Getting to Know Vienna

Vienna has a fabulous and affordable public transit system.  Since we are here for four weeks, it made more sense (and more convenient) to buy the 31 day pass.  For about $53, we have unlimited rides on the subways, trams and buses.  If you are just here for a few days, they do offer passes for shorter times or you can just single journey passes. The Wiener Linien site has all the info but whatever you do, buy a ticket and do not chance getting on without one as the fines are very high!  Tickets can be purchased online/app or at the stations (but not the monthly pass...only online/app) and you validate just once per ticket.  Their transit system operates on a somewhat honor system but at any point, you could be approached by a transit office asking to see your validated ticket...again, have one or pay a big fine.

A couple years ago a friend told me about the Moovit app and it quickly became my go-to app when in a city. You can put in your destination and it will provide you with all possible options on public transit as well as scooters, driving and walking.  Once you activate a route, it will tell you how many more stops when you are on public transit which can be very helpful if you can't see the transit map or hear the conductor.  It has been super helpful here as we get to know the subway and bus system.

One of my colleagues was in Vienna in April on a FAM trip (a familiarization trip for industry professionals where a destination hosts those who source venues for meetings) and she e-introduced me to her connection IMS Vienna (a local destination management company).  We met up with Isabella for lunch on our first day and got all sorts of local scoop on Vienna as well as Salzburg where we plan to go while here.

I had read before coming here you should always remember to look up as the buildings and it was good advice as they are beautifully decorated.

Before starting our exploration of Schonbrünn Palace, we grabbed a bratwurst from the vendor by the subway station.  They serve their hot dogs a little differently than we do in the States.  The top is cut off and then placed on the post in the left photo to push the bread to the side.  Next the mustard and ketchup (we passed on the mayo) is put inside just before the brat.  It was pretty tasty and just what we needed to fuel us for the long day ahead.

The Habsburgs are synonymous with Vienna and Austria so we will get to know them better on this trip.  Our journey into learning more about them was a Schonbrünn Palace...their summer residence.  We purchased the Sisi Ticket prior to leaving for Vienna as it includes Schonbrünn, the Sisi Museum (at Hofburg - their winter residence) and the Vienna Furniture Museum and saves about $22.  For the Schonbrünn, you have to book in advance and get a reserved time unless you have the Sisi Ticket which allows you to show up whenever you want and get right in. With the Sisi Ticket, we got the Grand Tour (the extended tour) and it includes an audio guide.  If the audio guide and website still say no photos are allow, you can disregard as about half way through the tour I noticed everyone was taking photos and no one was saying anything. I asked one of the docents and learned the audio guide and website were outdated...I was so disappointed as there had been so many great photos missed but at the same time, I must admit it was nice to just be in the moment.

While researching our trip, I learned that if you have the annual pass for Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien, it includes tickets to six other locations in Vienna & Innsbruck.  Two of those are the Imperial Treasury and Imperial Carriage Museum which were on our list of places we wanted to see. We lucked out as I happened to look at the the annual pass for Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien on May 31 which was the last day they were running a sale and we got 25% off the cost of two annual passes.  Definitely pays to do your research as it was less expensive buying an annual pass than paying individually for all the museums.

The Imperial Carriage Museum is located at Schonbrünn Palace so we popped in after touring the palace.  We learned with our annual pass we also get discounts in the museum shop and cafes at each of the locations...bonus!

We've spent some time checking out our local neighborhood.  Vienna is divided by 23 districts and we're staying in the 6th.  Last summer in Porto, LuLu became a big fan of Humana, a second hand clothing store, and it turns out they have them here as well.  It is similar to a Goodwill but a little more elevated.  There's one about a mile from our place and while we didn't find anything, it was fun to check it out...maybe the next one will have something we just can't leave on the rack.

Before we learned how to make schnitzel, we wanted to try some at a husband & wife restaurant I read about a few months ago, Schnitzelwirt.  Like many of the smaller places in Vienna, they only accept cash so make sure you always have euro on hand when in Vienna.  Turns out an order of schnitzel is huge and we could have shared it but fortunately they provide butcher paper for the take-away of the leftovers.  We had a classic schnitzel with veal and a Cordon Bleu schnitzel with veal, ham and cheese.  The Cordon Bleu came with a salad of potato and cabbage and we order a side of sauerkraut.  I must say it was some of the best sauerkraut we've ever had!  A quick google search revealed they make a roux they add to the sauerkraut which makes it a little creamy.

We are enjoying getting to know Vienna and look forward to exploring more throughout July.