From Budapest, Hungary, Katie and I made our way to Austria: the land I want to come back and visit one day.
See Windmills: Sustainable Energy: Austria.
All the baggage we had for 10 days of travel, and Katie's 2.5 weeks in Europe.
I met a lady named Johanna in Romania, and she once invited me to stay with her if I ever wanted to visit Austria. When Katie and I were planning our trip, the opportunity came for me to contact her. She was very welcoming and even picked us up from the train station!
We took the metro and then we took her car and got the layout outside of Vienna. (She lives in a small commune outside of Vienna...kind of like a rural suburb).
The building she lived in actually was a factory built 150 years ago. People were still refurnishing the place to be appropriate for living.
It has a cool chimney, and here is a picture of a catwalk. I don't know why it fascinates me, but it does. I don't remember the last time I've seen a catwalk (a real one without models).
Then Johanna decided to do some grocery shopping and I went along with her to pick up snacks and lunch for Katie and myself the next day. The plan was for Katie and I to go visit Vienna with Greg (...a college student in Vienna we had not met yet) as our tour guide. People put in a 1 Euro-coin to use a shopping cart (like how Romanians put in 50 bani to unlock a shopping cart). I think it's a brilliant idea! It's an incentive for customers to return carts after they're done using them. People bring baskets and their own bags to the stores: apparently a very European thing to do, which I hear is catching on in the US too.
Austrian coffee =) At least inside the home. You have the drip system, or the makko espresso maker. This was my 2nd time using the espresso maker and I love it! It's super fast to make, strong, and the espresso is sweet without sugar.
She separates her trash very well. She told me most people do 5 types of separation: glass, paper, compost, plastics, and ...I forget the last one. She has a compost pile in her yard and a vegetable garden.
Here's the courtyard, which the whole facility shares. I have no idea how many families live in this building, but I know there are several. There's a gardening area too where people also keep rabbits and chickens and maybe more that I didn't see.
Back inside, here are cloth bags where she stored fresh grains, and when she needed things like flour she has this small machine which grinds the grain! In the house! Why don't we have stuff like that in our homes?! I've never seen any in the US nor in Romania...as a normal appliance.
See, here's the grain.
Katie was sick, so Johanna was so sweet and made Katie a delicious tea mixed with all sorts of herbs (I think basic stuff like mint, and stuff, I don't remember, and there were some things with names we couldn't' translate, but they smelled familiar). Katie said it was good and warm and she was happy. That's our room. I was nice, I gave Katie the bed. It was a comfortable room. Oh! Their hot water is heated by a solar water heater! The water tank can keep the water up for 3 days if there's no sunlight, and if the water isn't hot enough, electricity heats it.
Greece and Austria! Solar water tanks! Hum....
Katie and I used the internet to check email, and to look up bus routes to get to Vienna the next day.
So we went to Station H the next day and waited. We were told people use the public transportation a lot because its good for the environment. I couldn't help but notice the cleanliness and comfort of all the public transportation systems. The buses and trains and metro looked brandnew, but they're probably just well maintained.
Our ride going to Vienna, and look! TICHY Ice Cream. Only sold in Austria, or at least the real recipes are Austria, and all else are with worse quality ingredients (or so we were told). We were also told it's the best ice cream in the world, even better than gelato. *gasp*
Yeah, the weather was a bit iffy, but it was warm and not wet.
So here is the foot of St. Stephan's cathedral at the stop: Stephansplatz (fun to say). World famous, very large and very impressive building. According to our tour guide, the cathedral is always under construction because the cathedral isn't made with limestone, which isn't the most durable material. That's why in real life, he said either one or another part of the church is covered under the tarp.
I don't remember if there was an entrance fee, and if there was it must have been reasonable because Katie, Greg and I went in.
Intricate, no?
Look at those organ pipes. Wow. The phantom of the opera would have been happy there.
Few facts about St. Stephan: It contains the 2nd largest swinging bell in Europe, the largest in Austria. It's a Romanesque and Gothic style cathedral first constructed in 1147 and has since been modified and extended. The church's original color is white, but years of pollution has given it a black coating.
