AUSTRIA: VIENNA

Vienna here we come! Originally, I was going on a solo trip to visit Emilia. However, earlier this week, I found out that a few of my friends were also going the same weekend, and we had the same flight on the way there! I took the metro right after my last class of the day. Due to poor planning on my part, I didn’t realize that my flight was as early as it was, and I had to bring everything in my backpack to school. Oops! 

From left to right: Shayna, Megan, Emily, and Franny

The flight went by quickly, and I never put my book down! I was about halfway through the book but somehow managed to finish it before we even landed. Emilia met me at the airport, and we took the train to the city before going to sleep.

The next morning, we woke up and started making a breakfast that consisted of toast and coffee. Emilia is less picky than I am, so she had toast with tomato and cucumber, while I opted for toast with jelly.

Quick disclaimer before I continue: for those of you who might not know, Emilia was supposed to be my family’s foreign exchange student my junior year of high school. But, due to COVID, she was no longer able to stay with us. It wasn’t until this summer that she visited Wisconsin, and we met for the first time! Now, living in Madrid for the semester, it’s so much easier to see her. Even better, her little sister is going to be our exchange student in the upcoming school year. 

Anyways, Emilia had work for most of the day on Friday, so we walked around to sightsee in the morning before she went to work. 

The architecture is very unique and somewhat different from Madrid. 

Statues were everywhere and they were very intricate. 

Emilia walked me to the metro station, and I took a ride to St. Stephen's Cathedral which is where I was meeting up with Franny, Megan, Shayna, and Emily. 

We were all starving and ended up stumbling upon this small cafe a little outside the city center. With no English menu, we weren't sure what we were ordering. Luckily, I ordered a ham and cheese omelette with a cafe latte. 

Afterward, we walked to the Sisi Museum. We mistakenly booked the wrong tour, and it ended up being €18 for a tour about the Empress Sisi. No photos were allowed, but you weren't missing out on much. While it was somewhat interesting, I would not recommend it. 

We eventually figured out the right ticket to get and walked to Austria's National Library. Fun fact: this library inspired the library in the Beauty and the Beast movie, so, obviously, I had to see it.

And wow, it did not disappoint. The ceilings were intricately painted, and it was stunning. I was in my happy place. 

Franny’s older sister studied abroad a few years ago, and when she visited Vienna, she said that we had to try an Austrian hot dog. It’s essentially a hollowed baguette with a hotdog inside. I got one with cheese and ketchup and it was delicious. Eating it was a bit challenging, as you can clearly see.

For the rest of the day, we browsed through stores. I bought a striped sweater, a postcard, and another flag pin. While at Sisi’s palace, there were tons of carriages available for rides around the city. Last minute, we decided to do it, and I have no regrets. It was only a 20-minute ride, but it was the perfect amount of time.

It started to get dark and colder outside, so I went back to the girls’ hostel to relax before meeting up with Emilia. Of course, as I’m about to leave, it starts torrential down-pouring. I was soaked by the time I made it to Emilia’s work. To try and save money, we made dinner in her apartment and on the menu was lasagna. We had to quickly run to the grocery store to get a few ingredients, and then we went home.

The lasagna was pretty easy to make, except we had to make a second cheese sauce because the first one curdled. 

But, it was amazing! While we were eating dinner, we FaceTimed family back home. We spent the rest of the night by getting ready and going out.

The next morning, we woke up and met up with the other girls’ at a restaurant called Aida. It was so cute inside and everything was pink. I got a cafe latte and carrot cake, no regrets.

After breakfast, we took the metro to the Schönbrunn Palace and the gardens.

Emilia's food looked better than mine. So, obviously, I took a picture of her's.

It was extremely windy and cold, almost unbearable, but still pretty.

Emilia said that in the summer it’s a lot prettier because the trees have leave and the flowers have bloomed. However, we all agreed that it kind of reminded us of Art Hill in St. Louis.

After, we went back to St. Stephen’s Cathedral. It was free admission so, we couldn’t pass that up. It was pretty, but you can only see so many cathedrals before they all start to look the same.

We started to get hungry so we found this Irish Pub named Flanagans. We hung out and talked while we waited for our food.

I had hoped to get chicken schnitzel in Vienna, but every restaurant offering it was expensive, so I settled for chicken tenders.

We did a little more shopping and started making our way back to the hostel. On our way back, we walked over to an ice rink that we passed on our carriage ride. 

The vibes were perfect. Despite the crowded atmosphere, the Christmas lights were still up, making it really pretty. We were all a bit frustrated because if we hadn’t done the tour yesterday, we could have gone ice skating.

Connected to the hostel was a bar. So, naturally, we got a drink and taught Emilia how to play “golf”. Are we surprised I won? At this point, we were all exhausted. Emilia and I wanted to go out for dinner, but we were so tired, we went straight to her apartment and ate leftover lasagna. 

But the weekend ended on a good note, as we ended the night by looking at flights for Emilia to visit me in Madrid!

Best Part of the Trip: Either the carriage ride or playing cards at the bar. Both were so much fun! 

Worst Part of the Trip: The tour we did of Sisi’s palace was not worth the euros. I wish we did ice skating instead.

Overall Thoughts: I honestly had the best time in Vienna! It was so nice to see Emilia and not have to worry about finding a hostel. She knew the city really well. I am not familiar with the German language at all, so that was a bit of a struggle. Also, it was great to switch it up and travel with another group. We all decided that we need to do another trip together in April. I’m excited too because I’ll be back in Austria in 2 weeks!