Not even home for 48 hours and I found myself headed to Vienna, Austria for a mini family vacay. Post-exam, post- (unofficial) final semester, and post-first fall semester for my sister; this trip was definitely needed.
No, there were no kangaroos as I went to Austria NOT Australia. While I’ve been to many cities both in Europe and the U.S., Vienna is the only place that I’ve ever experienced people ~literally~ running into each other on the streets. Cities like New York and Rome can be packed with people pushing and dodging their way through crowds, but the people in Vienna (whether they were visitors like myself or residents I don’t know) consistently interacted in the ~awkward shuffle~ with no one ever moving until coming face-to-face and toe-to-toe. This continued to happen even when the area wasn’t crowded. My theory behind this is that since Austria is bordered by 8 different countries, maybe everyone has different sidewalk rules they abide by, so throwing everyone in a common square can result in a blind chaos.
Despite Vienna being the capital of Austria, many may ask what to do and where to go, or at least I know I did. I’m not going to lie, besides from Vienna’s famous Christmas markets (which are all I really wanted in a winter trip this year), I really didn’t know much else about this city. After visiting, I’ve discovered that Vienna is known ~and rightfully so~ for their cafes, schnitzels, and strudels. Vienna is also known for being the ‘capital of classical music’ (Beethoven, Mozart, and Strauss) and for housing Gustav Klimt’s famous painting: The Kiss. Vienna was also home to the one and only Sigmund Freud. Vienna, Austria ended up being the perfect place to stroll around and feel the Christmas spirit which is hard to feel here in Florida. It’s a great city for a short 3-4 day visit with a few palaces, museums, etc. and an even better winter trip with their various Christmas markets and lights decorating the whole city. My favorite part of the trip was honestly just walking around, immersing myself in another country’s culture, and being surrounded by people from all over the world.
Auf Wiedersehen,
Alyssa Ashley
*Coming Soon: Winter in Austria Outfits; 3-Day Itinerary Things to Do, See, and Eat (including a Christmas Market round-up)*