There are many areas in Austria where cars aren't allowed, only pedestrians and bicyclists.
So we walked all day, walked walked and metroed. Katie and I bought a 2 day Metro pass where we could take as many rides as we wanted. It was EXpensive! More expensive by far than SF. Granted we were in the country's capital and another giant tourist town.
Greg, on the left, took us to Cafe Drechsler (odd how these places have webpages...I don't think any Romanian places I take people to have webpages: http://www.cafedrechsler.at/en/home.php). Greg and I ordered "coffee" and Katie order a "mocha." What Greg and I got was what we call a "Latte" (espresso with milk and foam) and Katie got a what we call "espresso shot" (a shot of espresso with chocolate syrup or powder). All of them were served with a glass of water. Cause that's how Austrians do it. Coffee with a glass of water. I approve.
Katie's mug and my mug =)
Then a famous desert: Black cake with apricot sauce with a flop of whipped cream. I approved again. Pricey, but if I turned those Euros into dollars it was reasonable for a famous experience, but I would never throw my Lei around like that! 20 lei for a coffee!?!? I pay 1 leu for a coffee out of a machine! psh! and 5 lei is my MAX at restaurants.
Back to Austria. We walked and saw impressive buildings. Tall and august.
Then we arrive to the Winter Palace, excuse me, Hofburg Imperial Palace. Tis the winter home to the royal family dating back to 1279. wow! It looks large from the outside, but so much LARGER on the inside!
Hercules!
Hercules!
Seal of the famous Spanish Riding School. Bummer that they wanted us to pay 9 Euro to watch the ponies prance and do tricks =( That set Katie dead against going with me. So, I looked at the seal and that was it. These "Lipizzan" horses are rare and special...but who knows how special because I never got to see them in action. The fee wasn't even to see them perform, it was to see them eat and move about. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lipizzan
Let me just say that I saw lots of tableware in this castle. Forks, spoons, bread plates, soup bowls, etc... They were made of gold, porcelain, jade (gifts from Asian and Turkey and etc...), silver, emeralds, and lots of other things. I saw gold gold gold everywhere!
Oh it was an audio tour, and there were stories to go along with all the tableware. There was a room of animal themed tableware, painted plates and their makers....There wasn't much on that tour except table ware UNTIL
We went on the Sisi tour....
She wasn't a large part of the Habsberg's dynasty, but Hollywood glorified her, so we went on her tour. Her story was of beauty and of tragedy, it honestly reminded me a little of Princess D's story (both real life princesses struggling with strict court etiquette, and then dying tragically), but where as Princess D seems more down to earth, Princess Sisi is portrayed for being more aloft. I liked her tour a lot! It was thorough and it was also an audio tour, and it was given as if Sisi was telling you her story. (all of a sudden I have a craving for fruit gummy snacks...but where would I find them? =( oh well)
Okay, I've just spent 20 mins trying to figure out what buildings these are, and I am going to conclude that the two pictures above are of St. Stephen's cathedral, and the bottom picture is the back of Hofburg Imperial palace. I recall Greg saying something about it being where the President stayed...maybe I'm wrong, maybe we're both right...sorry.
Then we had a lunch break! On these weird lounge chairs at this plaza where other people were sitting, reading, and eating too.
We ate the cheese sandwiches we had prepared and some snacks too. What kind of cheese? Strong odorous cheese that I don't think I enjoyed. Katie ate my share cause she's part mouse. I think I made a jam sandwich too, whew! Sugar and fruit over bread = almost always safe.
After that energy refuel we found:
Muh huh. More Viennese Ice Crem de la crem.
This blog entry is long...
Okay, so we then did more walking.
I'm sure this globe has significance, but I don't recall now. Then we went to this cute/cool market. There were restaurants and lots of shops.
Fruit stands. With dragon fruit.
I saw crazy white asparagus! Never saw them before then.
We also saw this giant selection of vinegar which Katie was tempted to by, but she didn't and she's probably kicking herself for it now. Vinegars are great for cooking and salad dressing. Too bad.
Here was this giant cheese store full of different cheese.
