Nearly Neutral Travel

We left the hotel without eating (we couldn’t justify spending €20 of our precious budget on a hotel breakfast) and eventually found a supermarket after wandering around the local area getting increasingly desperate – Oli without food is not a good start to the day! We then hopped on the metro once again with the intention of getting a tram around the Ringstrasse road which encircles the city centre, as recommended in our guide book. And here started our tram adventure! The number 2 (which LP said would follow this route) did a bit of the circuit, and then took us off into the outskirts of the city before we quite realised what was happening. At this point we had to hop off and eat some emergency chocolate rations! We got back into the city on the number 2 and then spotted a tram called a Ringtram. ‘Ah, this must be it!’ we thought. We hopped on, only to discover it wasn’t public transport and we had no intention of buying tourist tickets on top of our travel cards. So that didn’t work out either! We then got onto the number 1 tram (another LP recommendation), which took us around the other half of the Ringstrasse but then also veered off. Finally, we hopped on a number 62 to get back to the centre, convincing ourselves we’d done it all on purpose to see the ‘real’ Vienna! 

We then had our packed lunch in the Hofburg Palace Gardens and after completing a full lap of the building, we finally found the entrance. It was at this point that we decided that although we liked Vienna, Vienna didn’t like us! We bought our tickets to the Hofburg and commenced the most boring audio tour we have ever been on! The first exhibit was an hour-long tour of the Imperial silver collection, which was basically endless place settings for different state occasions.  We’ve never seen so much crockery!  Our need for completeness had struck again – we realised afterwards that we could have skipped that exhibit and moved straight onto the Sissi museum, which was the main attraction. This was about a famous Empress who appeared to suffer from undiagnosed depression and became a recluse, surrounded by luxury.  It was really sad but totally fascinating.  We also toured the Imperial apartments, which were great.  We left blinking in the sunlight feeling like we’d been back in time and were now back in the real world.  

Next, we visited a Lonely Planet-recommended coffee house.  LP was back in our good books because this was great, not at all touristy but just as you would imagine an old-fashioned Viennese coffee house. Oli accidentally ordered an espresso instead of his usual mocha, but really enjoyed it. Meanwhile, Sara busily ate the entire contents of the bowl of sugar lumps.

We then walked back through the centre to an outside noodle bar we’d seen whilst on our tram adventure and had a really yummy, cheap dinner. We fancied stopping for a drink but found that the prices were high and the staff were not very welcoming in the fancy central area, and then Sara got a stomach ache so we went home to bed instead.

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.

Unfortunately, Sara was still feeling poorly on her birthday 🙁 

She opened her cards and presents (thanks, all!) while still tucked up in bed and we then had an early breakfast so that we could beat the crowds to Charles Bridge.  The main motivation for this was to photograph Oli’s “cool” Mission Impossible sequence! Having never seen the film, Sara was totally baffled by this whole exercise, but Oli had been talking about it since our arrival in Prague so she humoured him.  We got a few weird looks (unsurprisingly) but our mission was successful! 

We then walked towards the old town and visited the main square to see the famous astronomical clock chime at 10am.

We also climbed up the clock tower, which had a great view over Prague. 

Next, we wandered down a shopping street hoping to see the Municipal House, which was supposed to be worth a look. On the way, we stopped for a hot chocolate and sneaky slice of birthday cake in a spectacular, high-ceilinged Art Nouveau cafe.  On our way out of the building, we were wondering where the Municipal House had got to, only to look up and realise we’d been in it all along!  Classic.

Afterwards, we finally tracked down the English-language bookshop, but unfortunately had no luck with the renewable energy book. We walked down a very posh shopping street and around the Jewish quarter before crossing our fourth bridge of the city back towards the hotel. This time, we both had an afternoon nap! In the evening, we went out for a birthday dinner to the restaurant we had been so impressed with on the first day.  Unfortunately, we were seated inside this time so didn’t have the beautiful view, but it was still a lovely meal.