I totally think we could have used one more day in Vienna, as it is a very clean, well-thought out city, with trees lining the wide streets (unlike Italy, which, we didn't notice until today, that they have no deliberate tree planting commission and therefore have no trees to shade people with!) and people adhering very strictly to the rules.
When the train landed, Angel and I were the first to get off the train, as our cabin was closest to the exit. The luggage was pretty heavy and the Austrian guy waiting to get off the train behind us carried our luggage down for us! Already, I felt like I was in a better city with friendlier people.
Nobody jaywalks here, and drivers will slow down from a far away distance if they see pedestrians walking. There are lanes devoted to bicyclists, with the lanes a deliberate step down from the pedestrians' lanes. There's no trash littering the streets (except a major dog poop problem).
We walked ALL of our luggage to Cafe Aida, which came highly recommended to us as a cake shop. The walk was around 10-15 minutes, slowed down by the small cobblestone sidewalks. If we didn't have luggage, it'd probably be a 5 minute walk. Angel and I ordered 2 different chocolate cakes... more for the privilege of sitting in their shop for a while (we had to wait 2 hours before we could check into our vacation rental). The cakes were spongy and mousse-y and kinda bland. They were nothing special, but every Austrian seems to say Aida is really delicious. Heck, they opened up 28 stores!
Today is Whit Monday, a national holiday, so pretty much all the shops were closed except restaurants and museums.
When it was finally time where we could go check-in, we took a taxi from Cafe Aida to our apartment. We were surprised that the taxi driver couldn't speak English, although he did point out various landmarks in German to us. This is the 1st country we've been where either they can speak English, or not at all. There is no in-between. Heck, even Italy everyone spoke a little English! We rode the elevator to the 6th floor of the apartment complex. Finally! An elevator at a vacation rental! The apartment is really cute, and the cleaning lady folded the blanket in such a pretty way:
After a quick touching up, we went to the Vienna State Opera House immediately. We wanted to check out how much La Traviata would cost. We were waylaid by men dressed in 1700s costumes, selling opera and concert tickets on the streets. One guy was particularly enthusiastic in talking to us... and NOT even about the opera tickets we were interested in buying! He gave us a whole autobiography & Angel's face was SO sour because "the moron couldn't stop yakking and the minutes of our vacation were ticking away!" After we were finally able to escape his "incessant chattering"... he was talking about performing the sax for Bill Clinton and his ability to talk 100% fluently in several different languages, we found the tourism office across the street. They only had seating in the 124 euros per ticket range (and that's not even the most expensive)!
Hotel Sacher is also right across the street from the Opera House. Angel's coworker said the Sacher torte is a must-try while in Vienna, and it is pretty much what Viennese dessert is known for. Hotel Sacher originated the recipe. What happened was the executive pastry chef was out sick, so the apprentice, Sacher, was forced to come up with a dessert for an important gala in the chef's absence... and the Sacher torte is born! It was his wife, though, who really made the Sacher torte famous and into an empire, eventually opening up the Hotel Sacher where famous dignitaries and celebrities have stayed in. John Lennon and Yoko Ono staged their naked protest press conference in their suite at the Hotel Sacher.
We had afternoon tea at Hotel Sacher and we were seated inside, which is a lot prettier than the outdoor seating... although while we were waiting to be seated, the outdoor area already looked really nice! We ordered the Sacher hot chocolate for 7 euros, which is a hot chocolate with the Original Sacher chocolate liqueur.
It was served with the hot chocolate in a mug, and the liqueur in a separate flask, which the waitress poured into the hot chocolate. The flavor was good, but it wasn't as thick as we would like it to be~ definitely pales to France, Spain, and Italy's thick creamy hot chocolate. We also ordered a dessert 'potpourri' for 21 euros. The tray is so pretty!
It had mignardise of apricot pate de fruit, strawberry meringue/chocolate pudding shortbread tart, almond chocolate, coconut custard bar, and fruit tart:
Plum pancakes with jam and sorbet:
Chocolate mousse cake:
Sacher Torte:
Everything was so pretty, but nothing stood out as spectacular. The Sacher torte is somewhat dry and crumbly, unless eaten with the whipped cream. The chocolate fondant on top is too sweet, even compared to Jen's standards of sweetness!
We went to the Botanical Gardens for all of 2 minutes, before Angel remembered she is level 3 allergic to grass. Should have rolled her in it when she was little... to build up her weak immune system.
We walked to Belvedere Palace, as the day was really pretty and sunny (the weather forecast for today and the rest of our trip was to be rain, rain, rain). We had already bought tickets online to see the interior of the Upper and Lower Belvederes on other dates.
Upper Belvedere:
Lower Belvedere:
Their celebrities aren't like our celebrities:
There are some really cute gingerbread-style cottage stalls selling art and crafts, and Austrian food and beer near Stephansplatz. They are only open at night, and although we didn't get to try any of the food, they're adorable!
For dinner, we went to Figlmüller, touted as the best Wienerschnitzel in Vienna. We later figured out "Wien" is Vienna in German, so "Wiener" means "Viennese." The original location was jam-packed so the waiter pointed all the incoming patrons to their 2nd location around the corner. On the way, we saw some cute kitchen supply stores that were shockingly expensive. The train had given us these rolls and I pointed out to Angel that the star shape of the dinner rolls is called "Kaiser" (German for 'emperor'). Angel really liked the shape (being so juvenile) and got really excited when she saw the cutter in the display window. It was 14 euros! KitchenAid was 700 euros!
We ordered a Wienerschnitzel at Figlmüller, but it isn't what Americans think of when we think Wienerschnitzel... it is not a huge sausage. It is actually a cut of veal or pork, pounded extremely thinly, then breaded, seasoned and fried. The portions are huge, with the schnitzel overflowing the plate.
It tastes like chicken Shake'n Bake... actually Shake'n Bake probably tastes better for half the price. We also ordered a boiled pork rump, as I thought it would be a German pig knuckle. I tried to ask the waiter to verify what it was, and the waiter didn't speak English. It came on as two slabs of pork, broiled and a little tough. Reminded us of the TV dinners we used to eat as kids. The only highlight was the delicious wine, some type of Austrian Riesling. One glass is only 1.9 euros! They portion it out by the 1/8L, and they even have marks on the glass so they know when to stop pouring:
Our waiter was inattentive and we weren't planning to tip, but at the end of our meal, he came up to us and said specifically that the bill did not include tip. We then felt obliged to tip, but very indignant. We left 1.8 euros as tip, which is already too much for his lack of service.
Our walk back to our apartment, the WWII memorial is very romantic at night. The fountain changes colors and couples are sitting near the fountain, with the moonlight shining in the background.
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