After consuming that perfectly executed beast we went to check out some sights by night. The streets were quiet that night - being a Sunday. We found a night market and the smells that were emanating from all the food stands made us almost eat again. All types of Bratwurst and other sumptuous pork parts were being cooked up.
The Rathaus (which serves as the seat both of the mayor and city council of the city of Vienna) perfectly framed the night market and its Gothic style was our first view of the grandeur of the Austro-Hungarian empire. The ring (Ringstrasse), intricately manicured gardens and the Pestsäule were some of the sights from our first night. We headed back to the hostel.
We found ourselves playing cards at the hostel bar and playing the "Identify the song" game that the bar had organized. The prize was a shot of the Austrian version of Jägermeister. Yours truly kept guessing the songs, but given my repulsion to liquorice or anything tasting like liquorice I was handing these off to Oli - which provided some great entertainment later. :)
The bar started off sleepy, with only a handful of others. However, the infamous Contiki tour bus had just pulled in with everyone's favorite travelers - Aussies! The bar was absolutely hoppin' after this! Oli and I put the cards away and we were chatting with several of them. There were also a group of younger Germans who were there as well. One member of this group had a insane resemblance to McLovin and we definitely shared a good laugh over that.
Everyone was having a great time and this same group of Germans approach us a little while later, one of the guys asks me, " Hey do you have any weed?" Before I could even respond Oli interjects with, "Wait, why did you ask him!?" Without missing a beat he responds, "Well he's black isn't he?" Oli was more appalled than I was at this point. This did shed some light into the random girl in Munich who came up to me and askd for cocaine. This was definitely a night to remember - I still retell this story on occasion.
The next day we headed out to the legendary Schönbrunn Palace, situated in the West of the city.. I would say it is only second to Versailles in terms of size and opulence. It is impeccably kept, the gardens are are so well maintained I didn't even see a rock out of place.
Surprisingly Vienna turned out to be more diverse than I had expected, and it reflected on its cuisine too.
For lunch, we decided to have some Moroccan food.
Unfortunatley, being a Monday most of the museums were closed. We missed going to the Albertina and The Belvedere Palace. However, we did check out Hundertwasser Haus. Built by the Architect of the same name it is an apartment building that has now become an expressionist landmark.
We grabbed some dinner then headed back to the hostel. Oli had a phone interview scheduled for that night. Our mate Dan, who we met in Prague also had arrived and was staying at the same hostel, we grabbed a quick drink with him. I called it an early night as we had a long day of travel scheduled; back to Munich then flight out to Dubrovnik.
Vienna: Prim and proper dashed with some old-world charm.
See you in Croatia.
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