Mr. C. and I skipped watching the Detroit Tigers play on opening day for the trip, so we decided to represent!
Me listening to the tour guide… Mr. C. might say, avidly.
We started the day as usual with a city tour, which was very informative. I cannot stress how worthwhile it is to invest time on a tour of each city you visit, usually less than an hour and a half and no more than 10 euros I guarantee you will look back happily on the experience, or if you get a bad guide at least it will be funny. During the tour we were able to see the Lipizzaner horses in their stables, I cannot wait to go back and watch the actual shows rather than viewing them in their stables. Did you know that a Lipizzaner horse is born grey and as it ages it slowly turns white? If you do then you are more informed than I was before my visit to Vienna! I was also impressed at the various moves a Lipizzaner horse executes and what they are called. The mezair, courbette, levade and capriole take a visit to the Lipizzaner site to see them all, http://www.lipizzaner.com/.
We also took a visit to the St. Stephen’s cathedral, and saw the largest pipe organ I have seen yet! We noticed as we left that concerts seem to be offered regularly and if you take a visit I would try to research the times before your visit so you could possibly view one, I am sure they must be amazing. One of the most interesting things I saw on the visit was the memorial to victims of the 1679 plague, Pestsäule aka Plague Column (German). The memorial built in 1693 was erected after a vow made by Leopold I who stated he would erect a monument if the plague would end.
The Pestsäule
After viewing the city we headed to our first Easter Market at the Schoenbrunn palace. On the way I was afforded the opportunity of using the Opera public restroom at the underground station under the Stephensplatz. While I would not describe this as a site not to be missed, if you are in the station and need to make a stop this is a pretty funny place to visit. Gaudy, overpriced with loud operatic music flooding the restroom it will definitely make you laugh. Besides the opera toilet I was also surprised to see how inexpensive a day ticket for the Vienna underground system is, and how easy it is to navigate. If you plan on visiting Schoenbrunn Palace during your stay the underground system is the best and cheapest way to get from the center of the city to Schoenbrunn Palace (unless you have eight children, then I don’t know what will be cheapest!) is by train.
The Ostern Markt at Schoenbrunn is gorgeous! During your visit buy some of the excellent food, we enjoyed bread dumplings, or Knödels fried with various veggies and spices with kraut and a glass of the fruit wine. After buying your lunch items unless you enjoy the hustle and bustle of the market take your food to one of the free public gardens around the palace and enjoy a small picnic.
After the Schoenbrunn Palace Easter Market we headed to the Freyung Easter Market…we arrived several hours later then we expected. Our delay happened because as we left the Rathaus underground station and rounded the town hall building we ran smack into the Spring Styrian Fest. Filled with benches and tables, live music, good food and plenty of beer we sat down to enjoy the sites.
Could you have a better view when you look up from your beer?
Upon arrival at the Freyung market, after visiting a really bad flea market and sneaking into a café to use the restroom we realized that if the Schoenbrunn market was gorgeous we need an even better name for the Freyung market. While the Schoenbrunn market was well laid out and organized the Freyung market felt more chaotic and cramped, less accessible by tourists and more local. I also enjoyed the many food specialties available such as truffle oil, and a pistachio crème liquor that made it’s way home with us.
After our visits to the market we did one last walkthrough of the city and of course a Starbucks stop for Mr. C. before heading home. While we were exhausted I still managed to get out to take pictures of the city views at the top of the visit through the Austrian Woods, a simply beautiful location. Mr. C. happily remained warm in the vehicle.
To summarize the day it was simply beautiful. It was also full of new friendship made, in fact most of our day was spent with a fellow traveler we met on the trip…at first I felt selfish and thought I want Mr. C. to myself today! However, the more we talked the more fun we had and I am so thankful the three of us had such a great time on such a wonderful day.
Things To Do On My Next Visit to Vienna:
- Visit the Sissi Museum
- Watch the Lipizzaner Horse show
- Take a tour of Hofburg (winter palace)
- Listen to a concert at St. Stephen’s cathedral
- Visit the Imperial Crypt, resting place of the Habsburg dynasty (even though it kind of weird’s me out)
- Go back to the Easter markets and buy eggs to make my own hanging Easter wreath.
- Go Shopping! They have so many stores…
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