"Wien" in Austria

 Ren and I in Salzburg

A couple of weekends ago, I ventured to Austria to meet up with my fellow UCSD classmate, AEPhi sister, and  lovely friend Ren! Ren is currently studying abroad in the Netherlands, and we were adamant about seeing each other during our abroad experiences. We couldn't figure out how to get to each others perspective "home country", so I spontaneously jumped on her trip to Austria for the weekend. Together, we explored Vienna and Salzburg. There were so many highlights of this trip, and easily I have deemed Austria as one of my favorite countries! 

 First Day/Night in Vienna; Gorgeous Architecture; So Many Manner Cookies

Shortly after my arrival Friday afternoon, Ren and I researched our dinner destination, and headed toward the main city center in the "ring," of Vienna. The historical ring is just like it sounds, it contains tons of gorgeous monuments, museums, and grand architecture (not to mention great food, people and shopping)!

 Schnitzel; Duck and Risotto

I would not be able to say I went to Austria without eating Schnitzel! Schnitzel, is a breaded cutlet of pork, that is deep friend. It's dangerously good, especially accompanied with lemon and a nice glass of wine or beer. For our first night we went to an adorable restaurant named Salzamt, which is located next to St. Rupert's Church, the oldest church in Vienna. The menu changes daily, so it's impossible to see it on their website, since they only provide handwritten menus for the guests.

Upon our arrival, I told our waiter that we did want to eat Schnitzel, and we also wanted to drink local wine, and eat another Austrian dish. He recommended their Duck Risotto, and Ren and I each drank a glass of red wine, mine was a blend called Castagnole. The duck was incredibly moist, and its juicy sauce paired spectacularly with the risotto. The schnitzel was a piece of delicious fried meat, there isn't much else to it, other than some good amount of oil. What surprised me about this restaurant, and Vienna in general, is they actually give you salad with your meals! In Italy, I have gotten so used to having to order an extra side dish of veggies, or being given a lame plate of lettuce as a "salad," but in Austria it comes included with most dishes, especially Schnitzel. We ate at Salzamt on the early side for European standards, and were pleased to have a nearly empty restaurant to enjoy our first Viennese meal in!

                   

 Original Sacher Torte at the Sacher Hotel

Sachertorte, is one of the most traditional and well-known desserts in Vienna. They serve it practically everywhere, but Ren and I were determined to go to Hotel Sacher, where the "original," is supposedly served. Hotel Sacher is grand, it definitely brought elegance to the decor and environment in the cafe where we were dining in. We each got our own serving of the Viennese classic chocolate cake, and were unfortunately disappointed. The chocolate used to make this cake was definitely high quality, but we both found it dry and lacking flavor and body to it. The outerlayer of chocolate frosting was my favorite, which is surpising, since I usually scrape off frosting when I eat cake. I concluded that the chocolate is really what made me like any part of this cake, but I unfortunately would not eat this again. Needless to say, it was still a fun experience.

 Salzburg Day Trip

On Saturday, Ren and I ventured to Salzburg for the day. We took a three hour train to and fro (6 hours in total), but easily passed the time chatting away. The minute we hit the countryside we knew we were going to fall in love with Salzburg. This quaint "little" town (150,000 people is considered small in Austria...I told our tour guide I live in a 13,000 person town and his eyes bulged), was so picturesque. It was full of foliage that really showed signs of Fall, the people were nice, the weather was abusrdly beautiful, and the food was great. By the end of the day we didn't want to leave!

 Traditional Salzburg Stiegel; Salad; Schnitzel; Ren looking cute with our food

Originally, I looked up a few places for us to dine at prior to our visit. However, crunched for time, we choose to hope into a cafe where they were serving what else, but schnitzel! I know it sounds silly, but we couldn't get enough of this dish and had it again. Normally, Schnitzel is accompanied by potatoes, this place gave us french fries, which may seem slightly odd, but were actually really good. We enjoyed people watching over our local Stiegel beers.

 Salzburg Sound of Music Tour: Ren Lakeside; Ren and I Lakeside; Girly Gazebo; View in Countryside

The main purpose for our daytrip to Salzburg was to go on the Sound of Music Tour! Ren was adament about partaking in this adventure, and I had no reason not to oblige. We found the tour quirky, and slightly silly, but morever a great way to tour the town and see a little bit of the countryside. 

We hit up prime filming locations, such as the gorgeous lake photographed above, the gazeebo where the eldest daughter sang the song "Sixteen Going on Seventeen," (the Gazeebo is now closed because an 80 year old woman broke her hip trying to skip along the benches, just as they did in the Sound of Music...) where we were told to throw up our hands in commemoration of this teenage scene. Upon driving down to the town of Mondsee we stopped at some gorgeous points to take in the view.

 Town of Mondsee: Braun Bakery; St. Michael's Church Mondsee Out and In; Lake Mondsee

The halfway point of our tour lead us to the little town of Mondsee, which is just outside of Salzburg. This is where we viewed St. Michael's Church where the infamous wedding scene between Maria and Captain Von Trapp took place. Our tour guide explained that St. Michael's is a frequented wedding spot, and we were told to sneak a glass a free champagne if one was going one (one was not).

