By the time Anna and I got to Vienna, we were BEYOND EXHAUSTED. But we trekked on, for the wondrous city of Vienna awaited us!
First off, here’s the Snapchat story, capturing a little bit of Salzburg (before Snapchat lost most of my videos T_T) and then our first night in Vienna.
Our first order of business when we got to Vienna around 4:30PM… was Food and Drank. We walked about 2 miles in the pouring rain to Hotel Sacher, famous for their world-renowned Sacher Torte.
Honestly though??? The Sacher Torte was meh at best. (I’ve probably had better chocolate cake from Safeway.)
Then, we had important business to attend to: Being in the “Classical Music Capital of the World”, we just had to attend a concert!
So we did. A Mozart concert. And they wore traditional headdresses and costumes. It was glorious. (As you may have seen in my Snapchat story.)
The next morning, we travelled to Schonbrunn palace, which was ABSOLUTELY ENORMOUS and beautiful.
Not-so-candid candid photos.
My hair was doing all sorts of crazy things that day.
Anna going in for the attack…
… Direct hit! IT’S SUPER EFFECTIVE. (omg lol look at her trying to be sly)
Me being oblivious to her -_- typical Mendi.
The garden in the back of the castle was even more gorgeous than the inside! Perfectly manicured trees and gardens…
The further you walked, the more gems you find. Like this Roman-inspired structure.
On the other side of the main palace, you get a wondrous view of Vienna.
After Schonbrunn, Anna and I acted on impulse. Our AirBnb hostess told us every night at the Vienna State Opera house, people can line up to get standing room tickets right before the show for just 4 euros! So we attempted. And we got in to the showing of the Don Quixote ballet that night!
Given we’d trekked like 15 miles every day for the last week, our feet went numb in the standing area… so we only attended for the first third of the show, then walked back to our apartment. Here is the standing room area [picture taken when we toured the Vienna State Opera House the next day.]
Let me just say, that the ballet dancer who played Don Quixote… OOOHH WEEEE he had legs FOR DAYS. Like legitimately legs up to my eyeballs, probably. As you can see, I’m particularly refined not just in critiquing art pieces, but also dance pieces.
Okay, I’m not going to go into a narrative for Vienna, since I know you’re probably sick of that by now, but for the next two days, Anna and I just very briefly hit up all the other Viennese cathedrals and palaces in the area. Here are some photo recaps:
St. Stephen’s Cathedral:
From the inside – SO GOTHIC!!
Rathaus:
The Parliament building:
Hofburg Palace:
Accidentally left my GoPro on and it resulted in some cool photos:
Toured the Vienna State Opera House and got to go backstage!
Unintentional photobomb:
Belvedere Palace:
Apparently tourists really like to fondle the breasts of these statues (which is why they’re a tad darker than the rest of the statue… tsk tsk horny tourists).
So bored of palaces, hence faces:
I think this was a “hair in my mouth” candid photo… lol
As I was walking through Museum after Museum, I had a tiny epiphany…
Given we pay a price for admission to EVERY ONE OF THESE PALACES/MUSEUMS, we pretty much pay for each painting we lay eyes on. What – maybe 5 cents per painting? Most of the time photos aren’t allowed in the exhibits… so we’re literally PAYING to have colored light reflect on our eyeballs. That’s it. Well hm, I think I got a little calloused having visited about a dozen museums on this trip. But that’s just me.
Or maybe I’m just not cultured enough for dis shiet.
On a less depressing note, here are some miscellaneous photos:
At a Vegan restaurant Anna and I really liked, the owner let their dog roam around. When he got tired cuz no one was feeding him, he went to sit on the chair and do some reconnaissance on the premises. HE SO CUTEEEEE. Look at that bliss as I rub his head. And how he’s sitting.
Also seen in Vienna, DIRTY WIFI.
Oh yeah, last but not least, Anna and I decided at like 3:30PM our last day to EFF THE TOURIST ATTRACTIONS AND MUSEUMS: WE WERE GONNA HIT UP A WINE BAR AND DRINK AUSTRIAN WINE AND GET ASIAN GIRL WASTED.
Here’s the entire Snapchat story of the day, ending in our trip to the wine bar. See for yourself how the day ends…….
The next morning, we flew back to Amsterdam. With a stop in Frankfurt. Our layover was very tight. Imagine 2 Asian hot messes sprinting down the entire terminal with our luggage in hand, things falling periodically, us scrambling to pick them up while still running. It was ugly. And I think I soaked my sweater in sweat (Side Q: Is that why they call sweaters “SWEATers”?)
But we made it back to Amsterdam for one last night [for me].
Here’s the Story:
Walking around this beautiful town at dusk..
Got an EXTRA LARGE PORTION OF pommes frites with curry ketchup and onions!
Passed by numerous “Coffee Shops”. Heh. Heh. Heh. “Coffee.”
… And ended up in the District of Red Lights.
So many windows. So many bosoms.
“Am I sexy yet? Can I work a window? Can I? Can I can I???”
The answer is No.
Then we ate Indonesian food and I overstuffed myself. Anna captured my period of despair:
So that wraps up my trip!
A few interesting things to mention on my plane ride back to the U.S.
Overheard at the airport: British girl coming out of the bathroom stall: “It flushes automatically! Incredible…”
(UK – I think you might need to step your bathroom game up…)
Overheard on plane: American girl staring out of the window: “It’s always so sunny above the clouds.”
(Not sure if incredibly insightful, or dumb as hell…….)
I always like to sit in the aisle seat on planes because I myself have quite the overactive bladder. But I always pray to god the people sitting next to me don’t. Or that they at least wait until I get up to use the restroom to go. BUT DUDE, I KID YOU NOT: the guy next to me did not get out of his seat once in the ELEVEN hours on the plane. He drank liquids throughout, too! I was seriously flabbergasted. The only probable explanation, I deduced, was that he must’ve been wearing an adult diaper. Which… I thought about it … I don’t think I’m okay with either.
Splendid.
Since my flight was in the morning, I had the entire 11 hours to not feel sleepy at all. And movie-wise, there was literally nothing to watch. I watched “Avengers”, rewatched for the 50th time “Tangled”, and then decided to take a leap of faith on the movie I told myself I’d never watch even if someone paid me…
… FIFTY SHADES …. OF GREY.
YES INDEED I WATCHED FIFTY SHADES… ON THE PLANE. With passengers all around me.
Side glances galore. It was definitely FIFTY SHADES OF EMBARRASSING when anyone walked past me from behind. But alas, you all know this by now. I tend to have zero shame. Maybe even negative shame sometimes.
Okay, but what’s WORSE? I didn’t hate the movie. When it ended, I literally screamed: “WHAT.” out loud. WHAT HAPPENS TO CHRISTIAN AND ANA? DO I HAVE TO READ THE SECOND BOOK NOW?
I’m also 90% certain I got a really nasty glare from a mother who sat in the row behind me with her daughter next to her, while we were disembarking the plane.
R.I.P Innocence. My deepest condolences.
And on that note, after discrediting any thread of credibility I ever had in this world, I will end this post and my recounts of Eurotrip 2015.
#MENDSTERDAM #MENDICH #MENDZBURG #MENDIENNA FOREVAAAAAA
the wanderlust is real. 