Vienna

History class was never my favorite, but whenever WWII was the topic it was all of a sudden an interesting subject. I especially loved the movies or documentaries dealing with the war. I think it’s mostly this that I have to blame for my preconceived image of Austria. Whenever I pictured Austria, I imagined an evil dark-eyed Nazi skiing the Alps or something (I think from an Indiana Jones movie). Terrible, I know. So I figured it might be a good idea to put this out of my mind when our train rolled into Vienna. Perhaps it would be wise to take the country/city/people in with an open mind. Even If I had not made a conscious effort to do this, I would have had those preexisting images flipped around instantly.

Trams!

The first thing Chelsea and I noticed about Vienna was how modern it was. A good measuring stick of this is the public transportation system. The buses, trams and underground trains of Vienna make the city seem futuristic compared to Beograd (sorry Aka and Mihailo).  The transportation was clean, efficient, safe and extremely reliable. For example, most stops have a digital display of how long before the next bus, tram or train arrives and in our experience they did not miss the mark once.

A Nice park!

The next thing we noticed about Vienna is how clean it is. Finding places to dispose of rubbish and recycling are easy and in abundance. Doing this appeared to be a civic duty for citizens of Wien, which put a smile on our faces of course! The grocery stores charge for plastic bags so virtually everyone brings reusables. In my opinion, the people are able to see the benefit of being ecologically responsible, due to the vast green space throughout the city. In fact Vienna has more green space than any other major city in Europe which is easily noticeable. Gardens and parks are everywhere. A lot of gardens are private, belonging to the residents of Wien, not Google street view (a source of controversy quite recently). The ones that we had the pleasure of viewing were of course public. Somewhere in the Austrian Constitution must have been written some law requiring all public buildings to have a garden or park surrounding it and we were not complaining.

Water Fountains in the city

A great alternative to public transport is cycling. Owning a bike or using the cheap, well-organized City Bike rental service is a green way to check out Wien and you need not look far to find a cycling path. They line nearly every major road and the sidewalks are wide enough to support both the pedestrian walkway and bike path. It is extremely helpful getting around the city because of the design. The city has causeways, or rings that circle the city centre and expand outwards into the suburbs (similar to the loop in Athens GA, only more possible to navigate).

I think it’s obvious at this point how much we enjoyed Vienna. We were able to experience the city’s handsome architecture, artery clogging cuisine and inspiring gardens and parks but also, peer into an underground culture of Wien courtesy of our couch surfing host Anna.

Anna’s Yard!

One way to describe Anna’s lifestyle would be earthy; one side of her head shaved, with dreads shooting out sporadically. Her attire was relaxed, and her accessories were hand made from common household items; like her fork bracelet. The house she shared with two other roommates was modest. It was surrounded by a good size yard with random gardens of fruits and veggie’s. A compost bin was kept along the back wall and on the opposite side of the house was a hammock that you needed a step ladder to get in to. We arrived early on our first day. We found Anna’s place with ease thanks to her stellar directions. Just a few stops down on the underground from the city centre and we were in the beautiful area of Ottakring. Once we got the introduction out of the way we put our stuff down and headed for the city. There was one sight that we decided was a must see, St. Stephens Cathedral. We had no map, but since Chels had been to Vienna before we figured things would become familiar and we could find it no problem. We found a cathedral no problem, just not St. Stephens.

What we thought was St. Stephens cathedral!

The search continued, and we found another one. Sure this time, that this was it, we went inside (although I could have SWORN I walked right up to it on a pedestrian street that seemed to no longer exist!!). Satisfied with experiencing its beauty we left in search of the pedestrian street for something to eat. We scored a map from a nice hotel and tried to find our way around. However we had the hardest time figuring out where we were since we were basing everything off this cathedral that we thought was St. Stephens! Haha we were wondering why it was so hard to find this pedestrian street. But when we finally stumbled upon it, it was obvious. Filled with high-end designed stores that Brad and I dared not step foot it, the street was packed with tourists and street performers. And there standing in front of us (just as I remembered) was St. Stephens’s cathedral! The architecture was absolutely beautiful to every last detail, but unfortunately like every major monument we have visited, there was construction!

Kasekrainer yummm

After walking around the city center for some time and trying the delicious and famous Kasekrainer cheese-filled sausage, we made our way towards the Danube River – to an island that lies in the middle of it! This is where Donauinselfest festival was being held! It is the biggest outdoor festival in Europe, attracting 2 million people over the course of the weekend because it is FREE!