And then stands that sold nuts and dried fruits, and a fresh juice stand, but no jamba juice =(
There seems to be a lack or bias against frozen fruit drinks in Europe or at least East and Mid Europe.
Walk walk...there was something amusing about that sign.
Saw these two buildings that looked exactly alike, on either side of the street, but the statues on top are different. One building is a library and the other is a museum.
Walk walk.
Walk. Weird owl figure. Here is er...a greek fountain? Hercules, Alexander, Hades, I don't remember.
Here is the Vienna metro system.
But they have this AWESOME bike system too! So you register online and you pay 1 Euro per a year to rent any bike you want at their bike stations (around Vienna). You go to a station, swipe and take a bike, then get to a station close to your destination and check the bike in. It's like renting a car, but so much cheaper and healthier. I wish we had this kind of system.
Lol to the crosswalk lights.
In the Metro halls they have facts. Such as: Population, number of hungry people in the world, US dollars spent on war in Iraq...
That concluded our tour of Vienna. We spent 1 full day there, and the day wasn't over yet.
Johanna and her husband prepared us some traditional Austrian foods for dinner!
We ate out in the courtyard. We had fresh salad from her garden, that uses compost from their compost pile. They even had this elderberry yellow syrup that you put in fizzy mineral water and it's yum!! Italian soda, but it's Austrian! and Johanna made the syrup herself. She said it's not hard, maybe I'll try it one day. Hum...I recall eating baked potatoes and some other baked veggie. Wonderful, homecooked, organic Austrian meal. Who were the lucky travelers? We were!
Ops, so er, these are dumplings. Austrian dumplings. I found this site if you want to try making some: http://www.annamariavolpi.com/austrian-knoedel.html
We had a rushed dinner BECAUSE Johanna wanted to take Katie and I to an open air concert at Schoenbrunn Palace!!!!!!
The BIG summer residence of the royals! and it was going to be a classical concert with MOZART! Who was born in Austria! How cool is that!? I love once original things, and that was going to be a once in a lifetime thing for me: listening to an open air classical orchestra at the largest palace in Vienna.
We ate and Johanna's sweet husband Peter cleaned up for us. We went quickly to the metro (because it was a free concert = probably would be traffic if we tried driving directly there).
The walk from the metro to the castle was really short. The sun was setting.
And then it was dark (we were walking through the massive baroque garden) and there weren't any street lights...because it's a garden.
But then we arrived and the massive flood lights made it day again.
See: day.
There's the back of the palace.
We tried to get as close as we could, but there were lots of people there.
Here are how Austrian people look like. Some of the people in my village were asking me about people in the different places I went to visit. See the height? They are all taller than me. So sad.
I tried to take picture above heads, or I think Katie with her long appendages took this one. We ALMOST didn't get to go because Johanna thought Katie would feel to sick to go. I thank Katie for mustering up the energy to go because I really really really wanted to go.
We watched the concert from the giant TV screens and more importantly, we heard the beautiful music.
The sky looked really cool too.
We then decided to try and get on the hill to see if we could hear the music better. I don't know where we were going, I saw Roman ruins and other strange things in that dark baroque style garden. I felt like we were wandering about in an amusement park.
Then we found the hill. Here's the side of the fountain where they were shooting off fireworks.
See my boots and Katie's boots? We sat on this hill and imbued the moment. Then we took off with everyone else and we got a little lost in the garden because everyone we were following other lost travelers, but we got out and home.
The next day. We woke, we said thanks Peter for his amazing hospitality and we took the bus to meet Johanna at work.
She took us out to one last ice cream =) before she sent us off. I wanted to see her work place because she works for a waste management education organization which is relevant to what I need at my site in Romania.
yum. I haven't gotten to Italy yet, but I'll say it, Austrian Ice Cream may be better than Italian Gelatto. Good stuff.
Then onward to Salzburg. When Johanna found out that we were looking at hostels in Salzburg, she called up a friend to pick us up and host us =)
Katie and her Austrian over the counter drugs.
Here's the view of the Austrian countryside from the train.
We also saw castles, but there was no way for me to distinguish them. Cool though. Towers, castles, fortresses scattered about the countryside.
