Day 3 - Vienna (part 1)

The first day of travel is usually exhausting, exciting and airports.

The second day is full of new experiences and jet lag.

The third day is when I think we get our travel groove on. Jet lag is a memory (thanks again to Ambien) and we're starting to get the lay of the land and language. Or at least enough to not have our heads buried in maps and pocket translators at all times.

This day started again with our BFF Rick Steves and we plugged into his "city walk" podcast as we walked about 10 minutes from the hotel to the Hofburg Palace.

Statue guarding entrance to the Hofburg Palace.

Dome that we passed under as we entered the complex.

Rain drops didn't dampen our spirits - we had palaces to see!

As we arrived at the Hofburg, we noticed crews setting up for some sort of festival. A bouncy-slide detracted a bit of ambiance, but we were still impressed by the size and architecture of the complex. The Hofburg is the former imperial residence, and its oldest sections originate from the 13th century. Today, it's the seat of the Austrian Federal President, so is very much still living history.

We bought a combo ticket to the Palace's main museum, which was actually three museums in one. The first stop was the silverware museum, which we blazed through because, really, how exciting can fine china be?

Good thing we didn't bother to feign interest, because we ended up leaving the other early bird tourists in our dust and had the much more interesting imperial apartments and Sisi Museum to ourselves! The apartments were gorgeous and included a fascinating audio guide. Highlight: We fumbled out a waltz to the piped-in music in the ballroom. (One of the perks of being the only tourists there!)

The SiSi Museum was one of the best museums we visited in Austria - it told the very engaging story of Empress Elizabeth, a late 1800s version of Princess Diana with a very dramatic life and tragic death.

Next stop was the Treasury (photos below), also housed in the Hofburg Palace.

 

Is that a unicorn horn? Unfortunately, no. But it's a narwhal tusk!

 

After a morning of museum-ing, we decompressed with a little wallet damage and shopped before grabbing a light lunch at Trzesniewski, a very traditional Austrian sandwich shop. There are eight outlets in the city, with the chain (founded by a Pole - Polish pride!) being more than 100 years old.



The sandwich shop is the building with the middle sign -- white with black letters.

As with most "local" experiences, it was fumbling but fulfilling.

We were likely the only tourists in the shop, and I let a local enter ahead of us so we could basically mirrored his order. Pointing sufficed in lieu of translating, and I chose a few of the open-faced tea sandwiches that looked the most appetizing. We miraculously scored a just-vacated table and were able to bypass eating at the counters in the cramped space. Eating a delicious new dish and surrounded by German-speaking locals, we felt like real Austrians and the visit was totally worth the risk.

Auf Wiedersehen!