Country 6: Vienna, Austria

Vittoria
Mar 16, 2018
4 min read

17 Days On The Road ~ Location: Vienna, Austria ~ Transportation: Bus

On Wednesday 7th March we had our bus to Vienna from Prague. We decided once again to travel with Flixbus, so Adam searched on Google Maps our bus station and we left our Couchsurfing host place. Along the way my six sense was telling me something was wrong, because when we first arrived we did the journey with the tube and a tram, and instead this time it was telling us to take 2 trams, one of which we boarded the day before to see the city. I was sure we weren't going the right way...and I was right! 15 minutes before our bus was due to leave we were on the other side of town! I just had the time to cancel my booking and be reimbursed almost the full amount, to book another bus, just 2 hours later. And I did it all on an app: this is why I love Flixbus!

Once we arrived at the right place, we had time to spare so we walked around looking for a supermarket where we could spend the last Czech Koruna we had. The journey from Prague to Vienna was one of the most beautiful so far: we crossed villages, lovely countryside, everything was covered in snow and incredibly pretty. We could see houses and churches in the distance with the mountains framing the landscape.

We arrived right on time at 18:00 and my grandmother Maria Rosa was sitting on the bench right in front of where our bus stopped; she is the only one I know who manages to always be at the right place at the right time without needing a phone. She bought us tickets for the public transport for the whole week, so we hopped on the tube and went to see my aunt Lisi; who kindly let us stay at my cousin's place since he is out in Innsbruck snowboarding.

We spent the first 2 days at my grandmother's flat: we went to a lovely market full of fresh vegetables and fruit, and we also crushed a birthday party of some of her friends. Everyone was so nice and had such interesting life stories. Then we spent Saturday with my aunt Lisi and my great-aunt Grete at the Leopold Museum to see a new exhibition. We had lunch at a restaurant called Hansel right behind a flower shop. And for the rest of the time we did absolutely nothing! We washed all our clothes, we binge watched a bunch of tv shows, we slept late and went to bed even later, and we bough some junk food as the cherry on top of this very lazy cake!

Finally on Wednesday we decided it was time to go for a walk and here you can watch the video about our time in Vienna:

Our itinerary included:

~ Viktor-Adler-Markt

~ Leopold Museum

~ Maria-Theresien-Platz

~ Michaelerplatz

~ Simply Raw Bakery

~ Salztorbrücke

~ Swing Kitchen

~ Ostarrichipark

~ Austrian Parliament Building

Best Moment

This entire week has been a series of best moments, but the top one is when we went out with my grandmother and her friend Inge to a vegan burger joint called Swing Kitchen to celebrate my birthday (which is coming up in few days). The great thing about this burger chain is that they use 100% biodegradable cutlery and cups! Their motto is: Fantastic Without Plastic! And the food is out-of-this-world: it was undoubtedly the best vegan burger I have ever had in my life! And that is why we went there one more time and even ordered VEGAN NUGGETS! I can't bring myself to describe how incredible those nuggets were.

Worst Moment

Missing the bus wasn't the highlight of my day, but it gave us the time to spend the Czech money we had left (which would have gone wasted) and those things happen when you are travelling.

Healthy Tips

Vienna is a hub of vegan, vegetarian, healthy stores. Get ready to eat till your heart explodes! This week we definitely haven't been the healthiest, and that kilo I thought I lost is back with couple of friends. But I am happy I indulged a little, and sometimes we need food for the soul and not for the body. We went to a vegan bakery called Simply Raw Bakery and I was so happy to find Kaiserschmarrn, literally translated Emperor's Mess, which is a shredded pancake that gets its name from the Austrian emperor Franz Joseph I, who was very fond of this kind of dessert. My mom used to make it so often when we were growing up, and I was ecstatic to be able to eat it again.

Zero Waste Tips

I am sorry to admit that we haven't been 100% Zero Waste in the past week, and that is because we indulged in cereals, Alpro blueberry yogurt, vegan burgers, fries, crisps, sweets, and all of those things come in packaging. Most of the containers can be recycled but we could have been more careful and bought fresh produce to make homemade meals. I think it is important to share the success and the failures of this process because we are only human and we don't always do the "right thing". So whenever you are feeling down about not doing your best, remember that tomorrow you can decide to make better choices and that nobody is perfect! Don't let perfection be the evil of good.

Final warnings: Vienna will always hold a special place in my heart, maybe because of my roots, but especially because of how beautiful this city is. I could totally see myself living here and maybe one day we will. There is so much to see and all within 20 minute walking distance. One of my favourite places is the Natural History Museum, which I visited every single time we came to Vienna because it's just the best museum I have ever been to, and everyone should try at least once a slice of sachertorte from Aida. I recommend Vienna in Spring because of all the beautiful parks in bloom, and in Winter around Christmas because it feels like being in Santa Clause's north pole village.