Vienna, November 2018

The fact that Vienna is only a few hours away from Budapest by train was something too good to resist - for only roughly £20 per person we were booked onto an evening train from Budapest to Vienna. As Vienna is another city known for its beautiful Christmas markets we thought we may as well conquer the two in one holiday! The weather here wasn't as good as it had been in Budapest, and we had a lot of rain on our first day which did spoil the enjoyment somewhat, but despite that, we did our best to fit in what we had planned to do. Vienna was a beautiful and interesting place, one I loved my experience of, but it did feel like it wasn't completely somewhere I felt at home in. It is an expensive city and felt like everything was a little OTT for our liking. We seemed to spend a lot of money whilst we were there on coffees, which is weird because usually, I don't drink them... Clearly, I got carried away by the posh cafe vibes and the lure of whipped cream topped coffees to warm me up! The Cafe Central is one of the best known Cafes to visit (expect a queue) but it was worth a visit. We tried the famous Sachertorte here along with another delicious cake which I can't remember what it was actually called haha. 



On the first rainy day, we got the metro out to visit the Schönbrunn Palace and paid for the extended tour inside. The rooms are absolutely fabulous here, and so extravagant, but unfortunately photography isn't allowed while you're in there. On a nice summer day, I can imagine the surrounding gardens are stunning too, and well worth a walk around. 





St Stephens Cathedral is an amazing building, the highlight for me being the bright tiled roof which unfortunately I didn't successfully photograph as the weather was so dark and rainy. The inside of the Cathedral had a similar feel to the Basilica in Budapest - it felt very Gothic and gloomy inside. The Votivkirche Church was the hidden gem for me as we hadn't planned to visit it, we just stumbled across it after our visit to the Christmas markets nearby. The stained glass here was amazing, and the Church felt much brighter inside, enhanced by the amazing rose window shown below.









The highlight of the trip for me was our visit to the Butterfly House which was filled with stunning butterflies (obviously) which I always find fascinating to watch, and take photos of. Part of the greenhouse is actually now converted into a restaurant and bar called the Palmenhaus which is a good place to get a delicious evening meal.









Vienna is covered in Christmas markets but the best one, in my opinion, was the one just outside the town hall, called the Rathaus. There is a cute photo booth there along with loads of gift stalls and the best garlic soup I have ever eaten in my life. (Just thinking about it now is making me want to book a one-way ticket back to Vienna...)