After such a busy time in Russia and Christmas in Wales, we hadn't given the first thought to our four night stop over in Vienna, Austria on the way back to the London. Which is why when we landed on Friday evening, we felt somewhat surprised.
After navigating our way through Moscow on an underground written in an entirely different alphabet, finding our way to the apartment we had hired in Vienna was a piece of cake. What's more, our apartment was so glorious we would have been happy to never leave! It even came equipped with a washing machine - something which made our hearts sing after living out of a backpack and wearing the same thing for the past week!
We stepped out to pick up some dinner - McDonald's, where they forgot the meat in Brad's burger of all things (he was so mad I thought he'd punch a hole in the wall) and spent the rest of the night cosied up, doing washing and reading. Russia had taken it out of us and we slept like babies.
The next day we bounced out of bed, all set to explore. We spent the morning at Naschmarkt - an amazingly big flea, food and everything in between market in the city, where we brought a few treats, including the best hot dogs we have ever had! The next stop was the famous Hotel Sacher for their legendary Sacher torte - a Viennese Chocolate Cake, which is mouth wateringly good.
Time flew by as we popped into various shops (can anyone ever pass up a New Year Sale?), as well as visited the beautiful Stephansdom Cathedral in the city centre. After five hours and some dreadful rain, we decided to head back home, via the supermarket where we had the luxury of buying food to cook ourselves. Its funny the things you miss!
We had a relaxing evening, recouping strength lost in Russia, playing cards and watching television - all topped off with a dinner of Wienner Snitzchel!
The next day we had planned to visit the neighbouring country of Slovakia - an hour and fifteen minutes away by train. Vienna and Bratislava are the world's two closest capital cities, so we thought it was rather foolish to not take advantage of this and tick off another country while we were so close. Getting there was a breeze, despite forgetting our Passports, and we passed into this creepy little country with no fuss whatsoever!
There's not much to say about this place really... We visited the castle on the hill, which offers an interesting view as on one side you can see the pretty Old Town and on the other, its nothing but big, angry blocks erected during the Communist era.
We then meandered our way down through the town and into the historical old centre for a look around. It was cold, bucketing down with rain and I was in dire need of a loo - suffice to say I wasn't in the best mood and may have taken it out on this place. After two hours we felt we'd seen it all and headed back to the train station, just in time for the 3.42pm back to Vienna. Thank god - Bratislava is where they filmed the Hostel movies and based on these, we wouldn't have wanted to get caught here after dark!
Darkness had set across Vienna when we got back and as a result, we decided to take a long, scenic walk back home to take in Vienna's glorious buildings at night. The first stop was Belvedere Palace which was stunning, alongside everything else in Vienna! If we had to choose one thing to fault about Vienna, it has to be the fact that almost everything is beautiful so as a result, nothing really stands out. Everywhere you look you're met with beautiful facade after beautiful facade - we barely got our camera out (which says it all for us really) as we were just too overwhelmed!
The next day, after a few skype calls, we set off ready to make the most of our last full day in the city. We strolled down the main shopping street, popping in to make a few purchases, wandered around the beautiful ring road and really just soaked it all up. There was so much to see that even the most prettiest building that elsewhere might have received a standing ovation, barely got a look in!
Perhaps the biggest highlight was the Museum Quarter, where there are countless museums, each one more beautiful than the other! Palace after palace, after cathedral after cathedral - it was enough to want to head back to Bratislava! At least things were far simpler there!
That night we had arranged to meet up with the son of one of Brad's family friends, who lived in Vienna - John and his wife Andrea. What was going to be a casual drink and dinner, turned into a far more bustling night than we expected - great fun! We met up at the Einstein Cafe and from here went on to a Belgian pub with over 700 different types of beer, where we met up with some of his German work colleagues. When this closed up at 1am, we set off to what was described to us as 'the very worst Australian bar in Vienna - great fun!' True to form, this place was horrid and filled with drunken teenage backpackers, but it provided some great laughs. What's more, when we left at 2.30am, it was snowing - lovely! It was a great night and the perfect way to end our lengthy holiday!
This morning we woke up with just enough time to pack, clean the apartment and nip off to the airport, walking through a downfall of snow - beautiful!
