From Budapest, we had a week to kill before heading to Innsbruck, Austria to visit Mike’s college friend, Mark. We considered both Libiyanna, Slovenia and Zagreb, Croatia. However, at the present moment, there is a massive influx of refugees entering Slovenia so we decided Zagreb would be a better choice. We booked an apartment for the week and went to the train station. But when we checked in for the train, we were told that we would not be permitted to enter Croatia as the borders had been closed! We’re not sure if this was completely accurate but given the communication barrier with this official and the fact that we have 3 kids with us, we decided to play it safe and just head to Vienna. So within a 20 min window, we made reservations to Vienna, booked a room there and cancelled our Zagreb place.
We were greeted by our new host Josef as his first ever AirBnB guests – how cool! Josef and his girlfriend Maria were so wonderful and welcoming – helping us get acquainted with Vienna. Unfortunately, he didn’t have wifi set up in his apartment yet so that made our stay a little more adventurous. We ended up spending time at a nearby McDonalds to access their free wifi. What’s funny is that a McDonalds in Europe is like a hip and trendy destination filled with people from all over the world. You can even order a beer (John Travolta was right in Pulp Fiction?) I’m lovin’ it.
Anyway, once we got out and started exploring the city, we noticed the amazing amount of creative energy Vienna has. You can understand why composers like Mozart, Beethoven and Haydn spent their careers here. That same energy is still present today with interesting public art and experiences everywhere. For example in the Museum Quarter we stumbled upon an amazing light show with imagery and video projections up on the museum buildings with techno music pumping and thousands of onlookers videoing the show. It was so awesome. We were there for Austria’s National Holiday – so the streets were filled with people and there were public celebrations everywhere. We ordered biers and let the kids play at one of the festivals. Jett even got his face painted. So fun!
Another creative, and random, thing we found is this vibrating platform on the popular pedestrian mall, Mariahilfer Straase. You push a button and the floor vibrates. Silly but creative and fun. There are also modern art sculptures in the town square, an accordion playing street musician wearing a cow (deer??) head , and tons of museums. The Zoom Children’s Museum was really cool. They have an interactive exhibition on the impact of plastics. So the kids got to participate and learn. Super interesting.
We spent one afternoon at the Schonbrunn Palace. A huge palace built in the early 1600s and resting on a massive plot of land. On the back side the large open stretch called the Great Parterre leads to the sculpture of the Sea God Neptune. Behind him on the hill is the spectacular Gloriette. There is also a Labyrinth (which was closed when we got there) and the worlds first zoo. But our favorite was probably the Tiergarten – an immense mixture of walking paths and trees. It was special because the trees were all orange and yellow and the fallen leaves carpeted the ground. Living in San Diego, we rarely get to experience this. So we played in the leaves for about a half hour.
In the evenings we played Nertz (our favorite card game), made forts or cooked dinner. Vienna’s a bit more pricey compared to Hungary so we only ate out once, which happened to be at a Chinese place who’s chef is apparently the chef for the President of China but is working here temporarily. Yummy. We also did some shopping along the Mariahilfer, getting the kids some new warm hats and gloves. And we finally found an English only movie theater and got to see Hotel Transylvania 2.
On our final morning, Josef and Maria had us up to their apartment for a good-bye breakfast. And to say it was amazing would be an understatement. They had a huge spread of candy lining the table for the kids. Plus a variety of offerings including yogurt, fresh bread and jams, homemade cappuccinos. It was a perfect ending to our week. We really enjoyed getting to know them and hear about their lives here in Vienna. So interesting and welcoming. Lastly, on the way to the Underground, we saw that there was yet another interesting art installation along the Mariahilfer mall – hundreds of tee shirts hanging above the walking mall. So cool.
Danke Shoen Josef, Maria and Vienna.
Stivers Tribe 