Running Rings Around The Ring
There’s no more efficient way to navigate a new city than with the help of a local. Luckily we had a few locals on our side that we’re more than willing to share their wealth of knowledge about Vienna. Bianca and all of her flatmates gave us so much great advice on how to best see the city. Bianca even escorted us to the train station and helped us obtain a city map and then sent us off on our own with a long list of things to see.
The first stop was a restaurant/brewery that was actually brewing beer. You could smell the barley and hops wafting across our table.
They had a delicious chili beer that was a tad bit spicy. Very tasty! Jay also tried their hemp beer. The schnitzel was highly recommended, so we ordered some as our main course after a delicious creamy garlic soup appetizer.
Almost all of the major sites in Vienna are located within “The Ring” and all easily accessible by foot once you are inside the ring. Our first destination was the Imperial Palace. Along the way I snapped a few photos of some of the many cool looking buildings in the city…
…and their reflections in other more boring buildings.
To get to the Imperial Palace, you have to walk past the Kunsthistorisches Museum and Naturhistorisches Museum…
…which have identical exteriors and face each other across a plaza.
After crossing by those two amazing buildings, we walked through the outer courtyard of the palace. Off in the distance you can see Rathaus which is where the mayor and city council of Vienna govern.
And on the other side is the palace itself.
There are some unruly individuals guarding the palace. This guy clearly doesn’t see the sign nearby that forbids this type of barbarian behavior!
Outside of the palace walls are some more friendly (and cuddly) guards.
Perhaps it’s because they only have to guard a church. Stephansdom is a huge church smack dab in the middle of The Ring…
…with lots of shopping nearby…
…and street performers.
If you ever have a chance to try the iced tea pictured above, do so. It was some of the best tasting and most refreshing iced tea I’ve ever had.
Our hosts were planning to make us a traditional Austrian dinner this evening, so we headed back to the flat. We had just enough time to check out the Technisches Museum before they closed. Here are just a few photos from their vast collection of stuff that does things. And stuff.
