First Stop Vienna

 

A little more than 20 years ago, Kathy and I made our first trip to Europe. On that trip, I kept a written journal, which I just found and re-read last week. On September 12th, 2007, we arrived at LAX only to be given a flyer on check-in reminding us that our carry-on luggage had to weigh less than 18 pounds, or it would be taken away from us at the gate, and we'd be charged $133 excess baggage for each piece. Since the entire price of our flight was only $235, I freaked out. In addition to our two 28-pound carry-ons, Kathy had also brought a tote filled with books for the students at the Calvary Chapel Bible school in Siegen Germany.

When we got the flyer, Kathy calmly distributed all of the books to our two carry-ons, and then carried our now 35-pound bags to the front of the line where she asked "can we carry these on"? The clerk weighed them, did a double-take at the weight, shook her head, and said "sure". I started to tell her, "but the flyer you gave us said...", caught Kathy's eye out of the corner of my own, and shut up.

You would think I'd have learned my lesson. But no!

On Monday, our son Judah drove us to LAX. The airline said to be there three hours early, so I though that we'd best be careful and get there four hours early, just in case. This time, the airline sent us an email, saying that our single carry-on had to weigh under 8KG or 18.6 pounds. Once again, I fretted all the way to the gate, while Kathy was still calm and serene (although perhaps I detected a bit of irritation at arriving at the airport four hours early).

TSA security was perfunctory We had to remove our shoes and belts, etc., but the lines moved fast. When we got the scanner, they pulled Kathy and I aside, along with three or four other people. I'd heard about SSSS, and I was sure that we were selected for this enhanced security screening. I almost turned to Kathy to say "See, aren't you glad we got to the airport four-hours early?" Instead, the TSA agent just passed us through and said, "We don't need to scan you." Once again, Kathy was right and I was wrong. 

Since we were there so early, we had time for a nice lunch at PF Chang's. We hadn't eaten there for several years, but it was just as I remembered; like Panda Express, but four times more expensive. After lunch we walked down to our gate (still a half hour before boarding). The boarding was very orderly, with each boarding group lined up separately, rather than the more typical stampede to the gate whenever a boarding group was called.

We were the first in line for our group, and when we were called forward there was another surprise. We both had our phones out, with our boarding passes, but, instead of showing a boarding pass, each passenger was asked to stand in front of a camera, had their picture taken, and was let onto the plane. Perhaps the airline is using facial recognition to identify the passengers from when they had their passports scanned before going through security.  I find that scary; like talking in your living room about taking a vacation, and having every Website you visit the next day show ads for travel agencies. It makes me think that Phillip K. Dick's Minority Report was prescient.

Austrian Airlines' current slogan is "the charming way to fly", and I have to say it really was different from other airlines I've flown on. It's true that we do pay a little more to fly "premium economy", mainly because at six-five, I need to have at least an inch between my knees and the seat in front of me. In regular economy that gap is measured in negative numbers. 

On Austrian, in addition to the extra leg-room, the service was outstanding. Before we took off, the flight attendant went around to each passenger and personally welcomed us on board. There were printed menus for the meal service (something I remember from the Cunard line, when I was ten years old.)

The meal itself was very good (cheese tortellini). Before dinner, the stewards covered each of our trays with a white linen table cloth. Along with linen napkins and real silverware, instead of plastic knives and forks, it felt like a real meal. They even fed us again (breakfast) right before we landed. (A few of you have asked that I take a picture of each meal, but I forgot breakfast.)

Despite the great service, though, flying is still brutal. I got a little sleep, but Kathy never slept at all. (I did see a really good movie: "Jerry and Marge Go Large", staring Brian Cranston and Annette Benning. I highly recommend it.) 

We landed right on time at 11:30am (2:30 am on California time). The trip through passport control was quick and painless. In fact, it was so fast and painless that we were too early to get onto the train into the city center. I bought a 72-hour transit pass from WienMobil, and pre-authorized the start time for 1pm, figuring it would take us that long to get though customs and passport control, and so the pass would still be valid when we needed to get back to the airport on Friday for our flight to Croatia.

Perhaps I'm a bit too cautious, but rather than taking a chance on getting fined for having an invalid ticket, I went and bought a second, one-trip ticket from the machine. (Just tap your credit card; it works like a dream.) In the airport, there were a lot of signs directing visitors to buy a ticket on the 16E per-person, non-stop CAT or City Airport Train. Our Rick Steves guidebook told us we could ignore the signs and just get a ticket for the S-Bahn train, which takes 10 minutes longer, but cost us 7E total for the both of us. (We got a senior-citizen discount).

Once at the train station, we had to switch to the U-Bahn (subway) which was painless. The subway let us out at the Herrengasse station. After a few false-starts with Google Maps, we found our way over to Kohlmarkt, a street lined with shops selling Prada, Fendi, Gucci, and jewelry. Walking past them and looking in the windows, I wondered why the rich don't order their Rolecks from Amazon like all of the rest of us.

