I have wanted to visit Vienna ever since I first watched the movie, "Before Sunrise", in 1995 so I was super excited for our trip at the end of September. (The movie stars Ethan Hawke & Julie Delpy and follows their characters, Jesse & Celine, who meet on a train to Vienna and spend the rest of the day and night walking around the city talking and falling in love.) During our flight leg to Istanbul, we lucked out with an empty seat in our row so Tori and I were able to stretch out a bit on the long flight. I think the three young American men in front of us were on an Greek Orthodox pilgrimage to the ancient city since they talked loudly about religion for the entire flight. I might have enjoyed overhearing a theological discussion but all they did was quote unrelated scriptures to each other for 13 hours. It felt like they were preaching at each other, trying to impress instead of holding a real in-depth religious conversation. We had a four hour layover in the huge Istanbul airport, walking around the shops, before catching our short flight to Vienna and riding the airport train into the city center. After 24 hours of travel, we arrived at our hotel, The Leo Grand, at 8pm. We were exhausted after checking in, but we managed a short walk around the majestic St. Stephen's Cathedral next to our hotel before going to bed.
Since we arrived in Vienna during the evening and went to sleep at a normal hour, we suffered little jet lag when we woke the next morning. We found a pretty view of the green dome of St. Peter's Church outside our window. For breakfast, we walked around the block to the nearby Cafe Korb. We started with the classic Viennese Melange coffee, half espresso and half hot milk with foam. Tori ordered the Viennese Breakfast that came with two rolls with butter and apricot jam and a soft boiled egg still in the shell. She enjoyed it so much she ordered it every time we visited this cafe. I wasn't too hungry so I ordered the Ham & Cheese Toast. Afterwards, we walked over to the nearby Apotheke to buy medicine for Tori's headache. I had to look up on the internet to find Thomapryin, the Austrian version of Excedrin. It worked well, but it lacked the outer coating that prevents the bitter pill from instantly dissolving on your tongue as you try to swallow it.
For our first full day, I planned a walkabout of Vienna's Innere Stad to visit museums and see some of the shooting locations of "Before Sunrise". At 10:30am, we took a subway to the Zollamtssteg Bridge. The small footbridge, built in 1900 with green steel arches that crosses over a lower subway bridge and the Wein River, is the first film location that Jesse and Celine visit after leaving the train together in Vienna. We didn't meet two Austrian playwrights on the bridge, but afterwards we did walk over and board the same trolley on the Ring Road that circles the inner historic district of the city. The grand boulevard, lined with historical buildings, replaced the medieval walls that held off the Ottoman Turks during the famous Siege of Vienna.
Riding the trolley to the far side of the Ringstraße, we exited the same Borse stop next to the former Vienna Stock Exchange building. In the park behind, we shared some tasty kimchi from the Alles Wurscht sausage stand. Continuing our walk, we climbed the stairs to Mölker Steig, a narrow winding cobblestone alley from the movie. The two buildings at the end of the alley was also the location of an iconic scene from "The Third Man" where Orson Welles character is revealed inside the darkened doorway. Leaving the small neighborhood, we passed a bride and her wedding party outside the Schottenkirche and the famous Cafe Central with a long line outside. We weaved inward through the crowded Kohlmarkt shopping area to see the front side of St. Peter's Church near our hotel. The ornate domed church is perfectly framed by the buildings on either side and we could see our tiny room window from the street. A few steps away stands the Column of Pest, erected as a memorial by Emperor Leopold I after one of the last great plague epidemics that hit the city in 1679.
Heading towards the Hofburg Palace, the seat of the former Austrian Empire, we decided to visit the Imperial Treasury inside the palace grounds. The museum holds the Imperial Crown of Austria as well as the Imperial Crown of the Holy Roman Empire that the Hapsburgs also ruled for most of its existence. As well as the crown jewels and other royal regalia, the treasury contains royal heirlooms like a narwhal tusk, believed to be an unicorn horn at the time and an agate bowl believed to be the Holy Grail. The museum also holds the cradle for Napoleon's son with Archduchess Marie Louise, the daughter of the Austrian Emperor. After World War II, the US Army returned all the items the Nazi's stole from the treasury.
