Vienna and Venice

 Stephansdom in Vienna: weird light effects, but it sure does look cool

So, apparently free Wifi doesn’t exist in Italy. Here in Venice, the only place there is free Wifi is, you guessed it, McDonald’s! I can’t remember the last time I’ve ever been to McDonald’s, but right now I find myself here for the third day in a row (luckily you don’t have to order anything to use it—it really is free!).

St. Mark's in Venice

A lot has happened since I last posted: two cities and another one tomorrow! We arrived in Vienna last Tuesday. We all stayed in that night after an epic bar crawl on our last night in Prague (details withheld on purpose). The next day we did a bit of exploring of Vienna and I was immediately in love. It’s such a beautiful city, and it definitely felt the most “European” of any of the cities we’d visited. Of course, now we’re in the western European portion of our trip after visiting Hungary and the Czech Republic, so that probably has something to do with it.

St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna: the central altar

Much of our activity in Vienna was in the center of the city, around the Ringstrasse, a circular street that encloses the heart of the city. There, we took in the architecture of the city, which is extremely diverse. Gothic, baroque, neoclassical, and modernism are all represented. It really is a cool and diverse city.

My favorite place in Vienna was the Belvedere, though. The Upper Belvedere is a former summer pleasure palace and now serves as an art museum. The grounds around the palace are the real sight, though. I can’t imagine how beautiful the gardens at Versailles will be now!

Belvedere: the gardens (top) and Upper Belvedere (bottom) 

 

All around, Vienna is my favorite city of those we’ve visited so far. It’s modern and laid-back, but has tons of places to go and things to see. We were staying in a quieter part of ton outside of the city center and one night ventured just a few blocks away to a local bar where the drinks were good and cheap and talked for hours, one of the few patrons there.

Of course, the entire past few months I’ve been eagerly anticipating Italy (oh, Italy!). Had I done any more research prior to this trip I probably would have been less surprised at the type of city Venice is.

Let me just be straight: Venice is an absolute tourist trap. It’s filled with people. People everywhere, walking, shouting, trying to get you to buy something, anything! Venice is also very expensive. Our hotel is down a sketchy little alleyway and our rooms are one step above from hostels. But it’s Italy! And the less nice the hotel is, the more time you’ll want to spend out in the city exploring.

And that’s exactly what I’ve done. Yesterday it rained most of the day and I took the opportunity to go out and explore some of the shops and sights. Naturally, I’ve been most interested in the food and pastry shops, one of the few things in this city that actually feels authentic.

I’ve fallen in love with marzipan. It’s not too expensive and I get way more pleasure from a small piece of marzipan than a scoop of gelato (I’ve never really been much of an ice cream person). So marzipan will be my Italian vice. So be it.

The good news is that I’ve been able to walk a lot in Venice (and on the trip in general; it’s really not uncommon for our group leaders to take us far from the hotel and then leave us to our devices to find our way back), where there are literally no cars anywhere. I’m not sure I’d call the city pedestrian-friendly because there are just so many people, but walking over the bridges and seeing the water and canals is a great experience.

I’m not sure I’d call Venice beautiful (it smells here, the water is gross, swarms of people everywhere), but when you look up, it really is nice. The stucco is rainbow-colored and the flower boxes are always full and blooming. And at night? At night, Venice is truly lovely.

Tomorrow we head to Florence, a city I’m extra excited for. Unfortunately we’ve got our midterms on Friday, but I’m not going to let that spoil the experience. I may need a few glasses of wine shots of espresso to stay up!

Villa Rotunda in Vicenza

 Ciao!

Venice by night

The rest of Budapest + Prague

Views of Prague from across the river

Whew. Where did the last few days go? I feel like I blinked and went to Budapest to Prague to Vienna, where we arrived this afternoon. Details:

We finished the Budapest visit with an orchestra concert that, while long, was a great experience. Plus you can't beat the views. Our final night in Budapest was relaxed (I think everyone was a little sleepy from the concert, to be honest), but we found a cool local pub where the city's soccer (sorry, football) fans gathered to watch the night's game. We all got pizzas and enjoyed the mostly empty space and colorful locals, who playfully mocked us with their talk of American football, the Super Bowl, and Tom Brady.

Budapest at night, as seen from the concert hall terrace

From Budapest we then headed to Prague. I was not quite sure what to expect from the city, but from the second we stepped foot there it was clear it was not like Budapest at all. On the whole, Budapest seemed much smaller, more quaint, and quieter; in comparison, Prague is like the louder but cooler older sibling. Our hotel was in a great location right next to the city's main boulevard (a bit like Times Square, but with much less lights) and a quick walk away from the river and Charles Bridge and Old Town Square, which is one of the city's oldest neighborhoods.

Tosca 

I saw my first opera in Prague, Tosca. It was dramatic, over the top, and corny for sure, but the singing! Oh my! It was incredible just to listen (and thank goodness for English subtitles, however unconventional they may be). After the opera everyone was dying to try the famed hot chocolate from Hotel Europa, an old haunt of many Prague creative minds, including Kafka. I balked at the hot chocolate and ordered the Irish coffee instead - it was delicious, as was the slice of cappuccino cake I shared to go alongside.

Cappuccino cake at Hotel Europa

Yesterday we started the day with a trip to Terezin (more on that later) and when we came back visited St. Vitus Cathedral on the other side of the river. Like Budapest, there seemed to be a great divide between the two sides of the river; it was so quiet and quaint over there, and the views were, once again, phenomenal.

St. Vitus Cathedral 

So now we are in Vienna and will be here until Saturday. It's hard to believe I've only been gone a week because it seems so long ago that I was in Atlanta. The trip so far has been a whirlwind: crazy, eye-opening, challenging. (I even lost my voice last weekend.) But I feel so grateful to be able to experience Europe and this culture, even if only for a few days in each city. It's truly incredible.

Prague at dusk

Until next time... (likely from Italy - eep!)