Vienna, Austria

We got into Vienna in the early evening, found our place and settled in.  Our host, Martin, was very nice.  His place was simple but comfortable.  he was a very generous soul and opened his home to couch surfers every day during the summer months. Steve and him had a lot to talk about; he is very green.  He had a solar cooker out on his deck that Steve was very excited about. :). Martin is a music school teacher and runs an organic gardening project on the side.  He has part of a crop field he and his students sow and reap.  Our first evening there he brought home salad from his garden for us all to share.  Over dinner we talked a lot and got to know each other a little bit.  Martin also gave us suggestions of where to go the following day and helped us plan out our route so we could get everything in.

Just hanging out at Martins house ;-)

 

My hip was giving me problems so Martin let us hang on his traction machine.  It was scary and all the blood rushed to our heads, but it was a new experience :)

The solar cooker I mentioned above.

The following morning we all had breakfast together. During breakfast we did a blind Nutella taste test. When I was younger my dad went to Germany and brought little packets of Nutella back with him. I remember thinking it was the best tasting breakfast spread I had ever tasted. I couldn't believe they ate chocolate for breakfast!  When we finally got Nutella in the States, or should I say when we found some, I tasted it and it was not at all like I remembered it.  It was good, don't get me wrong, but it was just not the same.  I have told Steve for a long time now there is a difference between our Nutella and German Nutella. After visiting Europe I can say there is a difference even in the European verses the Germany Nutella.  At this point Steve really started to believe I was off my rocker.  Remember we had bought a big jar of it in Munich before we left?  Well, Martin had a jar too so we decided we would blind fold Steve and hand him a spoonful of each on a piece of bread and see if he tasted a difference.  He even washed his mouth out with water in between each bite. Turns out he did taste a difference. The one from Germany was thicker and had a richer chocolate taste.  Now he understands me and Nutella is forever ruined for him. He as crossed over to the dark side and prefers German Nutella over the rest :). 

I couldn't resist putting some on his nose while he was blind folded.
Seriously, what kind of wife would I be if I didn't do it? Not a very fun one. 

There is a difference!!!!!  One of these things is not like the other ;-)

After breakfast and our little science experiment, we headed out to see the sites. As we were walking to the Schonbrunn Palace we came across a woman picking some sort of fruit or nut from a tree.  I stopped and asked the woman what she was picking and she showed us these.  She didn't speak much English but told us how to crack them and get the eatable nut out of the shell.  When I asked what it was she said it was a peanut. Well, you and I know this isn't a peanut or a proper peanut shell.  We tried to help her pick some more but she insisted on us taking a bunch home with us.  I thought Martin would like to try them and he might even know what they were. Turns out he didn't know what they were but we looked up Chinese hazelnut and sure enough that is what they are.

Do these look like peanuts to you?

They tasted pretty good

When we got to the palace we walked around the grounds and stayed in the gardens for about 2 hours.  It was so beautiful!  It was also relaxing to stroll through the garden hand in hand with the man I love.  :)  Check out these photos. The fountains and waterfalls were truly amazing!

Schonbrunn Palace

 The palace also had a marionette theater

 Lovely sites along our stroll in the garden

 The following three photos are part of the same fountain, I just couldn't get them all in the same photo :)

This is the view outside the back of the palace.  Can you imagine waking up and looking at this scene when you stepped out your pack door? 

On our way out we found this statue.  Not sure what the man was looking for in the lion's mouth so Steve thought he would look to see what was so interesting.  Maybe the man lost his watch down there and wanted to get it out.  Maybe he was giving the lion his routine dental cleaning.

Next we went to Naschmarkt, one of the most famous farmers markets in Vienna. We browsed for a while and ended up buying some tasty dried fruits to snack on. We even got a delicious cherry strudel :). Next we went to the Opera house, had lunch and continued to St. Michael's Square, St. Micheal's church, and St. Stephan's Cathedral.  Then we stopped for some vegan ice cream at a place called Eis Greissler that Martin had suggested we go to.  He said there is always a line out the door and he was right.  Not everything on the menu was vegan, they had regular organic milk ice cream too.  I got a scoop of cream cheese ice cream and a scoop of chocolate and man-o-man was it divine!  Why don't we have cream cheese ice cream in the States?  It tasted just like cream cheese frosting (my favorite).  Steve got 2 scoops of a vegan berry sorbe :). The flavors flooded his mouth and made him say Yumm!

Pretty buildings and sites we saw along our tour of Vienna

 

The best Cherry Strudel either of us have ever had!  Steve says he wished the woman lived closer to our home so we could get them all the time. :)

The dried fruit stand.  There was no sugar added, this company used honey and it was really good!  We shared these with Martin for dessert later this night.  ;-)

Really?!?!?!  Why would you were a fish on your shoulders like a shall?  Dis-gust-ing!!!!!  Why would you even use this as an advertisement.  It is just wrong.  lol

We had heard Coke was going to start putting names on their bottles and cans but this is the first time we had seen them.  It was pretty awesome!

This is for my unholy trinity  :)  Love you ladies!

The Opera House

This street reminded us of SF.  The style of architecture with the shops on the bottom and housing up top.  

Lunch :)  Shnitzel and knoedel :)

Feldmeyers, do you have knoedels?  Cause we do!!!!! ;-p
We may not be home to make them but we still got to eat them!
By the way they originated in here in Austria  :)

The man in this picture must have eaten too many knoedels. lol

More sites in the city

 

Hofburg Palace

St. Michael's square

St. Michael's church

St. Stephen's Cathedral--It was under renovation but you can get the idea :)

One of it's unique qualities is the mosaic tile work on the roof and the two bell towers.
It is still a functional church today.

Inside the Cathedral

The best ice cream shop in Vienna :-)

Random photo, but I really like their sale signs.  They are playing cards.  Cute huh?

After enjoying our refreshing treat we went to find the Kunst Haus Wien Museum. This was a bit of a challenge. Florian and Regina had recommended we go see it.  We walked around for what seemed like hours trying to find it. Eventually we got there but it was already to late to go in so we snapped a picture and headed over to our last stop at the giant Ferris Wheel at the Prater Herrrreinspaziert, a local amusement park.   It was a cute place but we didn't stay long because we were both tired and it was getting pretty late. We told Martin we would be home by dinner so we could share one last meal together before we moved on.  He made us a vegetarian meal in his solar cooker and we spent our last evening together laughing and enjoying each others company. You all know how much I like Christmas in all it's religious and cultural aspects.  I asked Martin about their traditions and we had a long talk about it.  But one part that stood out to Steve and I was about the holiday chocolates.  In Vienna they do celebrate the Christkin or Christ Child but apparently it was unacceptable eat a chocolate mold of the Christ Child or to wrap holiday chocolates with the child on the foil wrapper.  But it is perfectly acceptable to eat old fat men and bunny rabbits made of chocolate.  lol  This was a fun joke we laughed about for quite a while.  :-)

Kunst Haus Wien Museum

This is the famous Ferris Wheel that you see a lot in photos of Vienna's skyline.

Thank you Martin for opening up your home to us!