Vienna – Number One?

Well, it seems my resolution to post more frequently did not exactly go well. Here’s hoping that will change in 2017…

So, continuing going thorough my backlog – in June last year, I’ve visited Vienna. I was really looking forward to it, since it’s constantly somewhere at the top of any sort of “best place/city to live in” lists. So I wanted to verify that, even just a little bit.

The lighter path on the road is from the hoofs of the countless horses that went that way.

Supposedly, the best wurst stand in Vienna – not sure about that but cold bun and sausage? Pay extra for even ketchup or mustard?

It’s certainly a city with a long and colourful history. There are definitely some sights worth seeing and places where you can feel the rich past of the city.

There are also some interesting and unusual sights…

Very realistic sculpture…

Surfing in the middle of the city? Sure, why not.

Hello, Disney? We found your castle, it must have run away or something.

This train goes around on of the parks – it’s super fun to ride it.

Which leads to me to one of my favourite places there: the Prater. An old amusement park just outside the city center. Of course, for me, it was mostly a place to take some photos, but I’m sure with the number of various attractions there, everyone will find something interesting for them.

Can’t miss the iconic ferris wheel.

And I wouldn’t be myself if I didn’t visit at least one museum. Vienna’s Museum of Natural History proved very interesting and photogenic. I could spend there a few days 😀

So, does the city live up to its “(one of the) best city in the world” status? There are definitely quite a few arguments for it – it’s clean (it even smells great!), well-organized (cycling paths everywhere, woohoo!), the public transport is supposedly #1 in the world, etc. Coming from Poland, though, it’s very expensive. And when you realize that you are paying 4x the price for everything without a noticeable difference in quality (I’m talking mostly food and groceries here), it greatly diminishes any enjoyment from going out in Vienna. Nevertheless, I’m sure this will not be the last visit to this city. In fact, I’m sure of it, since I’ve already been there again – but that’s for another post…

PS: It took my embarrassingly long to realize that all these words with “wiener” in them are not about some sausage (I mean, they do love sausages here, but not that much), but just something originating in Vienna, you know, Viennese.