Our three day stay in Vienna was a mixed bag of experiences. In many respects our impression of the city was tainted by the uncomfortable journey there and the worst accommodation of the journey.
On the train from Salzburg to Vienna we thought we had struck gold by securing a quiet, empty six-seater compartment on the busy train. Unfortunately during the journey a young couple joined us and it was then that we discovered the compartment was previously empty because it was in the smoking section and ventilation for such an activity was very poor. Unfortunately for our lungs the couple were chain smokers who lit up just as the train left the station and did not stop until we pulled into Vienna three hours later. Just to make matters worse the guy received or made cellphone calls every few minutes and had no qualms in filling the compartment with noise and smoke much to our disgust.
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| The large palace at Vienna (Click to enlarge) |
On arrival in Vienna we made our way fairly painlessly to the central city hostel. There is not much choice for low-cost accommodation in Vienna, the best place apparently is Wombats but this was booked out. Our hostel, whilst central was like a submarine inside. It had ridiculously tiny rooms and paper thin walls. Just to make matters worse the toilets and showers were sprinkled in between the rooms and had extremely noisy ventilation systems that sounded like they were powered by two-stroke outboard motors. Just to compound matters the three-level place was a deathtrap and had no fire alarms, fire stairs or even fire resistant doors. Compared to the highly professional, clean and relatively quiet German hostels this place was pathetic and even though the price was low we still felt we were getting ripped off.
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| Some very nice architecture at the centre of the palace gardens |
We spent our first evening in Vienna getting our bearings and what we saw did not impress us too much. The surrounding area was very reminiscent of any large city and held none of the famed beauty or allure of the famed city. That night things were quiet in the hostel until 1am when a bunch of arrogant English guys and one very annoying American girl returned to the hostel drunk. During two hours of ranting, yelling, banging around and very loud visits to the toilet they managed to wake up everyone in the hostel. Eventually just after 3am things quietened down and the rest of us were able to get some sleep on the very uncomfortable beds.
Things in Vienna improved significantly after that first night. During the days we got into the old city and explored the various churches, museums and Centuries old plazas. Whist we were very tired we still managed to visit a wide range of places thanks mainly to Vienna's highly efficient underground and tram system. One thing we were not prepared for after all the free museums and galleries in London was the hefty door charges on their European equivalents. Consequently we did not enter as many as we may have but the exhibitions we did shell out Euros for were all very good.
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| A view of Vienna |
During our stay we also visited a huge palace and gardens that consume most of Vienna's southern district plan. Unfortunately the timing of our visit right after winter was not the best for flowers (or anything green for that matter). Even so the Palace's grounds were very nice to walk through after the tight streets of Vienna and the vista's available of the city were very impressive. On the way back down the hill Emma and Jess were busted by the park police for not walking on the marked paths. I was disappointed charges were not laid (and even more so that I did not take a photograph of the incident). It was quite funny for me and a good illustration of the police force's strange obsession with enforcing trivial things such as this and jaywalking whilst allowing overly aggressive beggars and pick-pockets to operate freely.
More photographs from Vienna...