Vienna

According to one of our travel books Europe on a shoestring, "Vienna is a city that straddles the past and present with ease. No other city effortlessly combined a rich history that has left behind such remarkable gifts as gothic Stephansdom or baroque Schonbrunn palace with contemporary gems like the Leopold Museum o MuseumsQuartier."

After the decision was made to cut the trip short by 2 weeks  was made through our trek through Slovenia to in light of our backpacker exhaustion, we decided to make a few stops en route to Dusseldorf, Germany .

One such stop was Vienna, Austria. Now, a few weeks back we were pleasantly surprised with Vienna’s sister city to the west, Salzburg, and so we expected somewhat the same this time around.

Maybe its because we were both excited about the concept of going home a bit sooner, maybe it was the refreshing fall weather, or maybe it was just Vienna, but whatever the case, we loved it.

It’s almost as if a city like Vienna enjoys the idea of being nicely tucked into the shadows of neighboring tourist mecca countries like Italy. This allows the city to breathe without the suffocating onslaught of visitors. The end result, a fantastically beautiful city that allows visitors a quiet, comfortable look at the magnificent architecture that is literally on every corner. Just as we would finish pointing out one spot, another would appear, and another, and another. Not one building in the area we walked seemed ordinary or boring.

The scenery just got better as we walked towards the opera house and palace which was in my opinion, the most impressive on our trip.

A gorgeous, understated city with a very cultured feel.  You get the feeling a place like this enjoys visitors but knows that the natural beauty of the city is more than enough to quench a traveler’s thirst and leaves it at that.

Thanks Vienna, you were a diamond in the rough.

We’re on the home stretch now, thanks for readin,

adam