My day and a half in Vienna
Vienna was the most amazing city I have ever been in.
I thought Krakow was awesome, and I really liked Bratislava, and Buenos Aires was a wild city, but Vienna is unlike anything I have ever seen — and I lived in NYC and SF for two different summers.
Granted, my affinity could be due to being foreign and unaccustomed to things Europeans might take for granted. That said, Vienna was stunning. With that, and the short amount of time I allotted myself, came a bit of overwhelmingness as well.
- I got there late the first night and went right back to Airbnb.
- The next day, I started at Naschmarkt, which rivals some of the largest markets I have ever seen. That said, it was mostly these dine in restaurants with open windows and some stands that seemed pretty similar. I went on a Wednesday afternoon, though, so could very well be bustling at different times.
- Then I walked around for a while and accidentally stumbled into some beautiful buildings. I remember my dad telling me about the buildings in Vienna, and they lived beyond the hype. They’re these massive blocks all over the place. I really don’t even understand how they were all constructed (something I want to look into). But everywhere I looked, there were these enormous, beautiful buildings that were probably historically old as well. It made me feel small in the best of ways.
- I walked past their massive opera house and then went to St. Stephen’s Cathedral which was mind numbingly large
- Then I accidentally stumbled into this massive and beautiful Christmas market that was right next to what I think was the Vienna Town Hall
After that, I went to the Natural History Museum that had an enormous collection. I’m not one for things like that usually, but beginning to convert.
Then the next day, I woke up early and went to Schönbrunn Palace, which is this massive palace where their emperor used to live until 1922 when they got rid of that system. In this palace, there were endless rooms with history of both Austria and all of Europe.
In one of the rooms, there was an epic meeting between JFK and the Russian president at the time. Mozart even performed for the queen in the palace.
There were beautiful gardens surrounding it and a walk all the way up to another building.
After that, I went to the Kunsthistorisches Museum to look at art.
It was a whirlwind of two days, and feel like I definitely need to go back at some point. But, for the time being, I was blown away by Vienna’s enormity, history, and buildings.
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In such a massive city, it made me realize I have much more to learn about European history and the ways in which these cities, kingdoms, and emperors evolved over time. Didn’t have the foresight in middle school history to find the importance or interest in things like this, despite having it now.
There’s so much history in Europe that I can feel has impacted my life and the ways in which we live in the US in many ways. I understand those in some regards, but in many I do not. Being in Vienna, more than anywhere else, showed me the significance of these massive cities.
Oh yeah, and I got to Lime around the city :)