Goodbye Vienna.
See Windmills: Sustainable Energy: Austria.
All the baggage we had for 10 days of travel, and Katie's 2.5 weeks in Europe.
I met a lady named Johanna in Romania, and she once invited me to stay with her if I ever wanted to visit Austria. When Katie and I were planning our trip, the opportunity came for me to contact her. She was very welcoming and even picked us up from the train station!
We took the metro and then we took her car and got the layout outside of Vienna. (She lives in a small commune outside of Vienna...kind of like a rural suburb).
The building she lived in actually was a factory built 150 years ago. People were still refurnishing the place to be appropriate for living.
It has a cool chimney, and here is a picture of a catwalk. I don't know why it fascinates me, but it does. I don't remember the last time I've seen a catwalk (a real one without models).
Then Johanna decided to do some grocery shopping and I went along with her to pick up snacks and lunch for Katie and myself the next day. The plan was for Katie and I to go visit Vienna with Greg (...a college student in Vienna we had not met yet) as our tour guide. People put in a 1 Euro-coin to use a shopping cart (like how Romanians put in 50 bani to unlock a shopping cart). I think it's a brilliant idea! It's an incentive for customers to return carts after they're done using them. People bring baskets and their own bags to the stores: apparently a very European thing to do, which I hear is catching on in the US too.
Austrian coffee =) At least inside the home. You have the drip system, or the makko espresso maker. This was my 2nd time using the espresso maker and I love it! It's super fast to make, strong, and the espresso is sweet without sugar.
She separates her trash very well. She told me most people do 5 types of separation: glass, paper, compost, plastics, and ...I forget the last one. She has a compost pile in her yard and a vegetable garden.
Here's the courtyard, which the whole facility shares. I have no idea how many families live in this building, but I know there are several. There's a gardening area too where people also keep rabbits and chickens and maybe more that I didn't see.
Back inside, here are cloth bags where she stored fresh grains, and when she needed things like flour she has this small machine which grinds the grain! In the house! Why don't we have stuff like that in our homes?! I've never seen any in the US nor in Romania...as a normal appliance.
See, here's the grain.
Katie was sick, so Johanna was so sweet and made Katie a delicious tea mixed with all sorts of herbs (I think basic stuff like mint, and stuff, I don't remember, and there were some things with names we couldn't' translate, but they smelled familiar). Katie said it was good and warm and she was happy. That's our room. I was nice, I gave Katie the bed. It was a comfortable room. Oh! Their hot water is heated by a solar water heater! The water tank can keep the water up for 3 days if there's no sunlight, and if the water isn't hot enough, electricity heats it.
Greece and Austria! Solar water tanks! Hum....
Katie and I used the internet to check email, and to look up bus routes to get to Vienna the next day.
So we went to Station H the next day and waited. We were told people use the public transportation a lot because its good for the environment. I couldn't help but notice the cleanliness and comfort of all the public transportation systems. The buses and trains and metro looked brandnew, but they're probably just well maintained.
Our ride going to Vienna, and look! TICHY Ice Cream. Only sold in Austria, or at least the real recipes are Austria, and all else are with worse quality ingredients (or so we were told). We were also told it's the best ice cream in the world, even better than gelato. *gasp*
Yeah, the weather was a bit iffy, but it was warm and not wet.
So here is the foot of St. Stephan's cathedral at the stop: Stephansplatz (fun to say). World famous, very large and very impressive building. According to our tour guide, the cathedral is always under construction because the cathedral isn't made with limestone, which isn't the most durable material. That's why in real life, he said either one or another part of the church is covered under the tarp.
I don't remember if there was an entrance fee, and if there was it must have been reasonable because Katie, Greg and I went in.
Intricate, no?
Look at those organ pipes. Wow. The phantom of the opera would have been happy there.
Few facts about St. Stephan: It contains the 2nd largest swinging bell in Europe, the largest in Austria. It's a Romanesque and Gothic style cathedral first constructed in 1147 and has since been modified and extended. The church's original color is white, but years of pollution has given it a black coating.
There are many areas in Austria where cars aren't allowed, only pedestrians and bicyclists.
