17/05/18

Vienna, Austria / 3 nights

The home of the cream cake and classical music. Two things which definitely do not disappoint in this city. Although I have to confess I did only focus on one of these qualities and I’ll let you assume which.

As a tourist, I do believe we get hung up on having to visit all the monuments of whichever city we may be in, in order to ‘tick the boxes’. However, on this trip I’m starting to learn that just walking the streets with no agenda is when you get to see the city from a locals perspective. Vienna is a prime example of this.

The only monument I knew of in Vienna prior to the trip, was the State Opera, where the famous composers of Mozart and Beethoven performed their Operas back in the day. On our second day in Vienna, when we experienced our first batch of downpour, we did do an hours guided tour for the un-negotiable price of €9, which was well worth the price if you love a bit of insight and history. The architecture inside is beautiful along with the art across the walls displaying previous operas and ballets. They also allow you inside the auditorium where you can really gain some perspective on how intimate the performances are. Oh god do I sound like a history nerd yet?

For me, it was really the whole scenery of Vienna which I loved so much about our visit. All of the buildings are made with such detail with brilliant white stone all so intricately carved. The streets are super clean and the city is filled with parks and gardens. The most prettiest of gardens would be the Belvedere gardens.

The Belvedere gardens surround the Belvedere museum which mostly consists of historical Austrian art paintings. These gardens are a must see as 1. They are stunn-ing and 2. It acts as a look out on to Vienna as it perches on a hill. Oh and 3. This is where you’re going to get your perfect photo opportunity in Vienna. There were personal photoshoots going on left right and centre which I expect will now be peoples new Facebook profile pictures.

My last recommendation for Vienna would be a nighttime cafe visit. Whilst walking the city at night we came across a cafe filled with velvet booths where we stopped off and indulged in a few cakes and cocktails (disclaimer: beer for Ben). Why is this better at night time you may ask? Well other than the fact that this time of day makes it more acceptable for cocktail time the cafe is also so quiet and empty it feels like a movie scene but not as romantic as Ben managed to spill half his beer down me. Thankfully he doesn’t read my blog posts so don’t leak (great pun) to him that I added this detail in here. That’s a one time special for you all.

Currently on the train to Budapest, only a 2 hour journey so a total breeze for us. So far the train stations have been so easy! *touches wood* No one even checks our tickets until we are on the train so no need to get to the station super early to get through any security which equals an additional 30 minute lie in in the mornings.

I shall speak again after our Budapest adventure.

Peace and love,

Yasmin x