Vienna and the Family

[April 3 - 6]

By the time we arrived in Vienna, Mom and Dad Stevens had almost recovered from their jet-lag, and yet we still ended up playing tour-guide. While they'd sleep in and ask, "Where are we going?" we'd keep herding them along to the best desinations in the city. Big thanks to Sanjat for recommendations on what to see.



Lots of our time was spent wandering around the city. Vienna has a great wealth of beauty hidden amongst the alleys and architecture, and exploring the extremely well-kept urban landscape is half the fun of seeing the place. Particularly since the weather cooperated, we spent a lot of time on foot, giving ourselves a decent workout in the process. Another great way to get around is to rent a bike, available at a number of stations around the city. Stick in a credit card as deposit, then borrow the bike for about one euro per hour (and free for the first hour!). Next time we're in town, later in May, we'll be sure to give these a try and see how they compare with the attrocious chain-and-spoke monstrosities we rented in China.



That's walking was no optional workout, by the way. The Viennese aren't known for their traditional health-food after all, and given that any Stevens vacation involves a healthy (or unhealthy) amount of culinary tourism, we had some calories to work off. Here's a shot of my favorite sin, sampled at a stellar local brewpub. Behold the Berner-Wurst, or something like that: the cheese-filled sausage wrapped in bacon. With the grease offset by a sharp mustard, and a mild brew to wash it all down, I could start eating this stuff for breakfast.



We found another great carnivorous establishment in Grinzing, a small town outside of Vienna known for its wineries. Actually, we were informed that Vienna is the only capital city that grows wine grapes within city limits, so perhaps the vinyard-infested Grinzing is actully just a far-flung neighborhood of Vienna. Either way, it wasn't long before our stroll through town became an attempt to try the local beverages and victuals. Marita and I tried the fruity spirits, which turned out to be too strong for lunch (it´s Schnapps, basically). Lunch, as per usual, consisted of meat with meat, plus an insignificant quantitiy of vegetables (for color, one imagines).

What about the non-restaurant sights? The Stephansdom Cathedral marks the center of town, with its tile-patterned roof and open square surrounding it. This is not only the center of the city and the public transport hub, but also the place where eager men in courtly dress attempt to sell tickets to opera and dance performances at what must be an inflated rate. It's not like India by any stretch, but as we were warned in Darjeeling, "To them, you are like mutton!"

With all the human traffic flowing around it, Stephansdom really feels like a living part of the community. There were a huge number of school groups touring through it at the time we were there, with wide-eyed children taking in the sights or, more likely in the teenage crowd, wandering off to gossip with friends.



A few other great sights included the Hapsburg Palace on the west side of town, and the Art Nouveau pieces of Gustav Klimt and his contemporaries. Just as Brussels souvenirs were emblazoned with the image of the pissing boy fountain, Vienna's artsy trinkets usually portrayed some cropped version of "The Kiss." The tourist economy aside, the Art Nouveau paintings were fascinating in person, even though I had to work through an entire floor of classic and Baroque pieces in order to get to them. I love the art here in Europe!



Oh, here's a shot of Mom and me at a fountain in town. Hi Mom!

Finally, although we like to portray ourselves as adventure-seeking, environment-experiencing, die-hard, hard-core travelers, we have a softer side. Since Dad was footing the vacation bill during his work on the trip (this was a business trip, after all), we stayed at some very nice hotels. Hotels with bathrobes! Who doesn't like bathrobes? Every night in Vienna, we set up the computer with a movie on DVD, wrapped ourselves in white terry cloth, and ate Viennese sweets late into the night. Slumber party! Thanks, Mom and Dad, for a great week!