, so it's not saying much). After some more walking, it was time for a rest in the park. Since we had already eaten breakfast and dessert, we weren't too hungry for lunch, so we picked up some snacks and hung out in the park next to the national library. It was super peaceful and relaxing, and I even snoozed off for a bit.
Looks delicious!
I learned about Gustav Klimt and his famous painting "The Kiss", which looks more like a girl with a broken neck collapsing to the ground, and the guy trying to keep her up. Not sure that's what he was going for, but that's what I see. I also witnessed Hundertwasser architecture for the first time. He designed several buildings around the city, and the most intellectual and professional word I can find to describe it is "fun". His buildings just seem happy. I also learned that the Empress Elizabeth (not to be confused with the Queen of England) was called Sisi, but I still have no idea how you get Sisi from Elizabeth.
It doesn't look like a kiss to me
A Hundertwasser building
Schonbrunn Palace was amazing, with an adjacent hill overlooking the palace, labyrinths, and garden. There were lots of joggers and we could imagine Alan organizing a WITC run up the super steep hills. Belvedere Palace Art museum had a bunch of Klimt originals, and of course I got in trouble for taking pictures. Naschmarkt was nice long strip of restaurants, bars and shops - a nice place to wander around, day or night.
Schonbrunn Palace
From the other direction
At the Belvedere Palace
- Check out the bars and restaurants along the river. There's even a barge on the river with a swimming pool
- There are free water fountains all over the city, so bring your own bottle
- You can buy newspapers from bags that hang on poles around the city - I guess you pay for what you take, on the honor system.
- Go to Salm Brau for almdudler radler beer, and the best schnitzel I ever had.
- Beware that Vienna sausage is just a hot dog.
- You can take up to 100ml of alcohol on the plane in your carry on. I never knew this, but it was no problem coming back to PL.
Anyone for a swim?
Inga showing us how it's done
Take your pick
This was all for me!
I loved the creativity (and social statement) of some of the pedestrian cross walks. They had different combinations of couples - guys, girls, or mixed, sometimes holding hands, sometimes just friends. I almost caused a traffic jam while taking pictures of the Don't Walk people, standing in the cross walk while cars were coming.
Hold hands when crossing the street
The most important part of the trip was that now I will not misspell the word as "weiner" anymore, since I know the root of the word is Wien. Wiener, wiener, wiener. See how good I am now? I'm one more step towards becoming a complete human being.
The girls wondered why I stopped to take pics of basically every sign in the city...