At the festival!!

You can bring your own food and drinks if you wish (which Brad and I opted to do!) Some of the people that were playing were Billy Idol, HIM, Culcha Capela, Wheatus, and hundreds more! Unfortunately there was no program to tell you who was playing where, and this island was MASSIVE. It took us hours to walk from one side to the other, and in fact we didn’t even make it to the end. But walking around was a highlight in itself, with different vendors and food everywhere!! We found our way to this DJ stage during the daytime that attracted more people than any other stage! It was unusual. The whole time, I really wanted to see Wheatus just for ONE song “Teenage Dirtbag”. It was one of my favorite songs when I was like 13..and I still haven’t deleted it off my iPod because I still love it! I eventually gave up on the idea that we would actually by some luck of fate find them, but then suddenly we walk past a stage and heard “Is it Teenage Dirtbag time yet??” and I went nuts!! I was soooo excited – and now satisfied with this festival experience! We spent the rest of the night wandering around, found a fun carnival area, and when we left there – it was suddenly PACKED with people! We could barely move in this massive open space..It was unreal!

Wheatus!!

The next day was a slow-moving day! We had a lovely breakfast with Anna and Veronika..A huge bowl of fruit salad and homemade pancakes. The pancakes were really thin, and we spread a homemade Apricot jam (but more liquidy) on them, then rolled them up and ate them like that! I noticed how much fruit they had around the house and wondered if they got it from their garden. That’s when Anna told us that they are regular dumpster divers and pretty much everything in their house, they got for free! Brad and I were super excited about this, because I had learned about it in my food and culture class in my last semester at UGA. We thought we might be partaking in this activity in our travels, but hadn’t really had the balls or the knowledge to actually do it. We decided we would go together Monday night!! Yay!

After hanging around a bit, Brad and I went back into town to an area called Prater, which is famous for its huge Ferris wheel that offers a great panoramic view. In front there was a huge lot of grass with a giant screen set up for people to watch the World Cup. It was so cool -people hanging around everywhere with books, playing soccer, drinking beer, and watching the game! We watched the end of Germany absolutely whooping ass over England 4-0! Then we decided to try out the Ferris wheel. Unfortunately it was a complete rip off at 9 Euros each! We couldn’t bring ourselves to pay that much, and then noticed another normal Ferris wheel around the corner, and it was only 3 Euros! It offered an amazing view, and you could feel the fresh air on your face (the other Ferris wheel had enclosed cabins) which we way preferred anyway!

Prater!

We hung out in the park for a bit longer reading our books before we decided to go find “Fugmillers”, a restaurant famous for their massive wiener schnitzel! I went there about 10 years ago with my Mum and Dad and remembered how the schnitzel was hanging over the sides of the plate, and was determined to take Brad there! We found it successfully and were 110% satisfied with our shared schnitzel and salad! It’s a must though to squeeze the lemon all over it, otherwise it can taste a bit dry! After dinner we walked around the pedestrian area a bit, and Brad got me some Gelato (after I was terribly upset that he dropped the last bit of chocolate on the ground)! Happy and full, we headed home for a pretty early night!

Delicious!!

The next day was again a slow and relaxing day! We planned to go into the city, but ended up hanging around the house, reading in the hammock and feeling completely relaxed. After we all ate a late lunch together, we went with Anna to this cool free-for-all clothing exchange. I had mentioned how I left my only tiny jacket in Dubrovnik and was worried about it being chilly in the Alps in Switzerland. She immediately piped up and said “You need a jacket?!….We can get you a jacket!” Next thing you know we are on our way, Anna with a 3-piece men’s suit in hand she had found in the grocery store dumpster (It was absolutely perfect and clean – no idea why they threw it away!).

We walked into this place and there were clothes, electronics, kitchen supplies, and games everywhere. They even had a “pay-what-you-can” bar with food and drinks. After browsing around and trying on some silly things, I walked out with a perfect little zip hoodie and long sleeve shirt, brad with an AWESOME patchy jacket (which MUST have been made by a brilliant hippie seamstress) that can only be explained through this picture, and Anna with a new dress and total hippie shirt!

Amazing!

