This morning, we caught an early tram to the station in time for our five-hour journey to Vienna. We boarded the train and found our seats in a compartment of six, sharing with two chaps from Quebec. We had a good chat on the way and compared journeys and travel tales as the train wound through the mountains of the Czech Republic and Austria.
When we arrived in Vienna, we walked to our hotel with the help of Oli’s magnificent hand-drawn map. Magnificent it may have been, but it certainly wasn’t to scale and the walk was a lot further than we had anticipated (the map also blew away in the wind when we were halfway there, which didn’t help!) Mishaps aside, we checked in without a problem and then took the metro a couple of stops to the city centre. We had a lovely walk through the buzzy pedestrian zone and decided that we liked Vienna straight away.
After a quick look at the cathedral, we headed to another Lonely Planet restaurant recommendation. This time our trusty guidebook let us down! There were supposed to be two good restaurants in near proximity, but unfortunately neither seemed to exist. Instead, we found a tasty noodle bar nearby, which had a kitchen in the centre of the restaurant and felt just like you were eating in someone’s home. Oli ate his whole meal with chopsticks (a first), while Sara ate most of hers with chopsticks, but some straight from the bowl (not a first!)
After a good dinner, we walked back to the city centre and through the pedestrian zone towards the Opera House, where there was a huge screen and outside seating to encourage people to enjoy the performance for free – what a lovely, inclusive idea. We sat for a while and really enjoyed the atmosphere.
