Vienna: Schnitzel and Sweets

Vienna was visually overwhelming... but before we go into details about that, some answers:

1) Alice may or may not think Britt, Ashley and JD-isms are crazy (they may hav censored their crazy talk just a little bit)... the verdict is still out. She did randomly sing Tale as Old as Time from Beauty and the Beast during the visit to the Belvedere, so chances are she'll fit right in!

2) We went and saw the opera Elektra in the famed State Opera House. Only Ashley understood what the opera was about. This is because they have tiny screen that allow you to read words in English and/or German. Britt and JD don't read, and Alice's only worked in German. Unfortunately she wasn't able to translate an entire German opera into english using her Iphone, but she wins a gold star for trying!

3) This is another case of simply put, no. Of course we didn't fit everything from the top 10 list into two days. We did however make a significant dent in the top 10 dessert list, so we are pretty happy about that.

Where we stayed: Wombat's Hostel, located across from Naschmarkt - a large, outdoor market selling an assortment of cheese, olives, meats, desserts and Viennese spices. It was also well located at the Kettenbrückengasse metro stop, one stop away from Vienna's union station. Vienna was SO HOT but, thankfully, our hostel room had a fan.

What we ate: LOTS of schnitzel. JD finally got to try the famous weiner schnitzel. We had a truly local eating experience at "Kupps", a pub known to locals for their generous portions and good food. We also ate an assortment of desserts, five to be exact. Direct quote from Alice: "Do you have any of these?" (gesturing to the list of top 10 desserts) "Okay, give me all of them!" Thanks Alice! We also had more goulash, strudel, tomaten salate and "funny noodles".

What we drank: All the spritzers in the world - both white wine spritzers and apple spritzers - and of course beer, beer and more beer. We also drank schnapps, to make room for our desserts. As the Viennese told us, a round of schnapps is customary after a big meal to make a hole in the stomach for dessert. Either that or they were trying to get us drunk, a true Viennese experience either way.

What we did: We found Alice! Or Alice found us! We mostly followed her fantastic itinerary. Alice swept us off to see the Belvedere, a palace that was part of the Habsbourg Dynasty. It was also housing a Gustav Klimt exhibit. We saw his famous painting "The Kiss" and almost acquired brain injuries when falling off of a stability ball meant for easy viewing of the palace ceiling... however it was worth it because Alice got sneaky photo # 1. Her program also consisted of a fantastic dinner with her Canadian friend living abroad, and a bunch of her Viennese friends. Who, thankfully spoke great english, by the way. Great enough to even make fun of our attempt to see Vienna in two days and to eat all of the desserts on Alice's checklist. Britt, JD and Ashley had been awake for 19 hours at this point so they made easy targets. We also went to Schmettling House where Alice, JD and Britt snapped cool shots of butterflies and Ashley twitched nervously everytime a butterfly buzzed (correction: fluttered) by her head. After a walk, a train ride that turned the wrong way, a train ride back and a walk, we saw the Burg Theatre. Lastly as part of Alice's itinerary we went to an opera. We also did a walking tour but given the 35 degree weather we didn't learn very much, except that Vienna is very pretty. Pretty enough to inspire us to run out to St. Stephansdom for one final look on our last morning. It was a whirlwind visit that was over very quickly but I think that we were all ready to get out of the city and into the mountains.

Lessons learned: Don't expect that staff at a restaurant in a touristy area will speak English, and make sure that they do before you sit down. Unless you have Alice's German dictionary and no opera to run off to. It takes seven tourists and one local to get correct directions. Note: when you ask for directions in German, expect directions to be in German. Nasch doesn't mean night. Therefore naschtmarkt does not mean night market. Do not expect this market to be open at night.

Most challenging conversation:

"Can I get a caesar salad?"

"We have ocean salad."

"Is that like a caesar salad?"

"Ocean salad."

"Caesar salad."

"Ocean salad."

JD's dinner that night: Ein bier.

Some questions for Salzburg:

1) Will Austrians continue to make fun of us across their beautiful country?

2) Will the hills be alive with the Sound of Music?

2) Will Britt find out the ending to the Sound of Music by the end of the visit? She never made it through VHS #2.

3) Will Alice get kicked out of anywhere for snapping photos in prohibited photo areas?

4) Will JD perfect the closed-mouth smile? Will JD ever get to wear his plaid without clashing with Britt and Ash?

5) Will Ashley's swimsuit continue to be the only clean item of clothing she has, given a lack of swimming opportunities?

Stay tuned!

Our Motto: No sneakers at the opera.

Note:  all blog posts (including text and photos) are the collaborative effort of JABA.