Eurotrip: Several days worth of pictures… December 29th Vienna

We said our goodbyes to Budapest and ended up taking a taxi to the train station because we thought it would be safer than the subway early in the morning. Our enthusiastic driver was so excited to show us where to go while making a left hand turn into the station he missed the fact that he had a red light and as a result we were almost hit by oncoming traffic.

Budapest Train Station

After quickly checking in to our hotel we went to nearby Schönbrunn Palace for the “New Year’s” market which looked extremely similar to what was probably the Christmas market. I guess since Christmas had passed it was necessary to change the name. Schönbrunn Palace was the Hapsburg’s summer home. We learned a little more about the Habsburg’s Austro-Hungarian empire this trip. We won’t bore you with the details if history isn’t your interest but it was pretty amazing how one family ruled most of Europe for 700 years and was the center of the Holy Roman Empire. It helps explains Vienna’s over the top architecture.

Here is a sandwich that was a big hit with the locals. It looked like pumpernickel bread with roasted pumpkin seeds and melted cheese on top. The wheel of chees sat under a heater and the gooey cheese was scraped off and placed on the sandwich.

After several days of traveling, our bones were starting to feel the wear and tear. We had known from our summer trip that even ibuprofen had to be purchased from a pharmacy. Below are pictures from one we just happen to find which was still decorated with antique fixtures.

We were able to pick up ibuprofen and were well on our way. We arrived to see Stephansdom. The interior had a special lighting for New Year’s which I’m not sure added to the interior. Maybe the Viennese who see the interior every day enjoyed the light show but I would like to have seen it in it’s natural state.

We dropped in to Café Hawkela. We had heard of this café years ago and always wanted to see it. It ended up being one of the best parts of our Vienna leg. The café was packed when we walked in around 4:30. We had learned later that the café had been closed for several days due and the owner Leopold had passed away at the age of 101 on the day we were there. He had only recently stopped working at the café and his wife had worked there until she passed away at the age of 91. Leopold and Josephine are legends in Vienna and we saw several newspapers and televisions with stories about Leopold. We spoke more about this café in our entry titled “Train 764 to Salzburg”.

To end the night we visited American Bar which was designed by Adolf Loos in 1908. It is an extremely small space with just four tables on one side and a bar running the length of the other side. We had heard warnings that the regulars and bartenders were very unfriendly towards tourist coming in to see the interior so we were a little nervous walking in. When we walked in it was barely standing room only. I’m not sure if one more person could have fit inside. We squeezed through and were immediately greeted across the bar by a bartender handing us a menu. We then quickly lucked in to one of the tables with a booth behind it and ended up spending a great amount of time just enjoying such a well designed space. Loos was one of the first architects who’s ideas started the modern movement. He did not believe in decoration but rather using luxurious materials and allowing the materials and space be the focus of design. The bar features a checkered white and black marble floor, deep red mahogany walls and bar, green marble columns, a red marble coffered ceiling and a high window out of onyx. The bar is roughly 20’ long by 15’ wide, the size of a typical master bedroom, but feels much larger due to it’s high ceilings and use of mirror. We couldn’t believe how this bar was designed in 1908 but is still probably our favorite bar we have been inside.

We were not allowed to take pictures so the below are snapped quickly but it should give you and idea of the space.