In another section of the Hofburg Palace is the Austrian National Library. The most impressive part of the former Imperial Court Library is the Prunksaal, or State Hall. The two-story high wooden book shelves are lined with marble columns and statues of Hapsburg Emperors under a twenty meter high dome covered with colorful ceiling frescos. While the leather-bound tomes in the cases are just copies of their valuable collection, they do display rare items in the glass cases lining the room. This magnificent hall is the library equivalent of St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican.
Our next stop was the raised square in front of the Albertina Museum. Jesse and Celine talked along the stone balustrade in a scene from "Before Sunrise" and return later in the movie to sit under the Statue of Archduke Albrecht in the early morning hours before leaving the city. We were starting to get hungry so we stopped at a Würstlstand on the walk back to the hotel for a Kasekrainer and an OttaKringer beer. The cheese-filled sausage served with mustard was delicious! An Austrian from the city of Gatz shared some of his horseradish (kren) with me and I will never order from a sausage stand without it again. He was a nice guy and recommended that we visit the Schweizerhaus for the beer and the roasted pork knuckle.
After a rest break at the hotel, we boarded the subway (U-Bahn) to visit Arena Beisl on the outskirts of the city. The former industrial slaughterhouse is now an alternative music venue and its bar served as a film location where Jesse & Celine played pinball and drank a few beers. Unfortunately, the bar was closed for a music concert so we headed back for dinner at Zwölf Apostelkeller. This underground restaurant sits in an ancient cellar and serves traditional Austrian dishes. Drinking Schnapps, Tori ordered the Veggie Strudel and I had the Kasespatzle, a rich cheesy spätzle pasta topped with crispy fried onions and chives.
After dinner, we walked off our meal through the winding streets of the inner city to the Catholic Church Maria am Gestade. The exterior of the narrow Gothic church was filmed in "Before Sunrise" and the "Third Man" in the 1940s. In the older film, the buildings on the right side of the church are exactly the same but the bombed-out rubble on the left hand side of the stairs has now been replaced by a more modern building. In "Before Sunrise", Jesse & Celine go inside the 2nd oldest church in the city but a different location was used to film the interior scene. Nearby, we walked past the oldest church, Ruprechtskirche, built atop one of the few remaining pieces of the city's fortifications. Lastly, we visited the Ankeruhr, the large mechanical clock built in 1914. Every hour, a new revolving figure moves to the front of the clock with accompanying organ music. For dessert, we bought some cookies at the attached grocery store to take back to our hotel room.
After breakfast at Café Korb on Saturday morning, we took the subway out to the Maria-Theresien-Platz. The square is named after the memorial of Empress Maria Theresa that stands at the center. The only ruling female Austrian Empress, her successful reign lasted from 1740 to 1780. We also checked out the four Tritons & Naiads Fountains that Jesse and Celine wander past in "Before Sunrise". Across the street, we saw kids learning how to use the German Wheel. It is a form of gymnastics invented in Germany in 1925 using a giant metal wheel. In the nearby MuseumsQuartier, we took the elevator to the MQ Libelle rooftop bar for the area views.
Our next stop was the cobblestone alleys of Spittelberg, walking the same narrow streets where Jesse and Celine talked and encountered the belly dancer. I did a little dance myself on the same small square before we walked on to the Alt & Neu Records Store. The listening booth scene at the back was my favorite moment in the movie. The booth is now gone but the rest of the store looks exactly the same.
On our way to the Vienna's famous outdoor market, we passed Otto Wagner’s Majolikahaus, an Art Nouveau building famous for its colorful floral tiles. The busy Naschmarkt across the street was built over the Wien River that runs underground in this part of the city. From 1793 onwards, all fruits and vegetables brought to the city with carts had to be sold there. Now the numerous stalls sell all types of food and spices, with covered restaurants at one end and a flea market on the other. The ROXY Club where Jesse is given a bottle of wine by the bartender is still in the same neighborhood but it was closed when we walked down Schleifmuhlgasse. A few blocks away, we found the Preßgasse house where Jesse and Celine heard the Harpsichord playing through the basement windows at dawn. The windows are still there with their wrought iron grilles.
On Gumpendorfer Straße, we stopped at Café Sperl for lunch. Luckily, we were seated in the same fabric covered booths where Jesse and Celine played the telephone game in "Before Sunrise", another favorite scene of mine. I had the Frankfurter Würstl sausages with horseradish while Tori ordered the popular Viennese dish, Eiernockerl (egg dumplings) with green salad. We didn't realize it at the time, but Eiernockerl was supposedly Hitler's favorite dish.
