A Weekend in Vienna: Day 2

Hotel breakfast in Europe is different. Honestly, I think I like it more than in the states. Less sugar more protein but also carbs. At our hotel breakfast, there was a bread station, “American breakfast”, fruit, yogurt, juice, cold cuts, cheese, and coffee. I got some scrambled eggs – eggs cooked in a giant cauldron – bacon – sliced ham that was stuck together – a trusty croissant, and an espresso.

Once fueled up we set off for a walking tour with our Sites of Salzburg professor – I like to call her Lizzy, short for Lisabeth. Lizzy had us walking a marathon in two hours. We started in the Bermuda triangle – nightlife central – walked to Hofburg Imperial Palace, down to Resselpark, and further south to the Belvedere – I walked 17,958 steps this day (roughly 9 miles). Most impressively, Lizzy was talking the whole time; I swear she’s a walking encyclopedia with the lungs of a marathon runner.

Once at the Belvedere we were given free rein. I paired off with my museum buddy – we are slow as snails – and took our time. For others, it took 40 mins to get

through the whole museum whereas we took a little over 3 hours to make our way through. Belvedere Palace is a baroque-style palace built between 1714 and 1723 as a garden palace for Prince Eugene – an important general from the Habsburg Empire. Once outside the city walls, Belvedere is now nestled within the city limits and houses some of the most prestigious art in Austria. Artists such as Vincent Van Gogh, Gustav Klimt, and Egon Schieles are all featured within the museum.

While perusing the gift shop I received a direct message over Instagram from a travel blog asking for permission to repost a picture I had taken in Hallstatt – with respectable credits of course. I was bursting at the seams with joy. It’s a big deal for me. Having my photography used in bigger publications is insane. Of course, I responded yes and since then a few other travel blogs have used the same picture and credited me.

As we left the Belvedere it began to rain. Light sprinkles at first and eventually a heavy downpour that left me drenched. Sadly, I had to walk roughly 25 minutes in the rain to meet up with friends to attend yet another museum for our Sounds of Salzburg class. Walking through the rain is

both calming and extremely creepy. I love the rain and stand by the fact that most cities – Los Angeles excluded – look better in the rain, but “bad weather” also happens to remind me of every sketchy scene in any movie. I know I’m being ridiculous, but this is how my brain works. What if I catch Pennywise the Clown – Steven King’s IT – chilling in one of the sewage drains? Sometimes you just got to act like you’re the protagonist in a movie: staring out of a window longingly, looking over your shoulder with paranoia, or even skipping down the streets because you’re a little tipsy. Let just hope my life’s a romantic comedy and not a horror film. I digress, but cobblestone streets are extremely slippery in the rain due to their smooth surface so feel free to imagine me slipping and stumbling my way through Vienna in the rain.

25 minutes later I arrived - waterlogged no less - at 1516 Brewing Company that was equally drenched. My friends were seated outside on the covered patio, but the canopy overhead was leaking from the torrential rain. We immediately moved inside and tried to wait out the storm before we embarked on our next museum tour.

At this point, I was cold, wet, hungry, and tired. The growing blisters on my feet wept as I made the walk over to my next destination: Haus der Musik. To make matters worse my professor decided to give us a spontaneous assignment to complete at the museum – busy work to put in simply.

The Haus der Musik is the first museum of sound and music in Vienna. It’s located in the Palace of Archduke Charles, where the founder of the Vienna Philharmonic – Otto Nicolai – once lived. The museum leads you through exhibits starting on the 1st floor and ending on the 4th floor. Each floor hosts a different exhibit: Vienna Philharmonic, Sonotopia, The Great Masters, and The Virtual

Conductor. They had a piano staircase, a room that showcases tonal proximity, virtual reality, holographic projections of composers, and a virtual conducting experience. In retrospect, the Haus der Musik was a very interesting museum, but I was in such a terrible mood that I just wanted to walk through the exhibits as fast as my poor feet could carry me.

After leaving the Haus der Musik a couple of friends and I decided to visit a supposed bucket list café – I’d never heard of it before but to be fair I knew nothing about Vienna prior to going there. As we walked, we found ourselves wandering and got lost in the courtyards of the Hofburg Imperial Palace. That building is ginormous I swear the walls are tall and you’ll get disoriented instantly – it’s one of the biggest palace complexes in the world!

Once out of the maze, we located our destination – Café Demel.

Opened in 1786, Café Demel specializes in pastries and coffee. Vienna is well known for the Sachertorte – a chocolate sponge cake with a layer of apricot jam covered in a thin layer of chocolate. The “cake” was first created as Sacher Hotel in Vienna and later embraced across Austria. Fun fact, torte is cake in German – although it’s denser and less sweet than American cake – but tarte on the other hand is a cake with a thick layer of cream – not a custard – and sometimes fruit on top. I indulged in a Sachetorte and a simple Kleiner Brauner – a single shot of espresso. Cafés in Europe are much more relaxing, Europeans just sip on an espresso and stare off into space.

Afterward, we returned to our hotel with the intention of finally relaxing – need I remind you 17,958 steps is 9 miles. Later that night a few of us went to grab some pizza to go. I’m extremely proud to report that I ordered in German. Apparently, I

sounded genuine enough that when they messed up our order, he looked shocked to hear me switch to English. I’ll take the little victories when I can. For the rest of the evening, I relaxed. I would’ve loved to have gone out that night and explored the nightlife but my feet were maxed out.

Step Count: 17,958 steps