Around the corner, we came to Graben, (which means ditch), where our we found our hotel right in front of an outsized sculpture of a pair jaws with teeth. Maybe tomorrow I'll be more lively, and find out the story behind the sculpture.

I always like staying at "characteristic" European hotels. The Boutique Hotel Nossek is right on Graben. Apparently they are trying to "upscale" their image on Booking.com, since the original name was Pension Nossek, and it's still called that on the WienMobil app, and, on the front of the building.

Nevertheless the hotel/pension is just what I like: a small working elevator, since the rooms are on the upper floors and I'm 73, high-ceilinged rooms, air conditioning, an updated bathroom, and a great view out of our window over Graben itself.

When we got to our room, there was nothing we wanted to do more than to fall right into bed. However, we realized that we needed to stay awake as long as possible, so we didn't wake up tomorrow at 3am. (Well, that didn't work. I just couldn't finish this last night, and, as you've guessed, it's now 3am.)

We decided to break out our guidebook and take the Rick Steves Vienna City Walk. Since it started at the Opera, we picked it up on step 11 at Graben, right outside of our hotel. As I mentioned, Graben means "ditch" and is the site of the moat from the original Roman military camp. During the 19th century, at the height of the Habpsburg Empire, over 200,000 people lived here inside the city walls. Today, there are 20,000 (plus the 300,000 tourists).  

Until the 1970s, Graben was a busy, 3-lane street, but, after the construction of the subway, it was turned into one of Europe's first pedestrian-only zones. (I did mention the 3,000,000 tourists, didn't I? I can't imagine the area with cars, but at least the horse-drawn carriages survived.)

Down the street, we found the Holy Trinity plaque column. In 1679 Vienna was hit with the bubonic plague, and about one-third of the city died. (That makes Covid look like nothing.) Emperor Leopold I vowed to erect this monument if God would spare the rest of the city. This became a model for cities through the empire that were struck with plague.

A few blocks further down the street is St. Stephen's Cathedral. Like other massive gothic cathedrals in European city centers, it's hard to get far enough away to get a good picture.

To make it easier to get a picture, in 1990, architect Hans Hollein constructed the Haas Haus across the street, with a glass curved façade, designed to echo the Roman fortress of Vindobona whose ruins were found nearby. The glass reflection allows you to take a picture of all of St. Stephens, but you have to do it at sunset. 

When we reached the Opera, I have to admit that I was disappointed. There are so many imposing, monumental buildings in Vienna, that I expected the Opera to be more impressive. We actually walked almost all the way around it looking for the front.

By this time, we really were knackered, and so we decided to leave off on the Rick Steves Vienna City Walk and instead take the Rick Steves Ringstrasse Tram tour, so we could sit down. Rick is one of the world's most popular travel writers, and, unfortunately for us, the other 3,000,000,000 tourists in Vienna all had the same idea. Rick starts the tour by saying "try to get a comfortable seat on the right-hand side". We were lucky to get standing-room only at the front of the car. 

We rode for one stop and got off. Not so restful. We crossed the street and picked up the tram going the opposite direction. Surprise, the trams on the non-Rick-Steves-tour really are uncrowded and charming. By now it was 5:00 pm and we were both hungry. I hadn't made reservations for dinner, so I pulled up Google Maps and went looking for something to eat.

We ended up at SchnitzelWirt on Neubaugasse with more than 15 different schnitzel dishes. (I've always loved Wiener schnitzel, since I first had it when I was 10; at least once I got over my initial disappointment that it wasn't like the Wienerschnitzel I was used to at home.)  The restaurant was rated 4.5 with over 7,000 reviews, so I was really looking forward to it.

The restaurant was outside the old-city ring road, and we really felt like we were leaving the tourists behind and entering a real neighborhood where the average Viennese citizen lived. There was also a lot more graffiti, unlike downtown. Kathy ordered the vegetarian plate, while I had the turkey Cordon Bleu.

The Austrian "mixed salad" was delicious, (I forgot to take the picture before we started eating), but the schnitzel itself wasn't as good as I remembered. Perhaps that was just because we were so tired. The portions were huge and I took half of my schnitzel back to the hotel and put it in the refrigerator. I'll give it another chance after breakfast.

Walking back to the hotel, we stopped for some gelato (now about 1.50E a scoop, and as delicious as I remember). Along the walk we couldn't help but comment on all of the flower shops, here in the urban center. 

When we got back to our hotel, we tried to stay up until 8:00 pm, but fell into bed at 7:30. I woke up at 3am and finished this entry. It's now 6am and Kathy's still sleeping, thank the Lord. I might lay back down for an hour or two.