Vienna, Austria

Vienna is one of those cities where one visit simply isn’t enough. This historical city was the first place my good friend Rose and I visited during our month-long Europe trip five years ago.

My reason to visit Vienna was to get a good dose of musical and performing arts, specifically, the opera, Vienna Boys’ Choir and the Lipizzaner horses. I ended up attending a piano recital at the music university. Furthermore, CouchSurfer Ruth and I watched Mozart’s The Magic Flute at the Staatsoper, standing for the entire opera (3 hours!). It was well worth it as the both the instrumental and vocal music and costumes were superb.

I also wanted to wander around the various neighborhoods of Vienna outside of the touristy Innere Stadt. I observed Baroque architecture all over. My highlights include seeing Hunderwasser’s modernist Kunsthaus Wien, Hunderwasser House and an incinerator. Furthermore, the views of Vienna, the hills and the vineyards from the Vienna Woods and Kahlenberg were breathtaking. On a side note, I got the opportunity to savor some wine and food at a Kahlenberg heurigen, which is a wine tavern. While sipping my white wine spritzer (wine with water), I got to enjoy a view of the vineyards (and that of rain and lightning after a few minutes).

The food and drink! I of course had to try the three most Viennese foods-- Wiener schnitzel (breaded fried pork cutlet), Sacher torte (chocolate cake with a hint of orange) and apfel strudel (apply pastry). I enjoyed these very much though I have to say if I ate schnitzel at least once a week, I would quickly become vegetarian!

Lastly, the public transportation in Vienna is one of the best in the world. Clean and efficient, the subway, buses, trams and suburban trains are seamlessly linked together. Detailed signs point one in the correct direction to where one can easily connect to another form of public transport.

Overall, I will definitely be back in Vienna, maybe even live there for a few months. This is a city full of cultural events, history and tradition. It is a quieter city, though this means that the crowds and chaos that inflict most major metropolises are missing.

Graz, Austria

Graz is the capital of Styria, the southeast province that is the “green heart of Austria”. Despite the fact that it rained quite a bit during my one day there, this is a town that I really enjoyed visiting.

I loved the fact that Graz was not too touristy (though it might have been the rain that kept them off the streets). Also, the town has juxtaposes both old and new architecture quite well. The old town consists of mostly red-roofed buildings and onion-domed churches. As for the new, two particular structures stand out--the Kunsthaus Graz and the Murinsel. The former is an art museum that is blob-shaped and thus dubbed the “alien”. The latter is a futuristic-looking island with a café and amphitheatre on it.

One particular highlight of my stay was the climb up the Schlossberg. On top of the hill, I could see both sides of Graz with the Mur River between them. The aforementioned buildings were also visible.

Lastly, my CS hosts Martin and Kathi made sure I was exposed to as much Austrian and Styrian food as possible. The main dish was a dessert called marilleknodel. This was a dumpling filled with apricot. Also, my hosts made me a salad with pumpkinseed oil, which is a local specialty.

Innsbruck, Austria

Innsbruck is the capital of the Tyrol region in Austria, the mountainous western part of the country. This region is famous for its Alpine skiing and Swarovski crystal.

I was originally supposed to hike the beautiful mountains around Innsbruck but alas, it was raining! Thus, I spent my one day exploring this small city. The city is scenically situated in a valley with a river flowing through it. The most famous site is the Golden Roof. Furthermore, the city is adorned with churches with onion-shaped domes.

The most interesting part of the day was encountering a group of people who were participating in their “Amazing Race”. They had to travel around for 1 Euro a day and complete certain tasks. I even donated some hair to their cause! My CS hosts Carina and Jonas got their feet painted. I was asked to join their race, but decided against it due to my scheduling with other CS hosts.