Austrian charme and heavenly food - Vienna!

In November 2013, I went to my very first academic conference and it happened to be in Vienna. This beautiful, ancient city is the capital of our southern neighbour Austria and it is definitely worth a visit! I have to admit, I'll be cheating on this blog entry, because half of the pictures are actually from a previous trip to Vienna. November is simply not the best time to take beautiful travel pics ;)

Whenever you want to travel within Europe, it might be useful to check out Lufthansa flights. Major cities can be reached within only an hour or maybe two, and most fares within Europe are around 100 Euros for the round trip, which is pretty affordable. For my flight to Vienna, I booked with Lufthansa, but ended up actually flying with Austrian Airlines. They are so adorable! On our way to the runway, they actually played the Waltz in the entire aircraft! I though it was great, the perfect way to start off the weekend in the former Habsburg Empire. (The people next to me actually complained about the music - how can you complain about Wiener Walzer when you're on your way to Vienna?!)

The airport is connected to the city with an array of public transports ranging from regional trains to busses, so it's really easy to make your way into the city. What most people might underestimate is that Vienna is a pretty big city, so make sure you find a central hotel or hostel. I quickly realized that the main reason my hotel was so cheap was probably the fact that it was somewhere in the outskirts of town... Luckily, the public transport system is really good in Vienna, and the commute wasn't too much of a hassel (even though it took 40 minutes...).

But now the important part: Vienna! Oh how I love this little city! It is full of monuments and statues and old buildings full of history and character! And the food! Oh the food! Austria is one of my happy places as a foodie, because they really know how to make a foodie happy :) I went to the city center and did some last minute outfit shopping for the conference, and the very friendly shop assistant directed me to a small, hole-in-the-wall place not far from the "Stephansdom" (probably the most-famous cathedral in Vienna) called "Palatschinkenpfannerl" This will probably sound very strange to most of you, but the translation is actually pretty easy.  "Palatschinken" are Austrian pancakes and "pfannerl" means *Pan*, so basically the place is called *Pancake Pan* - very original ;) They offer sweet and savory pancakes and a few other Austrian specialties and the prices are relatively reasonable for the city center. I highly recommend this place!

The Stephansdom contrasted with a modern building in the city center

My personal favorite in Vienna is of course the "Wiener Hofreitschule" (the Spanish Riding School) where they raise and train beautiful white Lippizaner horses. They offer shows and you can watch their Sunday morning practise, but it's pretty expensive, so I've only really seen the outside so far :/

The Spanish Riding School

Statues like this one are sprinkled all over the city, along with beautiful old houses and fountains. The city also has two castles that are open for visitors. I highly recommend a stroll through the gardens of Schloss Schönbrunn on a sunny afternoon! Unfortunately, I didn't have time to visit the gardens this year, but therefor I was able to visit the beautiful christmas market (one of the largest in Europe) and enjoy the local delicacies offered at all those small stands around me :) Like I said, foodie heaven!

Before I drove back to the airport and left this beautiful city again, I decided to indulge in one more local delicacy and invest the rest of my money in "Kaiserschmarrn" at the Café Landtmann. The coffe house has a long standing tradition in Vienna and is one of the few places where you can completely sink in to the forgotten bourgeoise charme of Old Europe. It is located close to the infamous "Burgtheater" and it is usually difficult to find a seat there on a Sunday afternoon, but I was lucky and got to enjoy my beloved "Kaiserschmarrn" in the pompous dining room :)

Worth every penny!

Kaiserschmarrn is a dessert made of pancake batter with raisins. The pancake is torn into pieces while still in the pan, then put on a plate and covered with powdery sugar. You can *dip* the pieces in applesauce or plum sauce or simply eat it with whipped cream - delicious!

New York, New York!

As some of you might recall, I never actually made it to NYC while I was in Boston. I thought I should probably change that at some point, and since I happened to win tickets for the Global Citizen Festival in NYC's Central Park, I decided to take the bus to the Big Apple! Better later than never ;)

The infamous skyline of New York City

The good thing about going to New York was I have friends there. Since I had two tickets for the Global Citizen Festival, I asked my good friend Joseph to join me. Unfortunately, he had to cancel last minute because he had to work :( but he sent me a friend of his with the words "He's cool, you'll like him" and luckily he was right :) I practically ran from the bus stop to the apartment I was staying at (first time trying out airbnb and everything worked out pretty well), then back to the city to meet Jon somewhere along Central Park and then off to the festival.
So, here I was once again all alone and about to meet a total stranger - call me crazy, but I actually enjoy living like this :D He was waiting for me at the eastern entrance of the Park and we immediately hit it off and easily fell into a long conversation about life, experiences, travel and, yes, horses :) Unfortunately my tardiness meant we missed Stevie Wonder (bummer) and somehow we also sort of missed The Kings of Leon (we heard the music, but they wouldn't let us actually enter the festival grounds for some reason), but luckily we made it in time to see Alicia Keys take the stage. Yes people, Alicia Keys, live and Open Air in Central Park!!!! Need I say more?!?

Singing along to "New York" with thousands of people in Central Park - incredible!

The last act was John Mayer. I still can't believe I was actually there :) And to think I almost spent hundrets of Euros on a plane ticket to London to see John Mayer there a couple of weeks earlier... Open air in Central Park actually topps the O2 in London.

Afterwards, we had Burgers at one of New York's favorites: Shake Shack! I'm a fan now :)

The fries alone are worth waiting in line!

The next day I finally met with Joseph and he tried to make me love NYC by showing me all the best spots. Yes, ok, seeing the skyline from Williamsburg was pretty cool. And you really are a great tour guide Joseph :)

Best tour guide in town!

We did touristy stuff, like visiting the Brooklyn Bridge and taking the ferry to Staten Island, but Joseph also took me to his University (Columbia - gorgeous!) and we enjoyed the sun in some of the lesser known parks in the city, like the highline (you should definitely check it out, that's a pretty cool park/green area in the middle of the city!) and Washingt Square Park next to NYU. And we tried as many local specialties as possible (the pizza was great!) I was lucky enough to have three days of blue skies and sunshine to accompany me on this short city trip, but I was a little intimidated by all the skyscrapers (and the windy valleys in between!) Also, I think it's weird to wander through a foreign city and constantly think "Oh yeah, I've seen this before" (damn you film industry! ;) ) Here's the ultimate tourist *proof* pic of me in NYC:

Time Square - full of crazy people :)

So, yes, I was there and I did all the touristy stuff, but I still can't understand all the fuzz... Maybe this city is simply too big for me, I don't know... I feel like I've been there and I've done the whole *places to see* tour, but I don't necessarily have to go back there - sorry NYC fans out there. This travel girl still prefers beantown ;) and Upstate New York of course!