We needed to get from Paris to Linz, Austria for my study program, and the easiest and quickest way to do that ended up being a flight to Vienna and a train to Linz. This provided a great opportunity for an overnight stay in Vienna, so we planned accordingly. The train from the airport into the center-city was quite simple to navigate, and we managed to get to our hotel on public transportation with little trouble. It was quite exciting, and a huge relief, to arrive at our luxurious Vienna hotel after four nights in our extremely expensive, closet-like Paris hotel room. I regretted my decision to rent a hotel room and not an apartment in Paris; I had thought having hotel amenities and the closer proximity to the sights would be worth the notoriously tiny size of hotel rooms, but I’m pretty sure I was wrong. If you go to Paris, rent a private apartment—it’s worth it!
A modern building on St. Stephen's Square reflecting the spires of the gothic cathedral.
Food I recommend to try in Austria based on my initial meal here is anything with asparagus when it is in season (asparagus soup is delicious here), as well as tafelspitz—it’s boiled beef, which sounds unappetizing, but it is actually quite good. Also, if you aren’t a pork eater, this is a good choice, because I have started to notice pork is the default meat here.
The other big highlight of Vienna trip was the morning training session at the Spanish Riding School.
The grandeur of the riding hall at the Spanish Riding School
The sessions take place in their beautiful indoor arena—thought it’s hard to call it that because it is so palatial it can hardly be compared to what we call an indoor arena in the United States! (Think ornate relief statues and molding, and three huge chandeliers.) If you like horses, I highly recommend this experience. Having seen Lippizaner performances in the United States before, I wasn’t too interested in seeing another. As an equestrian myself, they are a little too hokey for me, but watching the riders as they practiced with their stallions was interesting to me. And for the budget-conscious, this is also a much cheaper option than watching the performances. You also don’t have assigned seats so you can move around when better seats become available.
A Little Bit of Monica 