Vienna, Austria

We left Prague early to catch our train to Vienna. We went early to the station because it can sometimes be a bit of a challenge to work out where we have to go. We went to find out which platform and it wasn’t up on the board yet. We waited and with half and hour to go it still wasn’t there. It seems they decide which platform at the last minute. They finally put up which platform about 10 minutes before. We found our platform but there was no information about which side the train would arrive.

Eventually it came up.

Then we had to work out which way the train was coming and our carriage. They don’t stop for long so you have to be looking and ready. We were ready and managed to get in quickly. We found our seats and then it was chaos! It’s cheaper not to book a seat so everyone was getting on looking for an unbooked seat which of course you don’t know until someone sits in their booked seat. The train left before everyone was sitting down. So the chaos continued.

The train had very comfy seats so the 4 hour trip was very relaxing.

At Vienna station we needed cash but the ATM kept timing out. Steve tried a couple but it wouldn’t work. Luckily with an Uber you don’t need cash. Catching the Uber was also a challenge because he missed us the first time so he did a few laps with us chasing him. 😂

The apartment was in a lovely old building in the 1st district, the Centre of town. It was really big and looked like it was recently renovated.

We needed cash so went for a walk around the city and found an atm along the way that worked. Next we found the location of the tour we had booked at 4pm at the Spanish Riding School. Once we found it we had some time to spare so we went looking for a pub. This wasn’t easy! Eventually we sat in a coffee shop. Every shop sells beer so we were happy!

The tour of the Spanish Riding School was fantastic! The tour included a visit to the tack room and stables.

The Lippizaner horses were beautiful of course. You couldn’t take photos in the stables or touch the horses. 😩

But there were some horse in the courtyard stables so I got some good photos. ( but I still couldn’t touch them! 😩)

I thought the tour included watching the horses training so I was a bit disappointed, but I had seen them at El Cabalo Blanco a long time ago. Our guide was very informative, we learned a lot. However, there was a man who thought he was a horse which became really annoying.

After the tour we went to find a restaurant for dinner. We decided that we had to have a traditional Viennese dinner. There was a restaurant, Bettelstudent, near us and it was perfect!

Steve had the veal schnitzel and I had the Cordon Bleu. Big meal! We did eat it all because it was so yum! Then we shared a Strudel for dessert.

The next day we had a Coffee, cake and market tour. It was highly recommended I all the reviews and we thought it would be just visiting a few coffee shops for coffee and cake. We ate so much during the tour!! Having breakfast was a mistake!! If we had read the reviews a bit further, we would have known.

We had two guides and they were fantastic. They took us to so many amazing food places all over Vienna by train and tram so we got to experience Vienna from many different perspectives. It wasn’t just about the food. It was visiting many different districts where the real people lived, ate and shopped. Lena and Kirstin also gave us many tips about what else to do and see around the city.

First stop was a 110 year old cafe called Cafe Korb.

It belongs to an Austrian actress from the 1950’s, Susannah Wiedal. She went to visit America and when there she was fascinated by the underground bars and music venues so when she returned to Vienna she wanted to use the room under the cafe to create the same underground music venue. Her mum said no to this because it wasn’t traditional to Vienna and she wanted to keep it the same. (We think it was a bowling room at the time)

When Susannah’s mum died she made it into the Art room. Many different artists come and perform in the room. The walls have also been painted by various artists.

At the cafe we had a traditional Viennese coffee, a Melange which is like a strong cappuccino and some strudel and a scrambled pancake. We were so full already.

We then caught a train to our next food stop. It was a cake shop. We tried one of their specialties apricot jam donuts. Yum! We also tried some bread with various toppings which is how they like to make their sandwiches.

After that we went further and saw traditional markets and tried many more foods from many different cultures. Just like Australia Vienna is very multicultural.

One of our final stops was lots of fun. It was a family business and had been operating for over 100 years. The owner was a funny guy who was very happy and proud to share his food with us. (some he made himself)

Baked caraway seed pork. It was very tender and it had crackle!!

This is fermented grape juice only available in September and October. It was very refreshing.

It was a great way to finish a wonderful tour. The tour went for over 4 hours.

The people we were with on the tour were all lovely. There was a group of Welsh people who were on the same train as us from Prague!! (and yes they mentioned the rugby!) There was another guy who was cycling through Austria.

Steve found out from one of the Welsh guys that there was a show on that night at the Spanish Riding School. We had checked but we thought the shows were only done on Saturdays and Sundays but there was a special one on that night with the Vienna Boys Choir. And we got tickets!! I was so excited!!

It wasn’t until 7pm so we had some time to fill in.

We walked around for about an hour to all the sights we hadn’t seen. We weren’t always sure what we were looking at because all the signs were in German.

With more time to fill in we went looking for somewhere to spend the afternoon and have some dinner before the show.

Funnily enough we stumbled upon the Australian pub. It was called Crossfields Australian Pub. The inside was decorated in Australian paraphernalia but the food wasn’t terribly Australian. There was an ostrich burger on the menu. There was also a story on the menu about the origin of the pub which also sounded a bit iffy. But we still spent the afternoon there.

Then it was time for the show!! I was so excited!!

We had to line up early because we had standing tickets and apparently they fill up quickly. We got a great spot too. Unfortunately there was no photography allowed during the show.

The horses and riders were amazing. I was in awe of how they made the horses perform each movement. You could barely see them using their hands, legs and seat. They showed how they trained the horses. The the riders train the horses on the ground with leads and reins. This is called, ‘work in hand’. This serves as preparation for the exercises of the ridden “Schools above the Ground” . I found it all very interesting and the show was spectacular! Although I’m not sure Steve felt the same excitement as me. 😜

The Vienna Boys Choir were also very good. Such clear and high voices. It was lovely to watch the enthusiasm of some of the boys. Their ages can range between 8 and 14 years old. They were very cute and there were some young ones.

It was a big day!! We loved our time in Vienna and I’m continuing to broaden my mind and my waistline.