We put our new clothes in the wash and suited up for our Dumpster Diving experience – Meaning sneakers and big empty backpacks! The dumpsters were all together in a room in the garage, and when we got there Anna threw down her bag and said “Ok start looking”. She went straight for the veggie and fruit one, pulling out what seemed like hundreds of bananas, along with a few pears and apricots. Brad and I found the Bread dumpster, and started pulling out about 20 packets of individually wrapped bread (all together in a bread trash bag – so completely uncontaminated!) Feeling like we got a lot of stuff, Anna told us they didn’t have much since most stuff is picked up on Sunday. Our dinner that night consisted of whole wheat toast (with bits of carrot inside) with jam, and fried bananas! Delicious, somewhat nutritious and free! We finished up the night with some Shisha and music – swapping bands with each other!

Our LAST full day in Vienna, we decided to rent bikes in the city. Before we headed in, we helped Anna’s good friend Francy move some of her stuff out. It was quite hilarious because, with no car, we all took the tram together with a huge wheelbarrow – soon to be packed with old-school trunks, and then a mattress rolled up that Brad and I took turns carrying on our head, and about 3 other suit cases! When we got back, another couch surfer arrived, Arselam from Pakistan.

Helping Francy move

He decided to spend the day with us riding bikes. We somehow lost our map, and got completely lost in the city. I hope he didn’t mind! But we actually pretty much rode everywhere so he got a good view of Vienna. We wanted to see the Schonbrunn palace, and thinking it was close, decided to ride bikes. Nope. It was SO far out of the city! But we eventually did make it and it was all worth it. Of course, none of us wanting to pay to get INTO the palace, we visited the amazing gardens. It was like a massive maze, with water fountains and monuments everywhere! Wishing I brought my book. We could have spent hours in there, but after an hour or so of exploring, had to make our way back to Anna’s to go to her university party!

My favorite – riding bikes!

The Palace!!

The party was great! It was at this pub with a huge outdoor garden that belonged to the university. They had a bar for drinks and a fire, with toast cooking for those who wanted to purchase food, BUT you were also welcome to bring your own food, beer, shisha…whatever you wanted! Everyone was just chilling, the world cup playing in the background, and a couple bands playing inside.

Naked Vibrations and lots of dreads!!

Brad and I had never seen so many dreads in such a small place at once! This was a complete hippie school! We loved it! I want dreads! The reggae band , “Naked Vibrations” finally came on and rocked the place! The main singer (or so we thought at first) was this quintessential German looking dude – tall, skinny, super white, with the German face and hairstyle to complete his look! BUT he had the MOST JAMAICAN man voice ever!! It was hilarious to listen to him – couldn’t get over it! Then when he would say thank you in Deutsche after his songs, it was back to total German boy again! The other band member had massive dreads and a cool hat in really hippie attire. He played bass, but then a few songs later, all the band members traded and now he became the lead singer playing regular guitar. The drummer at one point even came out and played bass, while the German looking lead singer went and played drums. We loved the variety, and the beats were really cool! I can definitely see them going somewhere! It was a pretty late night and we were all wiped out when we got back – all having a great nights sleep!

Our Driver! (and windmills!)

The next day, we were off to Salzburg, but not via normal means of transportation. Anna told us about this carpooling Web site that is really popular in Germany, and they have it in Austria too! Someone puts an ad that they are driving from point A to point B and will give you a ride. You pay them gas of course, but it is significantly cheaper and more hassle-free than taking a train or bus. Sure there COULD be psychos that want to take you somewhere deep into the woods and rob you or something, but – DOUBTFUL! It is great for the driver, because they get free gas, and it is great for the passenger, because they are paying way less too! It was Brad and I, the driver, and one more girl! His little Mitsubishi colt was PACKED, but we made it work! Only paying 10 Euros each instead of 40 Euros each for the train, we were on our way! Luckily too, they both spoke English, so we were able to have some good conversations too!

Proud of this pic!

Overall, Brad and I had a really really great experience in Vienna! We got to see the city and the tourist stuff, but more importantly we got to see a completely different sub-culture in Vienna! We ended up only spending 100 Euros TOTAL in the 5 FULL days we were in one of the MOST expensive cities in ALL of Europe! That included spoiling ourselves to a fancy weinerschnitzel, some local Austrian beer, biking around the city, a massive festival AND our ticket out of Vienna! I think we broke a record!! We became total freeloaders, while still showing appreciation to people we met, and of course showing complete respect to our mother Earth!