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Published: July 19th 2009
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Air Berlin (Niki Air) took us to Vienna, it was a bargain fare on an airline who has a housefly as it's mascot. At one stage we thought the pilot was going to drive us to Vienna instead of flying, we seemed to spend ages travelling to the runway for take off. we laughed at the vision of being driven via the autobahns to Vienna.
Our Viennese taxi driver was as informative as the one in Singapore. I want to have positive experiences with taxi drivers, seeing I was once a taxi driver myself. Plus, on a trip to Bangkok we had a shocker of a taxi experience so we think we deserve a lot of happy experiences from that time on. This guy was originally from Turkey and proudly pointed out to us when we drove past "Turkish Street" or whatever that is in Austrian (something strasse).
We had a really nice apartment in Vienna, it was close to most things we needed, like a tram stop, supermarket, coffee shop, and a number of reasonably priced restaurants. Gunter, the apartment owner, was full of good info about Vienna and only too willing to help us with some extras
Saigon Beer & Pho in Vienna
Great Restaurant "Hanoi Express" reminded us we miss our friends in Vietnam so much - served great Pho!!!!! like some clothes washing detergent and a key to another apartment which had a washing machine (which was not included in our apartment). We also met Gunter's wife and they told us that they would love to visit Australia, but were out off by the length of the flight. We explained, as we often do, that the flight is really only half a novel, three movies, a few wines and one sleep and you are in Sydney! Not so bad really.
Weather was cool and a little damp thanks to some light rain, but not uncomfortable. We visited a few museums, looked at lots of buildings, the Sisi Museum and Kaiser Apartments were good, the display of the Hapsburg family crockery and silverware was pretty amazing (Silverkammer), but the highlight was the Natural History Museum. It had some great displays and kept us busy and amused for hours.
The tram system was really easy to use and is great for hopping on and off as we explored various parts of the city. While waiting at one tram stop we watched a group of young ladies on a "hens night" having some fun with the traffic. The bride was
dressed in an interesting outfit and was washing car windscreens at a very busy intersection. At one stage she also had a go at cleaning the windscreen of a tram. It was amusing and the motorists in the peak hour traffic took it with good humor also.
We watched a mini concert of classical music, opera and some ballet, which was overpriced, and a bot of a tourist ripoff in my opinion.
We tried a few Austrian food specialties, schnitzel, goulash and boiled beef. I also made a mental note that I love countries were a beer is cheaper than a coffee! We also tried a Vietnamese eatery that was recommended to us by Gunter (apartment owner). It was called Hanoi Express and served a good pho, and ice cold Saigon Beer. The plastic furniture and look of the place made us feel we were back in Hanoi - we really liked this place and visited again before we left Vienna. Ok, maybe we should have tried some more Viennese food but we both really enjoyed the Phở!!!!
Our last day in Vienna was also a religious holiday, so nothing was open. It had something to do
with Catholic fraternities visiting Vienna and parading in the streets. I tried asking a few people what it was about but could not get a clear explanation. My German was about as good as the English of the people I asked so I decided to just take a few photos and leave the meaning of the holiday and parades a mystery to me!
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