Introduction to Vienna

Safe journey again - and yet again the train was packed.  We are getting into a routine with this boarding and disembarking of trains in a hurry.  Alan must bear the greatest load of course.  I just follow pulling two carry-on’s and wearing both of our “handbags”.  Alan rushes ahead to hoist both the big cases on or off the train.  Then he must find somewhere onboard to stack the cases.  5 minutes before we reach our station he collects the cases from their storage rack and gets them close to the carriage door ready to offload (usually down 4 steep steps).  As does everyone else!  It can be a bit frantic on the busy trains, even in 1st class.  It’s invaluable to have reserved seats!  I couldn’t have managed scrambling to find seats on top of everything else.

On arrival in Vienna we had an hour and half to waste before we could check into our AirBnB.  Vienna Central Station is huge, with loads of shops and fast food outlets, but we wanted somewhere to sit quietly for a spell.  We searched and found a typical Austrian outlet.  One chooses the type of bread roll you want (gorgeous selection of grained, seeded and glazed rolls) then select your filling: we chose turkey and cheese.  This is in meatloaf form - a thick slice was taken off, weighed then put on a plate along with the roll and sweet and normal mustard.  A glass of beer to go with it of course!

Anyway, the time came to check into our AirBnB.  The taxi dropped us off in a not too salubrious area of older style apartment blocks.  The host informed us to go down an alley and wait at “House No. 3”.  He would send down the cleaner to let us in.

She spoke no English at all, so it was all a bit awkward.  Especially when we tried to find the lift.  We always made sure when booking our accommodation that there was a lift.  Well - there is a lift - but it starts on the first floor (we are on the 4th).  Alan had to heave 2 heavy suitcases up 2 flights of stairs before we even reached the lift!  And the lift was so small only 2 people and one suitcase fitted in it!  Perhaps this is normal for older style apartments in Vienna I dont know.

So we are in - into a freshly refurbished apartment.  So newly done all the walls are bare - the bare minimum has been installed - obviously done for short AirBnB renting.  So stark that everything is beige - beige walls, beige lino floors.  Thankfully, it does have a dishwasher, a microwave and a coffee machine.  We have been provided with one dishwasher tablet, 2 coffee pods, 2 tea bags and some hand wash.  One towel each, but- thank goodness - plenty of toilet paper!

The toilet is in a cupboard in the hallway, and the bathroom just slightly larger.  It’s all very clean I must admit - no complaints on that score.

The one room with some colour is the main bedroom: (we have two)

Have to laugh: we have strict instructions that “each guest is responsible for avoiding noise in the home!  I think the bedroom decor is pretty noisy before we even start!

We awake the next morning to a cloudy, cool day with a chance of showers.  It’s Sunday.  Everything is closed in Austria on a Sunday.  (We had managed to stock up on some essentials at the local Spar the day before).  We read somewhere that the best thing to do on a Sunday is to take advantage of the quiet streets and transport to explore the city on foot.

So thats what we did.  We used the subway (we are 2 stations from the city centre).  We found out that people over the age of 63 get cheap tickets, so we’ve decided to go for that, rather than the tourist Sightseeing deals.

After coffee and warm apple strudel, we followed one of the city walking trails just absorbing the city streetscape, and popping into the occasional church.

Stopped for lunch - a glass of the local Viennese wine: Wiener Gemischten Satz) and the best steak sandwich we have ever tasted!

Pity about the grey skies.  But the weather is due to improve over the next few days.

Better keep the camera batteries charged.  

We are also searching hard for somewhere to launder our clothes - theres nothing provided at the apartment - it was obviously refurbished by a man who never has to think about that sort of thing!