Day 11, Friday, September 21, 2018

Itinerary: Budapest to Vienna (Wien)

Time awake: c. 8:20

Odometer (in kilometers/miles) at start: 11850/7363

Weather: Very nice all day, hard rain late at night

Steps: 24785

Asleep:

Map Link(s):

Video Link(s): St. Peter's church

Breakfast at the Buddha-Bar was much as it was the day before. We even dined at the same table. After breakfast, we hiked around the local section of town looking for souvenirs, and in particular a shop that we passed last night that sold a “Budapest” baseball cap I was interested in buying. I figured it would be easy to find the shop, but despite all our efforts, we never did. We did, however, find the Budapest Hard Rock Café, where we bought Becky a tee shirt, and another store selling baseball caps, where I purchased one with “Budapest” printed thereon.

At about 11:20 AM the time had sadly come to check out of the Buddha-Bar Klotild Palace and drive out of the city. I signed all the papers and fully expected to be charged for our stay, but as noted above, we never were (other than a $12.90 “tourist tax”), and it seems unlikely we ever will be since the hotel was closed for good on January 5, 2019. With business practice such as failing to charge guests the $498 they owed, one can see why the Buddha-Bar found it difficult to stay in business. We walked the block to the underground garage where our rental was parked and checked out with ease, that is after forking over the equivalent of $63.86 for two nights of parking.

Sharon drove while I navigated the way out of Budapest. Once on the highway, I was able to use my cell phone to order the last of the vignettes we’d require, an Austrian one. Before the trip, I’d worried that those vignettes would be difficult to obtain. In the end, they were a breeze, and while perhaps not as cheap as tolls given our short stay in each country, they were far less hassle than going through a bunch of toll booths. On the other hand, tolls are probably a fairer tax since their cost is directly proportional to how much you use the road.

The drive to our hotel on the outskirts of Vienna was uneventful. Part of it, however, did take us over the same section of highway we’d covered two days earlier on our drive to Budapest. We found the Arion Cityhotel easily enough and checked in. Our room, which was the cheapest of the trip at $107, turned out to be the biggest. It wasn’t supposed to be, but the hotel had apparently overbooked and moved us into a room with two floors, three bedrooms, and a kitchen. We had little use for the second floor. Afterward, we tried to find a parking spot in the crowded dirt lot across the street. It was a challenge, but I eventually managed to squeeze our SUV into one. The sparsity of parking compelled us to take a bus into the city rather than drive. So we grabbed a bus schedule at the front desk, walked the three blocks or so to the bus stop, and a few minutes later boarded a bus, hoping it was the right one. It was. We exited at the main terminal in downtown Vienna (locally called Wein) and at about 4:30 PM set off to explore Austria’s capital.

As mentioned before, GPS was often unreliable in cities, and this was certainly the case in the heart of Vienna. So it took some time and a tourist map to get our bearings. We wandered through the teeming streets and came upon St. Stephen’s Cathedral. For a fee, the public can ascend the 343 narrow spiral steps up the South Tower, and that’s what we did. Passing by anyone heading down was not easy, but we managed. The view of the city from the room at the top was impressive. Then we made our way down and circled the cathedral to see if it was open to the public. It was. And admission was free. All of these great, old cathedrals are wonders to behold, and St. Stephen’s was no exception. It was beautiful. Sharon, always eager to light a candle, took the occasion to do so here with a euro contribution.

We strode from one magnificent church to another, the second being St. Peter’s Church. It too was open to the public, and although decidedly smaller than St. Stephen’s, it was every bit as ornate and majestic. We were getting hungry, so we sought out the Brezlgwölb Café, which was highly recommended by several internet sources I’d consulted. The café would prove to be worthy of the praise, but first we had to find it, and that involved navigating a maze of backstreets and alleys. Being situated as it was lent to its tucked away ambiance. Having finally found the gem, the waiter told us he didn’t know if he could seat us because a large party was expected in about 45 minutes. After assuring him that we would order and eat quickly, we took a seat outside at a picnic table and ordered beer, a pretzel, soup, and goulash. The meal was splendid, but alas it was over much too soon. By 6:30 PM we were back exploring Vienna.

Once again the GPS went haywire, so it took some time to get our bearings. When we did, we emerged in a green and grand expanse of palaces, other stately buildings, monuments, and courtyards. The main palace here is the Hofburg, the official residence of every Austrian ruler since 1275 and what may be the number one attraction in Vienna. We took some selfies in front of the place as the sun began to set, and moved on since our time here was short. We emerged back on the main boulevard that rings the downtown area (called the Opernring at this location), and headed back to the heart of the action as night fell, stopping along the way to take photos at a statue of Goethe and one of a big pink rabbit, the latter being outside the Vienna Operahouse.

Generally the sources used to research the trip did us right, but there were exceptions, such as those that lauded the For Sale Pub in Budapest and the next place we would visit. The place was called Loos American Bar, or so we were told. First, we had the darnedest time finding it. And not because it was hidden in some back alley—it was right in the thick of things. The trouble may have been due to a GPS gremlin or more likely because the establishment wasn’t clearly marked and featured another name. In any event, it would have been no big loss had we never found the bar. The joint was small but empty, the beers were small but expensive, and the staff was small on hospitality. We downed our beers, I used the facilities, and then we were on our way. I will say, however, that it was a neat looking joint with a 1920s deco ambiance designed by the famous architect Adolf Loos.

After a brief stop at the X-celsior Caffe Bar for one latte to go, we wandered around the edges of the old town, stopped at ATM to withdraw some cash, and then headed to the Stadtpark and the canal running through it. The time was getting to be about 9 PM, but the park was still in full swing. The soft light from Victorian style street lamps lining the canal reflected off the water and bathed the adjacent walkways and bridges, such that the stately architecture and lush landscape fused into dream world, most notably by the ornate bridge and landing by the Ubahn station.

The walk in the park had been invigorating, but once we left and returned to the streets of the city, I started to grow tired. I figured I must be in need of another beer, so we set about in search of one. Right off we chanced upon an outdoor beer garden called the Cafe Français Stadtpark on the edge of the park. We walked through the garden, which was surrounded by lush greenery and softly aglow from white paper lanterns. It very well may have been just what the doctor ordered, but I decided to keep going because I was eager to visit the 1516 Brewing Company. So we hiked the five or so blocks there, battled the throngs to find a table upstairs, and had a couple of beers. It was so noisy that we could barely hear each other. And it was so hot, I grew even wearier. As it turned out, we should have had our last beer in Vienna at the beer garden. 1516 Brewing did, at least, have amusing coasters, one proclaiming, “Make Beer Great Again.”

Afterward, we ventured back to the bus station across from the Opera House, which we found without too much difficulty, and waited about 20 minute for the bus. We succeeded in getting on the right one and off at the right stop. After buying a few bottles of beer at a convenience store, we walked back to the Arion Cityhotel. The parking lot had plenty of empty spaces, so that wouldn’t have been an issue, but we felt good about having used public transportation. Soon after we got back to our room, it started raining for the first time on the trip, I believe, since Lucerne. We sat at the kitchen table and drank a couple of beers and noted how our most excellent adventure was sadly nearing its end. But we still had Oktoberfest. Then we retired, while outside the rain fell in torrents.