Blog ≫ 2022 ≫ Midlife Eurotour part five - Vienna
Got to Vienna hot and tired, and dirty. Hadn't slept well, and I'm still in the same clothes from London. All part of my plan to travel as light as I could. I headed more or less directly to my new hostel, walking, having a look round as I go. I think I first thought of heading into the centre, then I got a ping that I could get into the hostel, telling me the code for the door, so I headed back towards the hostel. This was the "pod hostel", super space age, and entirely unattended, no reception or anything. I could get in the building, and found my pod. I was the top bunk right opposite the door. This was different to the previous hostel, there were various rooms in this place, all interconnected, but instead of bunks you have these lockable pods. Each one has power and a TV, and there were separate shared toilets and showers. My pod was open, though the key was in the little key holder. The bed sheets were ruffled and the towel was wet, this is not a good start... It must just be that I'm really too early and it hasn't been cleaned yet, the previous occupant has only just moved out. There were free lockers this time, so I put my bag in the locker, and headed out again. Some of the other pods were closed, people were still sleeping in them, but I only saw one other person.
I think I got a tube ticket at this point, and got a tube back to the centre of Vienna. I was heading vaguely towards Cafe Central, the only place I really wanted to visit here.
A revolutionary (Trotsky), a psychoanalyst (Freud), several writers and poets (including Polgar, Zweig and Altenberg) and an architect (Loos) walked into a café. What sounds like the start of a joke was an everyday occurrence at Café Central (est. 1876). Over coffee, cake and the odd cigar, some of the greatest poets, philosophers and – it has to be said – storytellers the world has ever seen, got together in Vienna’s most attractive coffeehouse.
I think Hitler probably went there too but they keep a bit quieter about that. It's nice to walk around Vienna looking for this place, it's very grand. It's a bit too grand for me really, so while there were lovely things including opera houses and the famous Spanish Riding School I didn't really get on with it.
I had to queue a bit for Cafe Central, but once I was in it wasn't as expensive as I thought it might be. I had a coffee and a spritz1 and just sort of sat there feeling a bit out of place. It's a proper tourist destination though so there are all sorts there.
I can't find the picture of my drinks, I must have taken one for my friends. Here are some cakes that I did not eat:
After this, about time to go looking for a pub isn't it? I really struggled to find much open, as it was some sort of religious holiday this day. I'm not sure they really go in for pubs much in Vienna anyway. I walked towards the river, I thought I'd walked to the Danube and was not impressed by it but now I can see it was just a little side channel. Gah if I'd walked further it could all have been different! Anyway I thought this would be a very promising stretch that could be full of quirky bars, but I walked and I walked and there were some, but they were closed. Saw some good graffiti down here.
I was about to give up when I saw a place on the other side that looked open, so crossed over the bridge to find a way in. It was just barely open, only one person there, but I liked it. It seemed to have grown organically on the bank of the river, made up out of pallets and things. They served beer and had tables looking out in the sun, so I had a couple and sat and watched the world go very slowly by. It was quite sleepy round here. I didn't even see many boats going past.
After this headed back to my hostel again, I think I had a day rider type ticket so back on the underground again. Now, I had the code to get in to the hostel again but the key card I had taken earlier would no longer lock or unlock my pod. Was this finally the time for things to start going wrong? I replied to the text from the hostel, and to the email, and phoned the number I had, leaving a message, help I have no bed for the night, fix this for me!
Someone got back to me pretty quickly and was able to talk me through a fix without having to visit. He explained where there was a cabinet with a combination lock, open that and it contains some more card. Find card number one, that's the master key for pod number one, and I'm in! It was exactly like an escape room, so a little bit of free bonus entertainment here. The locked cabinet had the master key for all of the pods in, and some other keys too, so I could have caused some mischief at this point.
I unpacked here and must have had my first actual wash of the trip, throwing away the ragged old pants. I thought I'd also chucked the conference freebie t-shirt, but no, just found a note reminding me I washed it in the sink. I can get a few days out of this! In my new cleaner, smarter clothes (actually just wearing my Brazillian turtle shirt that I had been using as a top layer now as the only layer) I headed out for some dinner, finding a vegan place that was relatively near. I think it was still another tube ride away though. The place I found was called Zweitbester, and was very nice. Mostly not vegan, but they did have some dishes, including a vegan burger.
Some good sounding cocktails too, so I went for a "Bob's House", made of homemade pineapple and chilli rum, lime, sugar, and sumac. I thought about having another one here, but then started to feel guilty about splashing out on myself and leaving the family at home, so did not. I went looking for another pub that looked good, but it was also closed, possibly closed down. I had another lagery beer in a neighbourhood bar. Odd place with posters up advertising a Ramones show, but not otherwise a rock type place. I sat at a table outside, not really a lot going on anywhere though, everywhere quiet because of this holiday. Back to my pod, to finish up the snacks and drinks that I'd bought for the previous night's train journey and didn't get round to. I couldn't really watch the TV as all the channels were in German. Still good to have a seemingly secure space here where I could sort out my stuff, pack all my devices, and sleep.
Next morning I got up early, packed my stuff and headed out of my space pod. I seem to have come away with the master key, so I wonder what key it was I put back in the place where I was supposed to leave the key? I hope I haven't caused too much trouble. I could have left my bag here in the locker for the rest of the day, but didn't feel the need to come back this way and was travelling fairly light. felt like I'd done as much of Vienna as I wanted to, and so reinstated a plan I had previously dismissed. Day trip to Bratislava! I have some dictation-transcription of this I know, so I'll save it for the next post.
Estimated 508 cups of coffee from my barista pro2 probably comes to £2.03 a cup (including actual coffee and now servicing2 but not the 'leccy).
- The first of many spritzes on this holiday, it's the new thing...
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