So we walked all day, walked walked and metroed. Katie and I bought a 2 day Metro pass where we could take as many rides as we wanted. It was EXpensive! More expensive by far than SF. Granted we were in the country's capital and another giant tourist town.
Greg, on the left, took us to Cafe Drechsler (odd how these places have webpages...I don't think any Romanian places I take people to have webpages: http://www.cafedrechsler.at/en/home.php). Greg and I ordered "coffee" and Katie order a "mocha." What Greg and I got was what we call a "Latte" (espresso with milk and foam) and Katie got a what we call "espresso shot" (a shot of espresso with chocolate syrup or powder). All of them were served with a glass of water. Cause that's how Austrians do it. Coffee with a glass of water. I approve.
Katie's mug and my mug =)
Then a famous desert: Black cake with apricot sauce with a flop of whipped cream. I approved again. Pricey, but if I turned those Euros into dollars it was reasonable for a famous experience, but I would never throw my Lei around like that! 20 lei for a coffee!?!? I pay 1 leu for a coffee out of a machine! psh! and 5 lei is my MAX at restaurants.
Back to Austria. We walked and saw impressive buildings. Tall and august.
Then we arrive to the Winter Palace, excuse me, Hofburg Imperial Palace. Tis the winter home to the royal family dating back to 1279. wow! It looks large from the outside, but so much LARGER on the inside!
Hercules!
Hercules!
Seal of the famous Spanish Riding School. Bummer that they wanted us to pay 9 Euro to watch the ponies prance and do tricks =( That set Katie dead against going with me. So, I looked at the seal and that was it. These "Lipizzan" horses are rare and special...but who knows how special because I never got to see them in action. The fee wasn't even to see them perform, it was to see them eat and move about. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lipizzan
Let me just say that I saw lots of tableware in this castle. Forks, spoons, bread plates, soup bowls, etc... They were made of gold, porcelain, jade (gifts from Asian and Turkey and etc...), silver, emeralds, and lots of other things. I saw gold gold gold everywhere!
Oh it was an audio tour, and there were stories to go along with all the tableware. There was a room of animal themed tableware, painted plates and their makers....There wasn't much on that tour except table ware UNTIL
We went on the Sisi tour....
She wasn't a large part of the Habsberg's dynasty, but Hollywood glorified her, so we went on her tour. Her story was of beauty and of tragedy, it honestly reminded me a little of Princess D's story (both real life princesses struggling with strict court etiquette, and then dying tragically), but where as Princess D seems more down to earth, Princess Sisi is portrayed for being more aloft. I liked her tour a lot! It was thorough and it was also an audio tour, and it was given as if Sisi was telling you her story. (all of a sudden I have a craving for fruit gummy snacks...but where would I find them? =( oh well)
Okay, I've just spent 20 mins trying to figure out what buildings these are, and I am going to conclude that the two pictures above are of St. Stephen's cathedral, and the bottom picture is the back of Hofburg Imperial palace. I recall Greg saying something about it being where the President stayed...maybe I'm wrong, maybe we're both right...sorry.
Then we had a lunch break! On these weird lounge chairs at this plaza where other people were sitting, reading, and eating too.
We ate the cheese sandwiches we had prepared and some snacks too. What kind of cheese? Strong odorous cheese that I don't think I enjoyed. Katie ate my share cause she's part mouse. I think I made a jam sandwich too, whew! Sugar and fruit over bread = almost always safe.
After that energy refuel we found:
Muh huh. More Viennese Ice Crem de la crem.
This blog entry is long...
Okay, so we then did more walking.
I'm sure this globe has significance, but I don't recall now. Then we went to this cute/cool market. There were restaurants and lots of shops.
Fruit stands. With dragon fruit.
I saw crazy white asparagus! Never saw them before then.
We also saw this giant selection of vinegar which Katie was tempted to by, but she didn't and she's probably kicking herself for it now. Vinegars are great for cooking and salad dressing. Too bad.
Here was this giant cheese store full of different cheese.
