Kaisers and other royals

I gotta tell you, flying with another airline than Ryanair feels quite luxurious. I've had the possibility to compare a couple of airline since I'm here, and I do have to say that AirBerlin is not bad when you consider the relatively cheap price. Sure, it isn't quite as cheap as Ryanair, but the service is considerably better. Upon boarding (on European flights) you get to choose from various magazines, the seats are relatively large, they offer a drink and a snack and there is a screen where they show films and tv-series. I was all in all very happy about flying with AirBerlin. When coming back from Southern Germany we flew with easyjet, which could very much be compared with Ryanair.

I love these small streets, it would be great to get to live by one of these some day.

I arrived in Vienna late, my flight landed at half past ten and Alina picked me up. After getting my bag and taking the train to the center, Alina lives in the 3rd district, it was already half past eleven and we were completely exhausted. Very unlike of young girls, we decided to go to bed, so that we could get up early in the morning. Alina lives in a beautiful 4-room-apartment together with two guys, Lex and Benji. Vienna is divided in 23 districts of which the city centre with the royal buildings is the 1st district. Like I said before, Alina lives in the 3rd district, which is also called the embassy district, because most of the embassies are situated there, including the Finnish embassy.

Horror-bathroom in Vienna.

Old-style stairs.

On Saturday our plan was to go see the Spanish Royal Riding School of Vienna. The Lipizzaner horses are on summer holiday at the moment, but they have a practice called "morning work", which takes place from 10-12. I have to give it to the Austrians, they are generous enough to offer a student discount almost everywhere, which of course is amazing. On morning work the riding school gives you a 50 % student discount, and I think on most other events as well. On Thursday 07.07. they would have had a huge ball at the riding school, which made me very sad, since I was there one week to early. The ticket for the ball would have been very expensive, but I'm sure it would have been a night to remember. I decided to do it at some point though. In the future.

I want one of those hats too!

The manege at morning practice.

Birdie watching the horses practice.

After seeing the beautiful white horses (and one black) we were starving, so we headed to the museum quartier to have breakfast. At the Leopold-museum there was a restaurant and they had the most delicious breakfast. We went there on Sunday as well... Upon planning the weekend I had told Alina that I didn't have any other special wishes on the program, except for the riding school, but I didn't want to do shopping. Still we decided to go to the Maria-Hilfer-Straße, which is the main shopping street in Vienna. There was a beautiful church called Mariahilfer Church, from which I somehow got a very Italian feeling. Running around on the shopping street we at some point noticed that it was already late, so we decided to get a coffee at a coffee shop called das Möbel, which means as much as "the piece of furniture". The reason for the name is the fact that you can actually buy the furniture in the cafe. The furniture is made by young designers and the concept is also created by them.

You could call Vienna the city of horses:
they are everywhere, on wall, statues, in shops... You name it!

The yard at the museum quartier was full of colorful plastic sofas where chilling at sunny weather would've been amazing. Well, I guess the weather didn't want me to try that.

The beautiful Mariahilfer Church was built between 1686 and 1689.

The Mariahilfer Church has an impressive wooden altar.

Ambiente of das Möbel.

In the evening we got ready for a night on the town with Alinas friend Amber. After having a few drinks we headed to the Naschmarkt, which is the most popular market in Vienna. It is really big and there are both restaurants and stands where you can buy food. When we got there at about eleven in the evening, all the stands were naturally closed, but there were some restaurants open and we stayed at one which name I don't remember. The food was fantastic though, I had lamb chops with rosemary potatoes and veggies and it was totally delicious. After dinner we went to a club which Alinas colleague had suggested, she had said that it is THE place to go while in Vienna and that it was a must. Well, we were totally disappointed. The club was called Passage and at that night there was the 30 Seconds To Mars after party. We paid 15 euros entrance and it sucked. The music was bad, the people were too drunk and the service was horrible. On the way out I told the guys at the wardrobe that if they wanted to get tips they should help the ladies with their jackets instead of just standing there chatting with each other.

In Vienna there are a lot of funny commercials at the stations.

When we came home the boys were watching a film - well Lex was, Benji was napping on the couch. Alina stayed and watched the movie for a bit, but I went to bed, I was exhausted! I guess I'm getting too old for the party scene...

For Sunday we had planned a big sightseeing tour, but the weather wasn't on our side. We started off with breakfast in Leopold - again. While there it started raining - no pouring, so we ran across the yard to the museum quartier and had a look at the gift shop and the book store. We got an umbrella and I found a great book on photography. Next we headed to the cathedral Stephansdom and had a look inside. It is a very beautiful church, but I liked the Maria Hilfer Church a lot more, because of its simple facade. At that point we noticed getting hungry again so we went to a place called Maschu Maschu to have the best falafel in town. On the way there our NEW umbrella broke down - well spent 10 euros, I was pissed! Amber met us at the restaurant, and she (amazing Amber) brought us each an umbrella. Which naturally resulted in it not raining at all anymore.

Delicious breakfast at Leopold.

At this point we were totally frozen so we decided to go home to get more clothes. On the way we stumbled upon the Hundertwasserhaus that we had planned on seeing anyway. We had a look at this amazing house that was designed by the architects Josef Krawina and Peter Pelikan and the Austrian artist Friedensreich Hundertwasser. It is a beautiful building with 52 apartments, 4 offices, 16 private and 3 shared roof terasses. Unfortunately it isn't possible to see how the building looks like on the inside, since the apartments are private. How amazing would it be to know someone who lives there, that way it would be possible to see how it looks like on the inside. The artist Hundertwasser has designed several other buildings that are also called Hundertwasser houses, but the one in Vienna is the most famous one.

The Hundertwasserhaus has a beautiful colorful facade.

With some warmer clothes we continued to Wiener Prater, which is a a huge public park close to Vienna city centre. The name most likely derives from the Latin word pratum which means meadow, but there are also other more unlikely explanations for of the name. The park is situated in the 2nd district and on one corner of it there is a amusement area called Wurstelprater, which also is the home of the famous ferris wheel, Wiener Riesenrad.

The Wiener Riesenrad was one of the earliest Ferris wheels,
erected in 1897 to celebrate Emperor Franz Josef I's golden jubilee.

Vienna hovering in wind and rain.

Two friends enjoying the warmth of the ferris wheel cabin.

After having dinner at a Balkan restaurant we finished off the evening at the royal part of Vienna having a look at the Hofburg Palace area, which has been the documented seat of government since 1279 for various empires and republics.

The Hofburg Palace was supposed to be built as a round fortress, but the construction
was interrupted by the war, and then they hadn't an empire anymore...

The subway station at the royal area is called Herrengasse,
which means as much as the lords alley.

Vienna is a beautiful city and way too big to discover in just two days. I saw very much, but still there was so much that I didn't see. The history of the Austria and Vienna is amazingly interesting and of grave importance to European history. Austria was a portal between Prussia and Rome and the roots of the royal families go way back. I am sure to go back one day to see more of this beautiful but windy city (with some more clothes the next time...) But firstly I will see to that I watch the Sisi-movies, which give a good look into Austrian history. Finally I have to say that even though the weather wasn't co-operating, I had a great time and fell in love with this charming capital.

Little time and a lot to do.