Just a quick stop in Vienna for the weekend. Went to bed early on Friday, then Saturday I had to get a lot of work done that I had been putting off (unfortunately, since this is a quick weekend trip). That meant I was just able to wander down to the main square and back, and otherwise did not do any exploring.

Saturday night I didn’t have much energy, but me and 3 other guys from our hostel room decided to go down to the hostel bar and play some pool and have a couple drinks. We had a good time, and must have won some kind of diversity award (me, a Kiwi, Mexican, and Malaysian living in UK). I had some of the local Swedish beer, which was ok.

Sunday was my big sightseeing day since I had to cram it all in one. I got a day pass for the metro (which is very easy to figure out in Vienna), and jumped around to all the major attractions. Basically, old buildings.

I’m sad to report that I did not go into the art museums (the costs on those add up, and after you’ve seen a few of these, the rest aren’t all that much different), and I didn’t go to any classical music concerts either. Next time I guess. so I didn’t do a very good job in Vienna.  Here is what I did visit:

This was probably the coolest place, Schönbrunn Palace.  Very cool building, lots of gardens all around it where I wandered around and sat for a while.

In back, there were more manicured gardens for a better view:

And those lead to Gloriette, which I didn’t take a picture of, but I did take several pictures from.  It’s a bit of a hike up there (which I opted take through the woods), but it’s a nice view:

This is Hofburg Palace, which I walked around, but did not go in.  Lots of important people slept in there from time to time.

And I did walk around the musuem quarter, saw a lot of cool statues, and admired a lot of interesting architecture.  If I had more time, I would have purchased one of those all-access passes to see all the museums.  But I didn’t have the time, so I didn’t buy one.  And sorry Mr. Klimt, but I’m not paying 15€ to see “The Kiss”, although I did walk by the Belvedere and it was cool looking.

And I did all that in like 6 hours. Ended up jumping on an earlier train to Salzburg.  I’m staying a bit out of the city and staying 7 days, as I plan to relax.  Buy some real food, maybe.