Vienna Part 3: The Rest

Tobias

When I told my mom that I was going to Vienna she told me I should visit my godfather Tobias who lives there. Last time I saw him I was about 8 or 9 years when he came to Norway to visit us. I wrote him an email and told him I was going on vacation to Vienna and he invited me and Annina over for dinner. It turned out he didn't live that far away from the hotel we where staying at, in fact it was right behind the MuseumsQuartier that we walked past just the previous day. Anyways, the visit was very nice. We had dinner with Tobias and his wife and talked a lot about our past, from the time he met my mom when she was studying in Vienna and until now. It was nice to “catch” up on history and to learn more about what he was doing these days. And I think he enjoyed hearing about my life as well. It was a really nice evening with good food and company. Thank you!

The Hotel

I thought I would write a little bit about the hotel we stayed at the first 3 nights in Vienna. The hotel was called Cordial Theaterhotel Wien and is ranked a four star hotel. Right next to the hotel was a theater, so my guess is that’s were the name comes from. Every room was named after different people from the theater life in Vienna (no clue who the people were) but it was a nice way to do it. The room was nice and came with a double bed, a tiny kitchen and a bathroom. Based on the price I paid I was more than happy with what I got. We didn't spent much time other places in the hotel than the room so I can’t comment on that, but I have taken some photos of the room to show you.

Andrina’s Flat

After our three days in a hotel we moved over to Annina’s friend Andrina. She studies in Vienna and rents a small flat next to the University. (The University is housed in what used to be the main hospital in Vienna). There were actually two other people living in the flat as well with their own room and shared kitchen and toilet. It was really nice of them to let us stay in the spare room (living room) and they even got a hold of a sleeping sofa for the living room so that we didn't have to sleep on the floor :)

The Prater

The Prater is an amusement park of sorts located in Vienna. It has been around for a long time and it’s pretty famous among the locals. It used to be a big park where the Emperor’s went hunting, but then they built The Giant Ferris Wheel and it was opened up to the public. Nowadays it’s filled with different thrill rides, fast food stalls and arcade games. It’s pretty big and you can easily spend a lot of money if you decide to stay the whole day. There are a few attractions that stood out among the rest that I would like to write about.

Firstly the Prater has the world's largest, 117-meter-high chairoplane, the Prater Tower. It was truly amazing to spin around high over the Prater looking out over Vienna. The Giant Ferris Wheel I mentioned earlier is another amazing attraction. We didn't get the chance to go on it, but it truly looks gigantic from the ground. The last attraction I would like to mention is hard to describe so I have included a picture in stead. But what I can say is that it was a lot of fun to go on. A true thrill ride well worth the money!

Popfest

On Sunday evening after I had followed Annina to the train back to Freiburg, Andrina invited me to join her for a free concert called Popfest. The festival actually had been going on for a few days, and this was the last night, but the reason we went was that Andrina wanted to see a band she liked called Ginga. The band was not bad, but also not my favorite style of music. However I still enjoyed them quite a bit. At the concert we met a few of Andrina’s flatmates and after the show they showed us a few underground bars/clubs. They were very different from anything you can find in Norway and it was cool to experience the local Vienna culture from a side I hadn't seen earlier. Thanks so much for bringing me along :) That’s also the end of this post and my visit to Vienna. We had a wonderful time and it’s a city I recommend to everyone!