Vienna was one of my favorite cities on the trip. Our accommodations in Vienna were different from what we had had from Amsterdam to Venice: instead of staying in a hostel or Airbnb we stayed with a local for free. Johanna's godfather's son Julius was kind enough to open a room in his flat to us and to guide us around parts of the city. The night we arrived in Vienna, Julius invited us to a rooftop barbecue his university friends were hosting. Although I couldn't understand the conversations in German, I enjoyed seeing a view of nighttime Vienna from five stories above the street.
The next morning Julius took us to his favorite cafe for breakfast and then to some highlights of the downtown. We walked by museums, shops, hotels, and restaurants and saw St. Stephens Cathedral and the Naschmarkt. Sadly, Julius had to leave for home in Wuppertal, Germany after our excursion, but it was great getting to know him.
That evening we met up with another local: Johanna's friend Ines, who she met while studying abroad in Ireland. We went to the Prater, Vienna's famous amusement park, which was totally free of long lines on a Thursday night. In an hour or two I conquered my fear of rollercoasters and saw another view of the city, this time from a swing many, many stories high.
Johanna and I started off Friday right by touring the iconic Schonbrunn Palace and surrounding gardens. For only 13 euros we spent three hours walking around inside the shoes of Habsburg empresses (audioguides included).
In the evening we met up with Ines and her friend Anika, who invited us to hang out at her apartment's rooftop swimming pool in the 12th district, which offered yet another stunning view of Vienna. Later we went to PopFest, a free open air festival at Karlsplatz. The music wasn't very impresssive and none of us could tell what language the vocalist was singing (Johanna swore it was in English and I swore it was in German), but the good vibes were there even if the good bands weren't.
After the last song we headed over to a free concert at the Technical University of Vienna. Although European universities don't offer the campus life that most American universities implement, they do offer free concerts like the one we went to that are open to the public and held in lecture halls.
We spent Saturday in Budapest, which was absolutely charming and amazing (see my next post). I was bummed to leave Vienna on Sunday afternooon, but once again excited for the next city: Prague.