The town of Mondsee was very cute, and definitely much smaller than Salzburg. Unfortunately, there wasn't much life there. we walked past a few bakeries known for apple strudel (such as Braun Bakery), explored the church, and took some photos by the lake. It was a very peaceful stop, but Ren and I agreed it wasn't a necessary stop on the tour. 

On our way back, our large Sound of Music bus drove on the Autobaun, which was pretty cool! Overall, we were happy we did the tour to see the town. It may not have been the best, but it definitely inticed us to come back to Salzburg sometime in our lives. 

Schnobrunn Palace Gardens; Tourist Jumping Photos; Schonbrunn Palace

On Sunday, we visited Schonbrunn Palace, a must-see according to all of my friends who have been to Vienna. Unfortunately, it was extremely foggy that morning. However, the walk to the palace was super magical. We were in awe of the foliage, and couldn't resist taking numerous photos (and looking like tourists jumping around). The Palace was gorgeous. The photo depicts it as pretty gloomy and grungy, but it's actually very clean and classic looking in person. Even with the fog, this area was gorgeous and we were both extremely happy we went and walked along the grounds in the icy cold fog!

Coffee and Apple Strudel; Strudel Making Demonstration; Strudel; Schonbrunn Palace

Upon entering the park, we were given a visiters map. Ren was keen to notice that there is an apple strudel making-demonstration that takes place every hour. Of course, we had to go. Stationed in the Palace's courtyard, we descended into a cute kitchen where we listened and watched the chef explain in both English and German the process of strudel. We were also given a piece, but we were both a tad disappointed. We think that our pieces had been sitting out for a bit, since the strudel was a tad soggy. The minute a fresh batch of strudel came out of the oven during our demonstration, all our eyes (and stomachs) could focus on was the fresh batch. Apparently, you have to wait until the strudel cools before consuming it, since it will just fall apart from the heat, but knowing us all we wanted was to enjoy the warm batch. 

Potato Soup; Goulash; Egg Dumplings; Our Feast

After our tour of the palace, we ventured to the outer ring for some traditional Austrian food. We decided to have a big meal to tie us over for the remainder of the day. Of all three dishes, we both loved our starter: Potato Soup. Unfortunately, I don't know the traditional name of this dish, but least to say that Austrians and potatoes are a great mix. Considering how cold it is, it makes sense as to why so many of their meals incorporate loads of starch. 

The Goulash was my favorite. I've never had goulash  but I was pretty impressed with this dish. The meat was super tender, and the little potato-pasta-like dumplings were also great. However, the sauce is what really tied this dish together. The sauce was slightly spicy, and quite hardy. We ended up using the sauce to dip our Austrian "Egg-dumplings," in. We still don't know what exactly comprises an "egg-dumpling," however, it was more starchy-goods cooked with eggs. These were good, but not nearly as satisfying as the other two dishes. 

Humor Amongst History.

Irish Coffee and Hot Chocolate with Rum at Cafe Hawelka

I absolutely loved the Coffee Culture in Austria. Yes, Rome does provide excellent espresso drinks, but I miss the ability to sit down in a cafe and take my time with a good cup of Jo. Where as Romans are big on long dinners, Austrians are big promoters of hours spent in coffee shops. Ren and I were desperate for something warm (well, I was in need of "thawing" out at this point), so we popped into Cafe Hawelka, where I enjoyed a delicious Irish Coffee and Ren sipped on a Hot Chocolate with a shot of rum. There is a reason why alcohol is incorporated with all of their hot drinks!

There was so much Chocolate in Austria, Demel being the infamous shop.

Vienna State Opera House

On Sunday night, Ren and I went to the Vienna State Opera House and watched the showing of Mozart's La Clemenza di Tito. Although our seats were not spectacular (sorry Ren!), we still heard some of the most breathtaking music I have ever experienced. The venue itself was also gorgeous, but it's hard to put into words how great of an experience it was to view an Opera in Austria. It was simply, unbelievable.

Naschmarkt

On our last day together in Austria, we went to Vienna's most popular and famous market: Naschmarkt. Naschmarkt is huge, and stretches over 1.5 kilometers! We were blown away by the large number of stands and varieties of food. The photographs above give a glimpse of the most common goods we saw, and some of the great things we ate. We decided to buy a large spread of goodies, such as a loaf of bread, hummus, stuffed things with cheeses, olives, and my personal favorite a date filled with a walnut and toasted prosciutto! I am planning on recreating this little treat here in Roma.

The market was one of my favorite experiences. I think it's my love of food, and learning about local cuisines, but it was also a great place for Ren and I to be in our element (we love to eat). It was also a fantastic way to end our trip chatting, and stuffing our faces with Austrian delights. 

I had a fantastic time in Austria. It's hands down one of the most beautiful places I have ever visited. Ren and I had so many great experiences and I made a ton of memories. It was the perfect way to start my travels outside of Italy, and I am so beyond happy I got to experience it with such a great friend!