Sadly our holiday has come to an end, but when I think back to 18 days ago when we were finishing up at work before Christmas, riddled with homesickness, it seems like a very long time indeed. This year is going to be a busy one and with many changes at work, I'm both curious and nervous to see what 2013 will bring. It brings a busy January I know that much and this time next week I'll be at Heathrow flying out to Madrid for work, followed by Cannes the week after. The traditional January hibernation will have to come a month later for us in February.
Love to all back home in the sun.
Xx
After navigating our way through Moscow on an underground written in an entirely different alphabet, finding our way to the apartment we had hired in Vienna was a piece of cake. What's more, our apartment was so glorious we would have been happy to never leave! It even came equipped with a washing machine - something which made our hearts sing after living out of a backpack and wearing the same thing for the past week!
We stepped out to pick up some dinner - McDonald's, where they forgot the meat in Brad's burger of all things (he was so mad I thought he'd punch a hole in the wall) and spent the rest of the night cosied up, doing washing and reading. Russia had taken it out of us and we slept like babies.
The next day we bounced out of bed, all set to explore. We spent the morning at Naschmarkt - an amazingly big flea, food and everything in between market in the city, where we brought a few treats, including the best hot dogs we have ever had! The next stop was the famous Hotel Sacher for their legendary Sacher torte - a Viennese Chocolate Cake, which is mouth wateringly good.
Time flew by as we popped into various shops (can anyone ever pass up a New Year Sale?), as well as visited the beautiful Stephansdom Cathedral in the city centre. After five hours and some dreadful rain, we decided to head back home, via the supermarket where we had the luxury of buying food to cook ourselves. Its funny the things you miss!
We had a relaxing evening, recouping strength lost in Russia, playing cards and watching television - all topped off with a dinner of Wienner Snitzchel!
The next day we had planned to visit the neighbouring country of Slovakia - an hour and fifteen minutes away by train. Vienna and Bratislava are the world's two closest capital cities, so we thought it was rather foolish to not take advantage of this and tick off another country while we were so close. Getting there was a breeze, despite forgetting our Passports, and we passed into this creepy little country with no fuss whatsoever!
We then meandered our way down through the town and into the historical old centre for a look around. It was cold, bucketing down with rain and I was in dire need of a loo - suffice to say I wasn't in the best mood and may have taken it out on this place. After two hours we felt we'd seen it all and headed back to the train station, just in time for the 3.42pm back to Vienna. Thank god - Bratislava is where they filmed the Hostel movies and based on these, we wouldn't have wanted to get caught here after dark!
Darkness had set across Vienna when we got back and as a result, we decided to take a long, scenic walk back home to take in Vienna's glorious buildings at night. The first stop was Belvedere Palace which was stunning, alongside everything else in Vienna! If we had to choose one thing to fault about Vienna, it has to be the fact that almost everything is beautiful so as a result, nothing really stands out. Everywhere you look you're met with beautiful facade after beautiful facade - we barely got our camera out (which says it all for us really) as we were just too overwhelmed!
The next day, after a few skype calls, we set off ready to make the most of our last full day in the city. We strolled down the main shopping street, popping in to make a few purchases, wandered around the beautiful ring road and really just soaked it all up. There was so much to see that even the most prettiest building that elsewhere might have received a standing ovation, barely got a look in!
Perhaps the biggest highlight was the Museum Quarter, where there are countless museums, each one more beautiful than the other! Palace after palace, after cathedral after cathedral - it was enough to want to head back to Bratislava! At least things were far simpler there!
This morning we woke up with just enough time to pack, clean the apartment and nip off to the airport, walking through a downfall of snow - beautiful!
Sadly our holiday has come to an end, but when I think back to 18 days ago when we were finishing up at work before Christmas, riddled with homesickness, it seems like a very long time indeed. This year is going to be a busy one and with many changes at work, I'm both curious and nervous to see what 2013 will bring. It brings a busy January I know that much and this time next week I'll be at Heathrow flying out to Madrid for work, followed by Cannes the week after. The traditional January hibernation will have to come a month later for us in February.
Love to all back home in the sun.
Xx
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