And then stands that sold nuts and dried fruits, and a fresh juice stand, but no jamba juice =(
There seems to be a lack or bias against frozen fruit drinks in Europe or at least East and Mid Europe.
Walk walk...there was something amusing about that sign.
Saw these two buildings that looked exactly alike, on either side of the street, but the statues on top are different. One building is a library and the other is a museum.
Walk walk.
Walk. Weird owl figure. Here is er...a greek fountain? Hercules, Alexander, Hades, I don't remember.
Here is the Vienna metro system.
But they have this AWESOME bike system too! So you register online and you pay 1 Euro per a year to rent any bike you want at their bike stations (around Vienna). You go to a station, swipe and take a bike, then get to a station close to your destination and check the bike in. It's like renting a car, but so much cheaper and healthier. I wish we had this kind of system.
Lol to the crosswalk lights.
In the Metro halls they have facts. Such as: Population, number of hungry people in the world, US dollars spent on war in Iraq...
That concluded our tour of Vienna. We spent 1 full day there, and the day wasn't over yet.
Johanna and her husband prepared us some traditional Austrian foods for dinner!
We ate out in the courtyard. We had fresh salad from her garden, that uses compost from their compost pile. They even had this elderberry yellow syrup that you put in fizzy mineral water and it's yum!! Italian soda, but it's Austrian! and Johanna made the syrup herself. She said it's not hard, maybe I'll try it one day. Hum...I recall eating baked potatoes and some other baked veggie. Wonderful, homecooked, organic Austrian meal. Who were the lucky travelers? We were!
Ops, so er, these are dumplings. Austrian dumplings. I found this site if you want to try making some: http://www.annamariavolpi.com/austrian-knoedel.html
We had a rushed dinner BECAUSE Johanna wanted to take Katie and I to an open air concert at Schoenbrunn Palace!!!!!!
The BIG summer residence of the royals! and it was going to be a classical concert with MOZART! Who was born in Austria! How cool is that!? I love once original things, and that was going to be a once in a lifetime thing for me: listening to an open air classical orchestra at the largest palace in Vienna.
We ate and Johanna's sweet husband Peter cleaned up for us. We went quickly to the metro (because it was a free concert = probably would be traffic if we tried driving directly there).
The walk from the metro to the castle was really short. The sun was setting.
And then it was dark (we were walking through the massive baroque garden) and there weren't any street lights...because it's a garden.
But then we arrived and the massive flood lights made it day again.
See: day.
There's the back of the palace.
We tried to get as close as we could, but there were lots of people there.
Here are how Austrian people look like. Some of the people in my village were asking me about people in the different places I went to visit. See the height? They are all taller than me. So sad.
I tried to take picture above heads, or I think Katie with her long appendages took this one. We ALMOST didn't get to go because Johanna thought Katie would feel to sick to go. I thank Katie for mustering up the energy to go because I really really really wanted to go.
We watched the concert from the giant TV screens and more importantly, we heard the beautiful music.
The sky looked really cool too.
We then decided to try and get on the hill to see if we could hear the music better. I don't know where we were going, I saw Roman ruins and other strange things in that dark baroque style garden. I felt like we were wandering about in an amusement park.
Then we found the hill. Here's the side of the fountain where they were shooting off fireworks.
See my boots and Katie's boots? We sat on this hill and imbued the moment. Then we took off with everyone else and we got a little lost in the garden because everyone we were following other lost travelers, but we got out and home.
The next day. We woke, we said thanks Peter for his amazing hospitality and we took the bus to meet Johanna at work.
She took us out to one last ice cream =) before she sent us off. I wanted to see her work place because she works for a waste management education organization which is relevant to what I need at my site in Romania.
yum. I haven't gotten to Italy yet, but I'll say it, Austrian Ice Cream may be better than Italian Gelatto. Good stuff.
Then onward to Salzburg. When Johanna found out that we were looking at hostels in Salzburg, she called up a friend to pick us up and host us =)
Katie and her Austrian over the counter drugs.
Here's the view of the Austrian countryside from the train.
We also saw castles, but there was no way for me to distinguish them. Cool though. Towers, castles, fortresses scattered about the countryside.
Goodbye Vienna.
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