After lunch, we headed over to Mariahilfer, one of the major shopping streets in the city. When we arrived, Palestinians were marching down the street, protesting the war in the Gaza Strip. Two men were carrying large bell drums that echoed down the long street corridor. Further down, Tori wanted to stop at HEMA, the Dutch department store and Müller, the German drug store. We also checked out the Austrian version of TJ Maxx before entering the Catholic Church Mariahilf on the same street. "Before Sunrise" used this church's interior for a scene that took place at the Maria am Gestade church that we visited the night before. At the far end of the shopping street, we went inside the Westbahnhoff train station where Jesse and Celine arrive by train and have a tearful goodbye.
After taking the subway back to our hotel and relaxing for a bit, we walked down to Café Sacher for their famous dessert, the Sachertorte, invented by Franz Sacher, supposedly in 1832 for Prince Metternich in Vienna. The torte consists of a dense chocolate cake with a thin layer of apricot jam and coated in dark chocolate icing. I liked that it wasn't as rich as it sounded. Afterwards, we returned to the Albertina next door for the nighttime views from the raised square before heading back to sleep.
Early Sunday morning, we walked over to Zum Schwarzen Kameel (The Black Camel) for breakfast. Over four centuries old, the restaurant opened in 1618 and instantly became one of the most popular in the city, attracting aristocrats and artists like Ludwig van Beethoven. Besides our Melange Coffee, I ordered the handcut bone-in ham with horseradish while Tori had the Fruit Müesli. I thought I was ordering one of their famous open-face sandwiches, but the dish arrived as a pile of sliced ham with black bread on the side. I thought it might be too much but it was so delicious, I ate it all.
After breakfast, we went for a walk through the quiet streets, hearing the choir singing from the Kirche am Hof as we walked past. It was quite peaceful as we passed through the Judenplatz, the former center of the Vienna Jewish Community in the Middle Ages. The Holocaust Memorial in the square remembers the Austrian Jews that died during World War II.
For the first half of the day, we decided to take the subway and visit the Belvedere museum, two baroque palaces built outside the city walls in the early 1700s by Prince Eugene of Savoy. Born in France, but denied a commission in the French Army, Prince Eugene joined the Army of the Holy Roman Empire and fought in the battle that ended the Siege of Vienna by the Ottoman Turks. He went on to become one of the greatest military commanders of his era and one of Europe's richest men. We walked the palace gardens around the Upper Belvedere that eventually became the official residence of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, whose assassination triggered World War I. Walking back to our hotel, we stopped at the Soviet War Monument next to the fountain in the Schwarzenbergplatz. The memorial to honor the 17,000 soviet soldiers who died during the Vienna Offensive in World War II was built by the Red Army during their occupation of the city.
In the afternoon, we took a trolley out to the vineyards growing on the city's northern hillsides. Vienna is the only capital with significant wine growing inside its city limits, fitting for the Austrian's own name for the city, "Wein". On sunny weekends, the Heurigers open up their hillside wine huts among the vines. Starting at the road beside the Nussdorf Cemetary, we began our hike up the steep hillside of the Nussberg where the Battle of Vienna began in 1683, ending the Ottoman Turks siege of the city. We passed a hut halfway up, but we continued on until we reached Weinbau Windischbauer near the top. Purchasing two glasses of wine, we sat among the vines with awesome views of the Danube River and the city below. Nearly all Vienna winegrowers produce the traditional Gemischter Satz (field blend), in which different grape varieties are grown together in the same vineyard, are harvested at the same time and turned into a single wine.
After our wine, we finished the hike to the top of the Nussberg for a view of the Leopoldsberg Church on the higher hill behind. Hiking back down the hill, we walked through Beethoven Park and past the former home of the famous musician before taking the trolley into the city. For dinner, we ate the Hungarian restaurant, Ilona Stüberl. I have been craving authentic Beef Goulash for awhile now and Tori ordered the Mushroom version. We both enjoyed the Tarhonya egg-noodles that came with it. I wasn't able to watch the 7pm Chargers Game on my iPad, but we did watch a soccer riot on TV between the two rival Vienna football teams. Fans throwing firecrackers invaded the field after the game and Away Fans have been banned from the next four Vienna Derbies. Most of the time in our room, we just watched American Sitcoms with German Subtitles.
