Half-Term Break Part Two

After spending the first half of the week in Prague, we took the train to Vienna- what a ride! We had our own compartment on the train and spent most of the time looking out the window at the ever-changing landscape. We went through some beautiful cities, some snow covered forests, miles of wasteland, and lots of Czech and Austrian farmlands. The buildings were as different as the landscape, and it was so cool to ride past it all. We got snacks from the dining car (total rip off), and had tea while staring out the window. It was about a five hour journey and we arrived in the center of Vienna in early afternoon. We took the subway to our flat and were equally impressed by this one. It was located in a gorgeous building overlooking a historic square, just a few blocks from the center of Old Town. It, too, was nicely furnished and very comfortable, so we definitely lucked out on accommodations.

Ah Vienna...of course, we had lots of coffee and hot chocolate (every day), and we made sure to see the major landmarks. Our flat was right around the corner from Stephansdom Cathedral, so we walked around there quite a bit and did tour the inside. Steven and the girls also walked up the tower to look out at the city, while I took advantage of the time to enjoy a melange (similar to a latte) at Kleines Cafe, a well known little hole in the wall that had caught my eye when we passed it earlier. We tried different cafes every day and were amazed to see that many of them were actually in our guidebook as famous hangouts of bygone artists, writers, and intellectuals. My favorite was definitely Cafe Central, which we stumbled in to on our first night in Vienna, after walking around for a few hours and all being tired, cold, and hungry. It was like stepping back in time as we walked through the doors, with its red velvet booths, live piano player, elegant pastry cases, and palace-like setting (it is located in the historic Palais Ferstel). This was a real treat, and we all had a lovely evening, as well as our first taste of sachertorte (a special chocolate cake) and apfelstrudel (you guessed it). I realize that we take great stock in sampling the local food and drinks when we travel, which does nothing for our figures but sure makes for some fun meals while on holiday. Eating out, and in fact doing anything, in Vienna was much more expensive than in Prague. And some places don't have menus, so you order what sounds good and can be in for a shock when the bill arrives; this happened to us at Cafe Hawelka, which was definitely a cool hang-out, but extremely expensive for coffee and cake.

We didn't just eat the whole time, we also spent half a day at The Belvedere, a gorgeous museum that houses the largest collection of Gustav Klimt paintings, including The Kiss (how many Art Docent projects did we do around this amazing painting?!? It was so cool to see the original up close). We also sampled a local market's stalls, saw the famous Secession Building, rode a couple of old trams, walked along the canal, and went ice skating at Rathaus Park. Vienna is definitely a beautiful city, but I wasn't quite as taken with it as I was with Prague. It seems like it knows it's a regal place, whereas Prague doesn't seem so full of itself. Of course, it was only a week's stay, but these were my impressions. We wanted a winter wonderland Half-Term Break, and that is exactly what we got.