A one day trip to Vienna

Our trip to Vienna began at 21:00 on Friday February 25...with a scheduled arrival in Vienna., which by the way is spelled Wein, of 6:22.  We were advised to get a sleeper car for the trip......best 78 euro ever spent!
 It had bunk beds a closet, shower and bathroom.

 We arrived in Wein on time and kind of resreshed.....neither of us was brave enough to try the shower.  We jump in a cab and head to our hotel in the hope of dropping our back pack till we can check in.  We arrive at the NH Wein and the front desk manger jokes...you are early......we laugh back and ask if we can drop our bag.  He does us one better, he informs us that we could check in now but the room was a bit smaller than the one they had plan for us.  We decide to take the chance.....how much time do you spend in your room when you have one day? Our gamble was handsomely rewarded.....the room is bigger than the one in Dresden.  We take quick showers, grab some breakfast and head out to see the sights.
      No plan or agenda just see the sights.  Within about 10 minutes of being out we realize Vienna is a much different place than Berlin or Prague or even Dresden.  There is an air of elegance....you see it in the store windows, the building , the natives, heck even the tourist looked different.  We head out north toward city center...we spend the next 3.5 hours looking at beautiful old building, as Stephen says....He is still looking for the palm trees....I did find him one on a poster. as you can see the architecture is beautiful:

A beautiful day to go skating...

The Secession building

Our deal when we have one date to check out a city is..... half is spent on buildings, etc....the rest on the culture.....meaning food and beverage and what the locals like to do......we stop in a local shop for an adult beverage and to get our bearings....we have the iPad, the German, O2 sim card does not work in Austria...but the GPS does...we enjoy our beverage and head off to the neuer-Market which is suposse to be an open air market with loads of interesting vendors......on our way to the market we discover Stephansplatz and Karntnerstrasse which are crazy busy and full of people.....we are stop and asked if we plan to attend a concert...which would be nice but we do not have the clothes for this type of event....we then try to confirm our route with the ticket sales women....she pointed us in the opposite direction of the iPad directions so we asked a second ticket person who was excited to talk about his sister in Chicago and he confirmed the iPad's route.  Note to self.....be careful who you ask for help!  Karntnerstrasse is a very busy street with great shops as far as the eye can see.....but we are focused on the neuer-Market......well I am never too focused to ignore a shoe store.....kinda interesting how closely the shoes match the bags:

After my minor distraction we arrive in the market just in time for lunch.
We sit down at an outdoor table at a cafe at the top of the market.  This spot is perfect for people watching....and oh the people to watch.  After I finish my lunch of grilled prawns.....Stephen holds out hope for a sausage spot further down the market,  we venture further into the market.  It is a mix of what I would expect to find in a middle eastern market, with bits of Italy, German and of course Austria....I wish I had the ability to cook here...the wealth of natural and fresh ingredients is amazing!  There are meats of all kind, spices...lots of spices, dry fruits and nuts and all kinds of vegetables stuffed with a cream cheese stuffing.....the energy is incredible, all the vendors are giving samples and it is hard to say no to their product once you have had a taste. The place is wall to wall people.... .not sure how I managed these pictures:

 

 Other than loads of food vendors and true cafes there is your "typical" flea market items......we head back to top of the market to enjoy some more people watching.  This time we choose a stand-up table as our venue.........here is one of the market goers:

Stephen was not impressed......

On our journey into the market we did not find a cooked sauage stand so we head back to Karntnerstrasse in hopes of finding a hot dog....which is a grilled cheese brot in a baguette....we found this stand at the corner of Karntnerstrasse and Karntner ring. The hot dog was very good.......

Stephen shared a little......

The first time down Karntnerstrasse I was mesmerized by the Swarovski window but did not take a picture....I did not make the same mistake twice.......




Our next stop is the American Bar....which is full of locals....we end the evening playing dice with three teachers from the Vienna American School in an Australasian restaurant......We headed back to Dresden first thing Sunday morning...but as our front desk clerk said one day is not enough time in Vienna......which I agree with whole heartedly!

All my best,
Jill