Sunday September 9th- Thursday September 13th, 2012
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| heavenly sounds |
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| sunset behind one of the museum buildings |
Vienna! What a beautiful city... by the landscape and sunsets alone you can tell why people used to think themselves touched by God (or God themselves if you were a ruler of some sort). We were pretty pleased to find it such a bikeable city too. We were lucky enough to stay with two cycling enthusiasts, Edwin and Gerti, who were able to point out some things to do and see while there. They had a lovely flat in an apartment complex complete with a little garden where they grew some of their own veggies (and made excellent salads! mmmm!)
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| garden from back of palace |
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| tree archways |
Vienna is set up in districts (similar to Prague) with the main buildings in the center (district 1) and the rest in rings moving out. We didn't get to it all, but we spent a great deal of time at the Schonbrunn palace which is a palace with huge garden grounds behind it. There were tree archways, several bodies of waters, statues everywhere and even labyrinths (which alas cost money).
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| oh! that lipstick is all wrong! |
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| palace view from end of garden |
We also stopped at the public library (the nerd that I am) just to scope what its like. Older cities usually have public libraries and also National Libraries which are for students and other specified individuals. I am a big fan of what spaces are like that are used by all. The public library was above one of the metro stops and had a great deal of steps which allowed us to have a good view of the city.
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| view from top of library |
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| library stairs |
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| statue with the mayors house aglow |
We had the good fortune of running into Max (previous blog post- the bike tour guide who got us to our meeting place with Edwin) again while exploring the city. He was posted up by a statue watching some kids skate off random things in a parking lot and invited us to go to a bar later that evening with friends. It happened to be the night of the Austria v. Germany futbol game which always gets people in Austria in a twist. Germany is a great team and each time Austria plays them, they are adamant about winning (but haven't done so in a while). Needless to say the spirit is there (the proof was in the amount of beer spilled that night- mostly on Alex) and Austria put in some excellent effort, but Germany swiped up that win.
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| Falalalalafel |
The next day Edwin took us to get falafel and check out a bike shop near by called FixDich (which means fix yourself in German, but looks very close to f-you in German too). The guy running the shop, Danny, was super chill so we hung out for a while (it was also raining a bit). We got to talk bikes with him and a few others who stopped by the shop, and picked up a ton of stickers to rep our travels.
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| H&A and Erwin and Gerti cuddling up for a movie |
We spent some good time with Gerti and Edwin- eating at a traditional style Viennese place (outdoor beergarden-like seating) with seasonal pumpkin dishes (yum!), making food for each other (we made pizza- Alex saved the day when I forgot to buy the dough), and having good conversation on bikes, politics, food and movies. Unfortunately their bikes were stolen while we were staying with them (!!!!) but their insurance covered the bikes so they weren't completely SOL (but still, as a cyclist, we know that it takes time to get over your stolen ride). They helped us to the very end of our stay-
Edwin speeding us on our bikes to the train station Thursday so we wouldn't miss our train into Italy.
The next day Edwin took us to get falafel and check out a bike shop near by called FixDich (which means fix yourself in German, but looks very close to f-you in German too). The guy running the shop, Danny, was super chill so we hung out for a while (it was also raining a bit). We got to talk bikes with him and a few others who stopped by the shop, and picked up a ton of stickers to rep our travels.
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