Imperial Vienna

I spent a few days in Vienna last weekend. It was a bank holiday here (and also there) so I got a couple of days off and made it to the Austrian capital. There was time enough to explore the city's corners and I had also planned a day trip to the neighbouring Bratislava (really easy to reach by train or even boat on the Danube). On top of that, there were some parties I wanted to go to. I often check when there are events in the cities I want to visit so I can kill to birds with one stone. However, the visit hasn't been exactly like I planned it, so I had to change and play by ear.

First of all, the parties were much more quiet that I thought they'd be. I realised when I was already in Vienna and someone told me about the kind of club where they were taking place. I wanted to drink and dance with loud music until the early hours of the morning (plus I was staying hardly 2 minutes away from the venue), but they were more the kind of socialising, meeting old friends, lots of chatting and music in the background. Since I have no old friends in Vienna neither intentions to make new ones and my German is non existent, I didn't spend more than one hour one night before I was heading back home to make the most of the day from the morning after.
 

Unfortunately, I haven't been able to make the most of almost any day or, again, not at least as initially expected. The weather has been miserable during my stay, with lots of rain, grey skies and unpleasant cold wind. You may have heard about the floods in the area between Germany, Austria and the Czeck Republic; well, Vienna was not flooded at all but the weather was like that. I decided to cancel any idea of a trip to Bratislava (maybe next time) and spent thus a lot of time indoors. Luckily, Vienna has some great museums, especially the Art History and the Natural History ones. Some of the most famous masterpieces are there, they are extremely beautiful buildings inside and the collections are quite well organised and displayed. It was great at least to wander around the galleries with no rush and music on the earphones. A lot of the time indoors was also spent in bars, restaurants (eating Schnitzel!), resting and relaxing on the bed playing videogames, doing nothing but lots of thinking; I needed some time for that too.

The only day with sun and no rain was Saturday, so I could finally walk in the town centre. Everything is very imperial in Vienna and there are a lot of historic buildings well preserved (both palaces but also dwelling houses). Besides, not only the imperial buildings and classic music are a sign of identity but also those from the Sezession style. Right next to where I was staying there were also some bars, night life and a very vibrant huge open-air market with lots of restaurants and shops, from vegetables to souvenirs. Certainly one of my favourite places of all those I've seen; I love this kind of street markets. The gardens around the former Imperial Palace, the ones surrounding the city council house, the pedestrian streets in the city centre, the museums quarter... They all make of Vienna a very beautiful place to visit, but try to avoid rainy days...

All in all it's been a nice visit. In the next few weeks The Tour 2013 will take me to some other places in Germany, a mixture of some new and others already visited. I am even planning a short trip by bike, but I don't know yet if I will make it. It's just an idea, there are other things I have to check. And of course, it will also depend on the weather!