Vienna

Visiting Austria’s capital city it is not hard to see why Vienna has so often been a focal point in European history.

Vienna’s renowned architecture dominates the city’s streets, as the predominantly gothic structures leave even the most architecturally naive visitor dazzled. Come to think of it that is pretty much applicable to me.

Arriving in the cities Westbahnhof train station we jumped in the nearest taxi and headed for our hotel. The taxi driver was a charismatic middle aged man who spoke English at a rapid rate, enlightening us with pearls of wisdom to help make the most of our stay in the city.

As we headed out to explore for the first time we headed towards the city’s famous Ringstrasse area but on the way became sidetracked by lots of dazzling lights. We had managed to stumble upon one of Vienna’s famous Christmas markets staged in one of the cities many parks, on the 13th of November! Don’t get me wrong I’m not Christmas’ biggest fan but neither am I Scrooge reincarnated, but Christmas markets in mid November? We made our way through the crowds as all the while our noses were caressed with the smell of warmed mulled wine, somewhat of a delicacy on the continent it may seem.

By the time we had taken in the large amount of stalls and spectacular Christmas decorations I had reached about 2/10 on the Christmas excitement scale. You can expect the next development around about December 24th.

The following morning we again headed for the Ringstrasse. We hopped on a tram and headed to the end of the line where we expected to be immediately thrust with bustling crowds. Instead we appeared to be in an outer city suburb and after quick deliberation we concluded that we must have took the tram to the wrong end of the line. Following a brief conversation with an elderly lady who stank of alcohol but was adamant that she knew where Cornwall was, we hopped back on the tram.

True to our prediction we did indeed want to stop at the opposite end of the line and funnily enough the opposite end of the line was about five minutes from our hotel and a stonesthrow from the Christmas market from the night before meaning that we needn’t had even got on a tram in the first place. Certainly a lesson learnt there.

We spent the rest of the day strolling around the stunning Ringstrasse, taking in the breathtaking landmarks such as the Imperial Palace, Town Hall and City Park. All of the buildings appear on such a grand scale and certainly do more than hint to the city’s royal past.

As we headed back to our hotel through the brand shops and sidewalk cafes that line the city’s main shopping district, we noticed a series of crowds gathering to watch the street performers that come to the area hoping to take a few tourist Euro’s. Our personal favourite was a spray painter who created beautiful canvases within just a few minutes. Such raw talent on display drew in dozens of spectators.

The people of Vienna are amongst the friendliest people we have met on our travels so far, from the taxi driver to supermarket workers everyone is more than willing to instigate a conversation and attempt to impress you with their English.

Spending a few days in the city you cannot fail to notice Vienna’s large student population. Fresh faces distribute leaflets to accompany frequent fly posting around the city’s transport hubs notifying anybody who will listen about numerous demonstrations being staged around the city. Old favourite’s anti-war and no to animal testing predominantly figure.

Austria it appears is a great city for any age to visit, especially as the build up to the festive period intensifies!