Views almost as sick as me

We arrived to Vienna Sunday night and the next day I woke up with a wicked cough, followed by a head ache and stuffy nose.  #blessed

It put a bit of a damper on the rest of the week but I didn't let it stop me too much.  I tried to push myself as much as possible.  So that meant on Monday go on a 3 hour walking tour in the rain! Because that is what will help me get better.

Regardless of not feeling well, Vienna is a beautiful city, full of awesome architecture and incredible food (what is an Emily Genzer blog post without food?)

Exhibit A

This was a Döner Kebab from the Naschmarkt in Vienna, right across the street from our hostel.  This market was one of my favorite places in the city.  It was full of all different kinds of cuisines ranging from traditional Austrian to Mediterranean and middle eastern.  It was also very entertaining to walk through.  Most of the stalls were run by men in their mid to late 20s who, to get our attention, cat-called and gave us free samples of their falafel and/or various types of almonds.  We went there during lunch time so it was packed and we managed to get pretty cheap lunches!

​Exhibit B

This was a traditional sausage from a little street vendor where all the locals apparently go after the opera.  It just had mustard on it because putting ketchup on a hot dog is sacrilege and those who commit such a crime should be shunned.  Even though it was cold and wet, a small counter surrounded the small stand where we stood under heat lamps enjoying our hot dogs and pomme frites.

Exhibit C

This is a Sacher Torte, famous Austrian chocolate cake with fruit preserves in between layers, a thick chocolate coating, and whipped creme on the side.  It was delicious and apparently the only place to get "the real deal" is at Hotel Sacher, so of course we went.  It was divine!

We also visited the Schoenbrunn Palace, which was the palace of Austria's last imperial powers through the centuries.  It was so majestic and HUGE! We got the grand tour which was 40 rooms, but it contains way more rooms and wings than we saw.  I learned about Austria's monarchy (which always fascinates me) and walked around the gardens surrounding the palace.  We weren't allowed to take any pictures inside but I managed to snap a really quick one of the inside of one of the ball rooms:

This was a shot of the gorgeous painted ceiling and gold chandelier one of the grandest ballrooms I've ever been in, not like that's saying much.

There were also rooms called "The Rich Room" and "The Million Room" because of their decor.  This place was just dripping in opulence.  It also reminded me of the movie Marie Antoinette because she was born into one of the Austrian royal families and was then married off to one of the King Louis' of France.  She was mentioned a few times during the tour.

One of my favorite things we did in Vienna was a wine tasting.  Vienna is one of the few cities with vineyards located within city limits and is also very well-known for its wine.  So we found this awesome little, under ground wine tasting place that used to be a cave.  It was a few stories under ground with a full selection of wines all from Vienna and other parts of Austria.  We got three flights: one white, one rosé, and one red.  I loved the white and the rosé but the red wasn't my favorite.  The man and woman that ran the establishment were really knowledgable about the wines we were trying and gave us very thorough explanations about where they came from and various fun facts.  They were great! I would definitely recommend doing this if in Vienna, we felt so civilized and grown up!

Our next stop was Munich, Germany.  As the traveling got longer, my virus got stronger and I couldn't enjoy Munich to its full potential, which I was very bummed about.  I spent about half of our first day in bed but before that I did manage to snap this pic:

300 something steps later, and this is Munich for you! My lungs were not happy but it was so worth it.

I rewarded myself with a delicious, German pretzel and then hopped in bed for the remainder of the afternoon because the next day the hills were alive!!!

Sound of Music tour blog post coming soon.  As for right now, Auf Wiedersehen!

xoxo Brunette Hazel-Eyes