Wandering Around Wien

Willkommen!

Today (well actually yesterday) we spent the day wandering around Vienna and seeing the sights. First, we woke up and ate a lovely breakfast at the hostel before we started our day.

Just some Oles eating some food in a foreign country

After breakfast, we became very intrigued by Naschmarkt, an open-air market that was across the street so we decided to check it out. As we wandered in, we were overcome with the overwhelming smell of delicious food and spices. While wandering through, a mysterious pastry was spotted. It was stamped with the word "Mohn." Could they be paying homage to the famous Mohn Hall, the second tallest building in all of Rice County, MN? Alas they were not. Mohn is the German word for poppy. While wandering, Anika found many things quite amusing so she was doing some laughing. The vendors eventually caught on and started mimicking her while sticking food out for us to try. It was a very surreal moment that could have come straight out of a movie. 

Fun Fact: Mohn is not Norwegian 

Some yummy fruits!

After the market, we decided to wander into the city with no real plan. We came across the Vienna State Opera house. While we were very intrigued by this beautiful building, we were more interested in the squad of pigeons that was chilling outside. 

Just some cool birds

After about 10 minutes of admiring these majestic creatures, we decided that we should see more of what Vienna has to offer. We came across St. Stephen's Cathedral and ventured inside. They were in the middle of mass so we stayed for a bit to look around and then left to do some more exploring. 

wow

Our method of sightseeing was spotting something in the distance and walking towards it. We eventually ended up near the Spanish Riding School. This area was full of majestic buildings and some cool ruins.

By this time, we had been walking for quite some time and found a café to have some lunch. Anika ordered a black coffee in German, as her last name means black in German. After eating some yummy sandwiches, we headed off to Belvedere Palace to look at some art. This museum houses the largest collection of paintings by Austrian painter Gustav Klimt. The outside of the palace was almost as beautiful as the paintings inside!

A subpar photo of "The Kiss" by Klimt

After walking around for quite sometime, we decided to find a cheap option for dinner. As the day went on, our wallets became lighter and our stomaches became emptier. We decided to settle on an American classic: McDonalds (don't worry we ate Austrian food the night before). Due to the fact that we have not yet consumed any fast food in a foreign country, we decided that this was an ok thing to do. A review of Austrian McDonalds: pretty much the same.

Some exotic foreign food

After dinner, we headed back to the hostel to relax and do some homework. We had a very action packed day that lead us to take approximately 22,424 steps!

Auf Wienersehen!

Anika Schwarz, Katelyn LeBeque, and Shannon Bayless