Vienna & Munich

One month ago I left Budapest and headed towards Vienna, Austria. Budapest had been wonderful, but it was time for a new city.

When I arrived in Vienna, I began to wander around the city from my fabulously located (and priced) hostel in the middle of the city.  I was about a 5-minute leisurely stroll from the MuseumsQuartier, an amazing space that includes multiple cafes, bars, and art museums.  My heaven? Of course!  I knew I wanted to spend time in that area, but I set off to explore the rest of the city that evening.

MunseumsQuartier

From the MuseumsQuartier I headed down the perfectly planned street (shout out to Emperor Franz Joseph I!) to the Maria-Theresien-Platz then the Heldenplatz (German for “Heroes Square”) and then finally onto the Volksgarten. 

My Volksgarten sanctuary (photo taken the next day) Without warning, the heavens opened and it began to downpour.  In the multiple months that I have been on the road, I have not been caught in the elements quite like this.   I was stuck under a small awning in the middle of the Volksgarten for two entire hours, and surprisingly had a lovely experience.  I had nowhere to be and an entire city to take in…or at least the parts I could witness through the heavy rainfall. Luckily for me, one of the other individuals stranded along side me had brought his guitar.  With a friend drumming on whatever he could find, they put on quite a nice show given the circumstances.  The music and smell of rain made for a quite unexpectedly wonderful first evening in Vienna. Parliament, Vienna The following morning I downloaded a wonderful free walking tour from BigBoyTravel.com of Vienna, and set out to accomplish as much as I could in terms of visiting tourist destinations, landmarks and (my much anticipated) art museums.   City Hall in Vienna My second day included visits to all of the wonderfully laid out city landmarks including the impressive City Hall, Leopold Museum, Parliament building, a second trip to the (thankfully rain free) Volksgarten, and the famous Stevensplatz, home of the beautiful Stephansdom, St. Stephen's Cathedral.  My final day in Vienna was going to be cut short by a bus to Munich, but I was able to visit the Schönbrunn Palace, or the Summer Palace, for a few hours in the morning.  It was a quick metro ride from my hostel, and I was thrilled that I made the short trip to spend the morning there.  Like most European palaces, the architecture was incredible, but the accompanying gardens were truly breathtaking.

Schönbrunn Palace

I should interject that throughout my months on the road, I have had few constrictions due to timelines.  There have been minimal morning alarms, daily schedules, dining times, or really anything resembling a routine.  I have been free to roam, wander, and live in a very leisurely manner.  It has been wonderful. 

In addition to my new lifestyle, my friends and family can attest that timeliness is and never has been my forte.  I have tried endlessly to trick myself into being early for anything from doctor’s appointments to going out with girlfriends, all to no avail.  At least real girlfriends are never ready to go out…

That being stated, I was absolutely not prepared for Germany. 

City Hall in Vienna (covered by the Film Festival preparations)

The bus from Vienna was going to take the better part of the afternoon and would include two 5-minute breaks.  In my extensive experience with bus breaks over the past seven months, I have been able to accomplish an array of tasks during these breaks from purchasing a snack to making lifelong friends.  Some of these breaks lasted up to three hours (a particularly horrendous morning in Phnom Penh comes to mind…), but were still classified under “short breaks” and not “hellacious layovers.” 

The Gloriette at Schönbrunn Palace

In Germany, a five minute break consists of a 3 minute actual break (long enough to take deep breath outside of the bus, which usually turns out to be a large gulp of second hand smoke), one quick minute to scurry back to your seat on the bus, and a swift departure from the stop at exactly 4 minutes and 59 seconds from the initial arrival.  

Well, you don’t need to be a genius to see how my (inherent lack of) timeliness and German schedules might not be the best of buddies.  Spoiler alert: I was almost abandoned by the bus.  Betcha didn’t see that comin’, did ya?

I had walked a few hundred meters to a small store to pick up a water and snack for the remainder of the ride, but didn’t realize that the transaction would take more than the allotted three minutes of freedom.  As I exited, and realized that no one was in sight I started to panic and sprint towards the bus stop.  As I rounded the corner I heard someone shouting my name, and realized it was the British passenger next to me.  He was outside of the bus keeping the driver from pulling away from the stop and leaving me in the dust. 

Gardens in Vienna

As I finally made it back onto the bus, I was on the receiving end of a good verbal lashing in German and some of the most judgmental expressions I have ever experienced, at least since I was the President of my sorority in university.  Between the aggressive timeliness and lack of emotions (save irritation and sternness), I was beginning the internal debate of removing Oktoberfest from my Bucket List, given the frank welcome I had experienced.  I didn’t think Germany and I would get along quite well.

If it were not for Tony, my British bus buddy, I would undoubtedly still be wandering around somewhere between the Austrian and German border.  There are few ways quicker to break the ice with a stranger than having that individual save your ass, so Tony and I spent the remainder of the bus ride chatting.

Tony was in his fifties and has been traveling for longer than I have been enjoying this life.  He has been seemingly everywhere, and he continually reminded me that German culture was “different” and that “they don’t operate on that Asian island time, now do they?”  We had a nice time chatting about travels, favorite cities, comical cultural confusions (obviously a topic we could agree I was experiencing at the moment…minus the 'comical' part), and life on the road in general.  When we arrived in Munich, I joined Tony in his quest to find his hostel, and luckily there was an available room for me, as well.

Englischer Garten in Munich

Despite my initial impression with German culture, I loved my time in Munich.  The architecture around the city is beautiful and with the preparations for the upcoming Oktoberfest (I was about three weeks early!), the city was alive with excitement.

One of my favorite areas of the city was the Englischer Garten, which also happens to be one of my favorite green spaces that I have seen throughout my travels.  The endless rolling hills, paved and unpaved trails, perfectly behaved dogs roaming freely near their owners, and wonderful weather made for a lovely day at the park.

Around Munich

The following morning I was scheduled to leave for Frankfurt, and had misread the check out time as 11 AM instead of 10 AM. (Honest interjection: this may have been a result of the German beers, or my desperate desire for an additional hour of sleep after a night out in Munich, or a combination of both.)  That morning I was awoken by a harsh pounding on my door by the hostel cleaning team, and had approximately three minutes to wake up, pack, and look presentable.  I fully accomplished none of these tasks, but arrived with a minute to spare at the front desk for check out.

After a half hour of rearranging my backpack and having a cup of coffee in the lobby, I was semi-refreshed and set off for the bus station.  It’s moments like this that I am grateful for the fact that I only own a handful of possessions and live in hostels.  My disheveled appearance alarmed no one. 

In no time I was loading my backpack and sleepy self onto the bus and I was on my way to Frankfurt, fully prepared to avoid stepping off the bus until we reached my destination, regardless of the number of breaks I was offered.