Vienna

As this is our first time in Europe, three months ago we were new to the architecture and streetscape of Europe’s old cities and towns. Since then we’ve seen lots of cute little alleys, grand cathedrals and impressive city walls. Now that these things aren’t so new to us anymore, we’re increasingly seeking out what is unique and special about each place we visit. We remember feeling the same way towards the end of our time in South America – when we started thinking about what we wanted to do in a place rather than just what we wanted to see.

So what did we do in Vienna? We spent one relaxed morning at a historic Viennese coffeehouse before buying lunch at a cantina in Museum Quartier, a theatre and museum complex near the centre of the city.

Vienna is, of course, known for classical music and opera. We were hoping to make it to an opera one evening (you can get standing-room tickets for 3 euro!), but the weather and the start of a cold conspired against us. While we missed the opera, we did visit the House of Sound museum. The museum started off with a section on the Vienna Philharmonic, which included a screening of some of their most famous concerts. We also listened to “Mozart Lounge” – a lounge remix of some of Mozart’s compositions, performed by the Vienna Philharmonic. More edgy than we were expecting! The museum then took a strange turn, with a room designed to let you experience “the sounds of being in the womb”.

Sal getting into character

After leaving the womb, we reached a bunch of interactive sound and music experiments. Some of it was a bit gimmicky, like being able to conduct a virtual orchestra, although other parts were quite informative.

On our last day in Vienna we went to one of the main markets – the Naschmacht. While it was crazily busy, we did get the best falafel wrap ever which included stuffed baby capsicum, dolma, hummus and tzatziki.

While in Vienna we CouchSurfed with Christoph, Aleks and Jamila. Jamila (age 7) tried to teach us some German one night using a picture book. Sadly to say we weren’t very good students – we remain unable to name any circus animals in German (hopefully this doesn’t impede us too much in our journey).

We have just two weeks left in Europe, in which we’ll be seeing three major European capitals: Budapest, Prague and Berlin. We’ll be CouchSurfing for most of these two weeks which we’re really looking forward to. Auf wiedersehen for now.

Written by Craig Drayton and Sally Robertson