Vienna (Day Three)

As I begin writing, I have just booked my trip back to Vienna - I will be arriving on Sunday evening. I'll teach during the week and will be staying in a hotel with other teachers from the program. I will also spend most of the day on Saturday in Vienna. I will definitely be going back to the Naschmarkt. The Naschmarkt is a huge and famous market in Vienna, where you can find every kind of food you might have a need for, as well as many oddities, collectibles, and plenty of photo-ops. We went to the market on Saturday, which is the best day. The market begins with many food stalls and vendors, and gradually morphs into a huge flea market as you make your way to the other end. There are so many exotic and delicious foods to choose from. Because we went to Naschmarkt at the beginning of a day of sightseeing, and also had no access to a refrigerator, we were limited in the types of things we could buy. I bought some crystallized ginger, dried strawberries and some cayenne pepper, which I cannot find in the CR.

It was very sunny that day, and the only sunglasses I have are prescription. I hadn't purchased a new pair since I started wearing contacts again. So, I found a cute pair of sunglasses - I had to find a deal, though. The first guy I talked to was going to charge me 10 €, but I found another place where I bought the same pair for 5 €. Marissa and I also found a stall with really cheap, cute scarves, and we each got one. Also, I found some beads here! I haggled with a guy at one of the booths and bought some labradorite and citrine.
One of the best parts about the market is looking at all the old stuff people have for sale. Some of it is truly ancient. There are all kinds of antiques - books, photographs, personal items, decorations, coins, jewelry - the list goes on. It would be no problem to spend an entire day here, poking through the many boxes and bins filled with odds and ends. And guess who will be back here two Saturdays from now? Don't mind if I do!!

Still not sure about this guy - he definitely had the steampunk thing going on,

but I've no idea what he's carrying here.

Next on our agenda for the day was visiting the StaatOper, which had been closed the day before by the time we made it over. On our way back through the market, we got falafel wraps - they were so delicious! We both ordered ours spicy.

After walking around the Naschmarkt for a few hours, we headed over to the StaatsOper, where we had attempted to get in the previous afternoon. This time, we knew what time to arrive, so we were there in time to take a tour of the building. The tour was nice, but after all of the over-the-top beauty of many of Vienna's buildings, the Opera House was a little disappointing. It was hit heavily by bombs during World War II so much of it is modern - which, of course, means not as interesting. The older parts that survived the bombing are the coolest parts. Still, it was really interesting to hear some of the stories about the Opera House, and we also got to go backstage, where lots of workers were preparing for the night's ballet performance.

When the tour finished, we exited the Opera House and headed straight for Hotel Sacher, where we tried our second specimen of sacher-torte. While I had given Demel's sacher-torte a 3.5 out of 5, I gave Hotel Sacher's a 4. This was mostly due to the fact that Sacher served theirs with whipped cream while Demel did not. Whipped cream always earns bonus points - remember that.

Next on our list was Heroes' Square and the Museum Quarter. We wandered around the square and took some pictures, then hiked it across the street to the Museum Quarter, which houses all kinds of museums. We had decided we wanted to visit the Leopold and the MUMOK (Modern Art Museum). At the Leopold there is a large collection of Egon Schiele's work, which was really awesome to see in person. At the MUMOK there was an exhibit of Claus Oldenburg.

Heroes' Square

Marissa being a guard

It was a long day, and a full one. We went back to the hostel and got a restaurant recommendation from the helpful fellow who worked at the front desk. He also was curious about Skeletonwitch - I was wearing my hoodie - so we watched a Skeletonwitch video on the hostel's front desk computer :). The restaurant he recommended was super delicious. It was a Vietnamese place, and I had crispy duck served over noodles. Really delicious.

So that's what we did on our third day in Vienna. I'm sorry it's taken me a while to write about the trip, but as you can see there were many pictures to edit and upload. I'll finish it this week, as our last day was a shorter one... then I'll be ready to write about my second trip to Vienna, which starts on Sunday! I'm looking forward to a challenging and exciting week in Austria.

I just made dinner here at my flat in Prague, and it was really delicious, I have to say... I started by browning some fresh minced garlic in olive oil, added chopped onions and tomatoes and sauteed them with cayenne and black pepper. Then, I added some cubed veggie steak for protien, and both red and green pesto. I topped it with some super delicious chunks of fresh mozarella and also grated parmesan. YUM! I've downloaded The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus, so now I am going to lay down, watch a movie and get to sleep early tonight. Tomorrow is the finals of the conversation competition I was judging for last month, so I have to get up early and have a long day.

Love.