Heatwave in Vienna
August 14th, 2022 (G)
We were greeted in Vienna by the heat of mid-August. Up until this point, we had somehow outrun all the other heatwaves sweeping across Europe this summer. A quick train and metro ride to the Karlsplatz stop and we arrived at the Wombats City hostel. This was an excellent hostel. It had a great common area, decent bar, spacious breakfast area, and small but well-equipped kitchen. Our room sadly lacked AC. My single gripe with European windows is that nearly all of them lack any form of screen. Mosquitos don’t seem to mind indoor dining. If AC is lacking, at least have a screened window. Aside from this, our room was clean and very spacious by hostel standards which we greatly appreciated.
We dropped our packs and set off in search of food. T had a hankering for sushi, which was conveniently nearby. After dinner, we spent the evening in the common area catching up on blog entries and waiting for the temperature to drop enough to make our room more tolerable. Finally, we passed out around 2 am.
August 15th, 2022 (G)
We slept in some due to our late night and set out in search of a grocery store. Much to our disappointment the store was closed. So, not to be so easily defeated we searched for another. This too was closed. Our third and final attempt failed as well, but we spotted a sign on the door which explained why the grocery stores were closed on this particular Monday morning. The Assumption of Mary. This is a catholic holiday that is celebrated in Vienna and leads to our next pro tip: Check for obscure holidays in the country you plan to visit that will impact businesses and their services provided.
As it was now just past noon, we stopped at a cafe for lunch and returned to the hostel common area. We lingered there for a while to work on the blog then returned to our room. For dinner, I ventured down to the hostel kitchen, which was filled with 4 younger travelers of various nationalities all cooking dinner together. I chatted with them jovially while scouring the Free Food shelf to see what I could conjure forth. There were two college-age American women, a college-age Scottish woman, and a young man from Germany not much if any older than them.
Admittedly, I felt strange as I was probably a decade older than them on average, but then I recalled my own travels at that age and remembered that some of the coolest and most helpful people I encountered during that time were travelers that were at least a decade older than me. Another benefit of being a bit older is knowing significantly more about cooking than the youthful version of myself did. From the seemingly random ingredients available on the Free Food shelf I was able to throw together a very presentable risotto. After messaging T to come on down I plated up the food and did dishes while continuing to chat and swap stories with the young group of travelers.
T appeared and I introduced her before we left the kitchen to have dinner. After dinner, we spent another late night waiting for things to cool down enough to sleep, eventually drifting off to dream about the cool weather of Norway.
August 16th, 2022 (G)
We woke late again, but just in time for a free walking tour at 10. The tour took us past Otto Wagner’s art nouveau-designed apartments, the Naschmarkt, the Secession building, the Opera, and various other points of interest. We learned a great deal about the livability of Vienna. Affordable, high-quality housing for all people has been something that they have been conscientious about since 1918. This combined with public healthcare, a good metro system, affordable food, and a thriving art scene it’s no wonder Vienna is ranked the world’s number 1 most livable city in 2022.
We departed the tour and returned to the Naschmarkt for lunch. Enjoying the slow pace that accompanies the sweltering summer afternoon we lingered at a cafe for a while before returning to our hostel for a post lunch siesta.
After our siesta, we ventured forth to see the most famous work of Gustav Klimt (The Kiss) located in the Belvedere which is a historic building complex consisting of two Baroque palaces which now house art and function as museums. We had to hurry as we had only an hour before the museum closed for the day. On the way, we spotted several examples of modern urban art that surely would have made the Secessionists smile.
There are several works of famous art which are frankly a bit underwhelming (lookin’ at you Mona). Fortunately, the same can not be said of The Kiss. Klimt’s piece is larger than we had anticipated and more intriguing in person due to the texture and various materials used. The museum even had a raised clay sculpture next to it for visually impaired people to feel which was so cool. And, T managed to sneak a kiss while I was taking a selfie.
After enjoying the work, we used the rest of our time in the museum focusing on other Secession era and impressionist works.
Too soon the Belvedere was closing but fortunately the grounds around the museum remained open. So, we milled around the orangery for a while before leaving to wander our way back. While walking back we passed several beautiful buildings, a fountain that was gorgeous in the fading light, and a Soviet era monument now sporting a stone wall behind it painted in the yellow and blue of the Ukrainian flag.
We paid one final visit to the Naschmarkt for shwarma. T was pleased to find fries at the bottom of her shwarma box. After this quick, scrumptious, and cheap dinner we returned to the hostel and called it a night.
August 17th, 2022 (G)
We woke early enough to pack our things, check out of the hostel, and catch our flight to Sarajevo.