Monday: 9/23
Cafe Kolb
Apothecary - Hydrogen Peroxide H2O2
Prater Ferris Wheel (Wiener Riesenrad) - Prepaid Voucher
Viennese Giant Ferris Wheel (Wiener Riesenrad)
Prater Turm High Swing
Schweizerhaus - Budweiser & Chips (Famous for Roasted Pork Knuckle)
Estonia Band
U-Bahn
Trolley 2 to Augarten - WWII Flak Tower (Flakturm VII L-Turm) Anti-aircraft gun tower 7, L-Tower
Le Burger - Austrian Burger Chain
St. Stephen Church during service
St. Stephen South Tower
Walk along the Donaukanal (Otto Wagner Schützenhaus) - BS
Evening Cocktails - Lamée Rooftop
View of St. Stephen's Cathedral
Tuesday: 9/24 - Rainy
Joseph Brot Bakery - Turkish Eggs & Vegan Mediterranean
U1 to U4 Subway to
Schonbrunn Palace - 10:50am Tour
Walk up hill to Cafe Gloriette for Views
Joseph Brot - Eggs Florentine Quiche
Sausage Wurstel Stand
Stretch for class
Intermediate AcroYoga Class - 7pm (25€)
(Four Step & Three Step) - Paul
Rotate Hands outward around Thumbs
Kleins Cafe - Drinks
Aida - Apple Strudel
Wednesday: 9/25
Cafe Kolb
Kunsthistorische Museum 21€
Museum Quarter Shop
Le Burger - Coleslaw Burger
Mariahilf Shopping - TJ Max / Hoffer / Hema
Anker Pretzel
Shopping - Zara / Mozart Chocolates
Nespresso Store - Tori bought one when we got home.
Le Burger - Salads
Demel Kaserschmarrn -Shredded Pancakes
Pack Suitcases
Thursday: 9/26
Alarm - 4:00am
Stephensplatz - 5:20am U3 Subway
Landstrabe Station - 5:37 CAT Train
CAT Train every 30 minutes :07 & :37
Arrive Airport - 6:00am
Flight Departs 8:05am
Bloody Head
Arrives LAX 5:30pm
Did Not See:
Cafe Central
Sisi Museum - 17.50€ Go Early??
Sigmund Freud Museum?? - 15€
Albertina Museum - 18.90€
Imperial Crypt - 8.50€
Mozart Museum - 12€ - 10am - 6pm
Leopold Museum 15€
Drink at 360 Ocean Sky
Drinks on Boat - Badeschiff Wien
Plachutta Hietzing
Strandbar Herrman
Eat at Steman - Kitchen closes 10:15pm but open to 11pm - Credit Card
Dinner at Motto am Fluss (boat shaped)
Skopik & Lohn (snitzel)
Dinner at Specht - Bib Gourmand
Sights:
Schonbrunn Palace*
St. Stephen’s Cathedral *
Jewish Museum
Majolicahaus - Art Nouveau Facade*
Belvedere Palace*
Kunsthistorisches Museum*
MuseumsQuartier*
Hofburg Palace*
Activities:
Krapfenwaldbad Swimming Pool
Vienna State Opera
Strandbad Alte Donau - Swimming Lake
Ferris Wheel (BS)*
Walk the 3.2 mile Ringstrabe
Ride Tram D for sightseeing*
Food:
Coffee House - Cafe Sperl (BS) Reserve*
Eat Wiener Schnitzel - Schnitzel Wirt
Sachertorte Cake - Cafe Demel or Sacher*
Punschkrapfen - Pink Rum Sponge Cake
Kaserschmarrn - Shredded Pancakes*
Wurstelstand - sausage stands*
Mustard - Scharf - Spicy / Sus - Sweet
Kren - Horseradish*
Brot - slice dark bread*
Semmel - white roll*
Brezn - Pretzel*
Zweibel - onion / Salz - Salt
Pfefferoni - Peperoncini pepper
Kasekrainer (Cheese filled)*
Waldviertler (Smoked)
Debreziner - paprika spiced
Bratwurst - fried sausage, light spice*
Currywurst - Brat w/curry
Burenwurst - like kasekrainer no cheese
Frankfurter - hot dog*
Sacherwurstel - darker better Frankfurter
Grillwurst - Spicy Bratwurst
Bosna - Bosnia hot dog in a roll
Leberkase - Meatloaf
Kase-Leberkase - Meatloaf with Cheese
Can drink alcohol on street by stands*
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