VIENNA

Post are rejuvenating break in Salzburg, we proceeded to Vienna – the city of music and opera and all things Baroque. We took an OBB train which got us there in about 3 hours. Needless to say the journey was great and the scenery awe inspiring.

Once again I was trying me level best to look for a farmer or some kind of activity on the well cultivated and huge farms but there was no one on sight. They maybe having some magical elves who do their farming for them in the midst of the night.

Most of the houses had these portable swimming pools, beach chairs, tables etc all set up outside on their yards getting set to enjoy the summer.

We reached Vienna but the welcome was far from ‘warm’. The breeze was blowing and the sky was overcast. Our hostel was a couple of minutes walk away but in this wind chill, it seemed like an eternity. Somehow we made it there without any frostbites.

Once settled in we hit the streets. Quite literally for suchna as her shoe broke on the subway and the braveheart that she is, she walked around the chilly city in socks, even whilst it was raining. Now that is what you call a woman driven with a sense of purpose. What was her purpose????? To sample the famous Viennese pastries!!!!!!

We headed to this place called CENTIMETRE which is kind of a local joint and you can order by what else…the CENTIMETRE!!!! We were gulped down the local STEIGER beer and since we were quite hungry all ordered individual dishes knowing little what was in store for us.

The portions were HUGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And I really mean HUGE!!! They would give American portions are run for their money. Looking at the food made our apprtite go for a toss, atleast I know mine did. Nevertheless it was a great place, full of locals getting away from the cold rain and enjoying some hot food and wine.

Then next day was a tosser!! It was overcast and raining. Until now, by god’s grace we had great weather and this was the first day of crappy weather. Not that it downed our spirits but it was cold as cold could be outside. In our hearts we knew that sometime soon when we landed in India we would all miss this chilly weather.

So we put on our thermals and overcoats and headed for the city centre. We traveled by local trams and subways ass this gives you a sense of the ‘real’ city. Luckily for us in a couple of hours the weather cleared and it was bright and sunny again.

In the interim we took a city centre ring route tram which takes you to all the places of interest and more or less quite had our fill of the sights. Once off we headed for what is Europe’s largest pedestrian shopping street. The fun part of visiting shopping streets is to window shop, look at people, open the sandwich you packed in you hostel dorm, have a swig of the cheap wine bought at the local superstore and see the world go by.

Suchna and me are not big shoppers but what we love to see is the energy of people walking in such streets. There are Buskers who perform trying to get everyone’s eye, the street musicians and dancers and wot not. We caught this amazing group of dancers who were ‘hip hoping’ and they were a riot. We might have spent at least an hour just chilling there and enjoying the atmosphere.

In the evening we headed towards what is known as the BERMUDA TRIANGLE of Vienna. Before this I would like to share with you an observation I had about the ‘weekend culture’ here as well as in a lot of other cities where the subway infrastructure is good.

On Saturdays you will find a lot and I mean a lot of people, be it couples, bunch of friends etc etc waiting for their friends, partners etc outside the metro stop of usually the place where all the bars and clubs are. Seeing them greet each other when the other comes up from the metro is a joy in itself. I could spend an hour or so just watching this sight.

Also you will find the ubiquitous flower sellers who have an ‘ all access pass’ to all the pubs and bars and there are quite a few takers for their wares too. Also you will find a lot of ‘hen parties’ and ‘stag parties’ making their way from bar to the other. Mind you police presence is tremendous and they swoop down on anyone who crosses the line.

The fun part of partying in these cities is that normally about 40 – 50 bars are located in one area making it easy to bar hop and see a lot of different kinds of places at one time. Also the transport infrastructure is in place wherein there are special night buses and trams to help you get home. All this makes places like Vienna a great party zone. But one has to realize that this frenzy only takes place on the eve of public holidays or weekends, other then that, the place is quite empty.

Coming back to our weekend. We first hit a Mexican bar and had a couple of vodka shots as the Happy Hours were going on. ** always a good idea to make FULL use of HAPPY HOURS should you be on a budget. After that we settled down at BERMUDA BRAU which was quite happening and what a farewell night we made it out to be.

The next day our flight to Paris was in the evening so we decided to make the best of the remaining day.

Luckily for us it was a clear sunny day and we headed to the SCHLOSS SCHONBRUNN – the 1440 summer palace of the Habsburg dynasty. It was massive and the gardens surrounding it spectacular. Since it was the beginning of summer they were setting up for the VIENNESE PHILAMORNIC ORCHESTRA to play there. What a setting and it was FREE!!!!!! All in all I guess there was only a crew of 50 people setting up the stage etc, whereas the same thing we would need about 200 people. The level of automation all across Europe, even in the Eastern parts is amazing,

After that we headed to grab a bite in town and it was a GHOST TOWN. Not a a singl soul in sight. Everyone was either at home or had gone out of town. If any Bombay person were to be sent here they would think it was a general strike or something. We could hear ourselves whispering in the streets.

We found this amazing asian pace to eat which was serving buffet all you can eat meals, for people who were just eating bread this was godsent. I have never loved my greens more then I did that day. I can safely say all my fellow travelers felt the same way. It is not that I don’t like bread, but the concept of eating carbohydrates post 7 unnerves me.

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