Last Stop: Vienna!

Friday morning Gillian and I found our way to the Prague train station and hopped on a 4 hour train to Vienna. I loved taking the train between the two cities - in between my shlufs it was so nice to look out the window and see snowy mountains and quaint little European towns. We got to Wien in the afternoon and checked into our hostel, which had a really cool and friendly vibe and was conveniently located right next to the Naschmarkt, Vienna's big outdoor market that seemed to me like a less overwhelming and more food-focused version of the Rastro in Madrid. Once we put our stuff down, we picked up a city map from the front desk and went out to walk around the city center. I could not get over how beautiful the city was! On every street there was another gorgeous building. We walked by the University of Vienna, where my cousin Josh works. I was so bummed that he and Hagit happened to be in Israel for Pesach during my stay in Vienna! It would have been so nice to be with them there. He did send me a lot of great recommendations though which we used throughout our visit. For dinner, we got a recommendation from our hostel for a nearby Italian restaurant. It was a really cute hole in the wall place and me and Gillian shared a romantic candle-lit dinner of yummy wine and pasta. When we asked for the check, our waiter insisted that the three of us first take a shot of grappa together. Didn't have to ask us twice...and it was on the house! Score.

Date night

Important German words

The next day we took the metro to go see the Schonbrunn palace, which was beautiful. As Josh described it, "a mini-Versailles." We spent some time walking around and then came back to walk around and get lunch in the Naschmarkt. Loved walking through it, seeing and tasting everything. After lunch we went to see the Albertina museum. It was an interesting collection with everything from Rubens and Rembrandt to Monet, Chagall, and Picasso. Then we went back to the hostel to rest and change for our night at the Musikverein! Before leaving for spring break, we bought tickets to see the Vienna Symphony perform at this beautiful music hall, and I'm so glad we decided to. We dressed up and walked over and found our seats, which were up behind the orchestra and next to the organ. Not the best view, but we could see most of the orchestra from behind. The hall was so gorgeous and the acoustics were amazing. The program included 3 Verdi overtures, 2 Puccini overtures, William Tell, and a Respighi piece. They sounded incredible and it was such a cool experience. All I could think about was how much I wished Grandma Marilyn could've been sitting there with me. I know she would have whispered a loud "Bravo!" before the applause started and that she could have told me the names of each piece after only a few notes were played. I missed her especially that night and know that she would have been excited to hear about it, and also so proud of Paul for soloing with the HPHS orchestra in Costa Rica that same week!

Musikverein

The next day was Easter Sunday, so not much was open in Vienna. It was also really cold and snowing! So we decided to go to the Jewish museum. It has two buildings, one of which has more of a historical focus and the other one more about modern Jewish life and the Holocaust. It's been really interesting to see these Jewish areas in all three cities I visited this week. For lunch we had Wiener schnitzel! Pretty good, but doesn't come close to my cousin Bela's schnitzel. After lunch we went to see the Freud museum, which is actually a tour of his old apartment. Very cool. The rest of the afternoon we walked around the city but then got too cold and went back to hang out at the hostel. Took it easy that night and went to the airport the next morning to go back to Madrid!

I'd say our Semana Santa travels were extremely successful. I loved all three cities and had such a great time exploring each one. I think I have officially caught the travel bug. Buuut I must say that after 10 days of Eurotripping I was seriously missing Madrid and so excited to come back! Upon my return Ana cooked me a welcome back dinner and I told her everything about my trip. Well, that concludes my spring break recap! Now back to being a Madrileña.