Vienna, Austria is a city that looks like a group of Bitcoin billionaires got together and made a city. One billionaire says "I like statues. Get me 100,000 of them!". The next billionaire says "I like fancy walls, make every wall extra fancy!". Another billionaire says "I like parks, we'll have 50 of them!". Another billionaire says "Palaces are cool, let's make 10!". "Churches? We should probably get 20, just in case."
Vienna looks like a city made by rich people who were forced to spend their money for tax reasons. It's as if a variation on Brewster's Millions was used to make a city.
I didn't expect to go to Vienna. Of course I'd heard of it, but it was never on my radar for places to go. It's almost a crime that I was oblivious of how impressive and lavish this city is. I had been posting about my trip on Facebook and was on my way to Budapest, but I still had a couple of days to kill. A friend on Facebook recommended that I stop in Vienna. I'm so glad I did. Very few cities have surprised me as much as Vienna did.
I arrived by train from Bratislava and found a room in a nice little place called Time Out City Hotel Vienna. The room was a far cry from being called "deluxe", but the price and location were right.
After I dropped off my bag, I went out exploring. It was golden hour and the sky looked amazing!
I couldn't believe all of the giant buildings, covered in little decorations and flourishes. Topped with statue after statue. I felt like I could have spent a month getting lost in the details covering the countless of buildings.
I wandered around well past sundown, and I kept taking dozens of pictures. Unfortunately all of the photos look like trash. My poor phone just didn't have what it takes for a decent night photo.
I returned to my room and slept. The next day I went out early to put my camera through its paces. Vienna is a place where memory cards go to die. If you're planning a trip here, make sure you have lots of storage space for all of the photos that you'll take.
It seems like half of my photos are vertical instead of horizontal. I kept attempting to capture the grandeur and magnitude of the city. It's hard to put into words how stunning and impressive this city is.
The way I tour cities is usually aimless. Sometimes I'll have some places that I want to see. But usually I just go out and wander. Often I'll search on my phone for a restaurant that I want to eat at, then meander towards it.
On this day I just wandered with no destination in mind. I saw an incredible looking church in the distance, so I went to it.
It was difficult to make any progress towards getting anywhere in this city. Even the most mundane things like doors would call out to be photographed.
Unfortunately, this post isn't going to be very informative. I was struck dumb by the scale and beauty of Vienna. I don't know what the photo above is, probably the entrance to a bakery or something 😀.
The statues in Vienna really had me thinking about some weird things. It seems like pretty much everyone in Vienna got a statue made out of them. So did that mean there were like good and bad statues to be made into? Like if you got into trouble, you ended up as a stair statue with no body? Would people beg to be a roof statue, but end up on a door or a bathroom?
I imagine Vienna was like an Oprah car give-away episode. Everyone gets a statue!
Girl feeding the ducks! You get a statue!
Lady in the chair! You get a statue!
Dudes with no pants! You get a statue!
Guy with a shield! You get a statue!
Dude on a horse! You have a hundred statues, have another statue!
Hobos in the park! You get a statue!
Naked guy that we caught in the barn with the horse! You can bet your bottom dollar that you're getting a statue!
OK, enough of my statue tangent. Back to wandering around. The feeling in Vienna reminded me of Disneyland, but without the rides. There's a fantastical element to everything. But at the same time, it's a real city where people live, work, and conduct business.
After a few hours of wandering, I returned to my room for a hotel beer. I got cleaned up a little and rested some. Then I went out for dinner.
I went to an area where they hold markets. Most of the market stalls were closed, but it was an area that I hadn't seen yet so I took some photos.
Everything seemed so colorful and ornate. It's hard not to fall in love with this city. Everywhere you turn, there's something amazing and beautiful that catches your eye.
After the sun set, I found a little restaurant and had some dinner. The tour through Vienna made me wish that I had more time to spend in the city. I felt like I had barely scratched the surface of what Vienna had to offer.
The next day I checked out of my hotel and caught a train to Budapest. My visit to Vienna was short, but it left a big impression. The scale and beauty of this city can't be understated.
I hope you enjoyed my tour. It's hard to tell how my attempts at humor will come through the screen. Hopefully you like some of the photos and will join me in Budapest tomorrow.
Something unique from Vienna
This picture isn't very good and you may have to zoom in. On the right is the "Kids Info" office. On the left is a weird drawing of a lady with her private bits hanging out. That's Vienna I guess.