An American in Vienna
I spent four nights in the inner stadt of Vienna, an area surrounded by a U shaped road called the Ringstrasse, with the Danube canal crossing the top of the U as the north border. The area is pretty compact, you can walk from one side to the other in about 20 minutes. Around the center is Stephen platz, with a huge cathedral that supposedly was not to be missed
Upon inspection, it was pretty filthy, massive renovations were taking place, and a mass of humanity was standing around looking at it. Moving on immediately to the small and winding alleys of the inner stadt, it didn’t take long to find a more desirable attraction
With out a doubt the most delicious Budweiser I have ever drank, probably because it was brewed in the town of Budweis in the Czech Republic, not in St. Louis. And so goes the inner stadt, follow a winding alley, look up and you’ll likely see something worth looking at
then turn the corner and you’ll likely see a cafe where you can sit down for a beer or a cappuccino.
Also found a restaurant called Leopold’s that served some fantastic fish, and chicken specials, without a doubt the best meals of the trip so far. The inner city is definitely worth seeing, but there is only so long you can spend in that maze before you must get out. So I got out, took the tram over the canal to the Prater to have a look around. I had heard there was a huge Ferris wheel over there, and having recently read Devil in the White City had a newly discovered curiosity.
Looked sturdy enough, plus I had read on the train into town that the Austrians are pretty strong in engineering, so I bought a ticket a jumped on for the twenty minute rotation. Not a bad ride
Later on while waiting for the tram at the Prater station, I couldn’t help but notice that things looked a little rough in the Prater, maybe not the best place to be after dark. The next day I read it was the area of Vienna known for drugs and prostitution, probably more helpful to read that before going.
Old school versus new school, tram style
The U shaped Ringstrasse is full of museums, parks, memorials etc. Definitely worth a walk around, here are some shots
A memorial to Mr. Wolfgang Amadeus
A museum which I did not enter and do not know the name
The somewhat phallic shrub garden around the museum – wasn’t Freud from Vienna?
And a pretty impressive cathedral, which I did not enter and do not know the name of
Working my way around the Ringstrasse on the second day, I happened upon a Marriot hotel with a big red awning that read Champions American Sportsbar. Curious, I walked in, not a sole in there in the day, and asked the manager if they had live coverage of the PGA Championship. “Of course sir, beginning at 8:00 p.m.†That sounds like a good option I thought, and since I was in the bar already, decided to have a beer.
In retrospect, I’m not that surprised that I ended up spending three nights in a row at Champions American Sports Bar. Alfred behind the bar poured a great drink, the blackened fish sandwich was up to snuff, and the PGA turned out to be a great tournament – with the one glaring exception that the rain delayed finish on Monday took place exactly at the time I was taking a train to Budapest. Overall, had a damn good time at Champions, met some good people, and exchanged about 20 text messages with Chris Barber trying to predict the outcome of the golf. Nice prediction Chris.
Oh, and remember that Wurstelstand open until 5 a.m. next to my hotel selling Kasekrainer – the cheese filled sausages? Didn’t miss a night.
In Budapest now, my cousins Chris and Dave, and their friend Casey have just arrived Budapest airport, cousin Andy arrives Friday. Should be a raucous weekend, will get some Budapest details posted next week. And thanks to everybody who has posted comments or sent emails about all or any of this, they are great to read.