New Year's Day in Vienna — Facing New Horizons

Last night was a late one, so we slept in a little on New Year's Day. It was our last day in Vienna, so we did need to force ourselves up and pack. We left our happy little room behind and took that long winding staircase down to the lobby. Good we were able to leave our bags to spend the day unburdened. We headed out for breakfast and stopped at a place called Point of Sale. My dad actually knows the owner from back when he lived here, but we knew he wasn't around so didn't bother asking. We never met him before anyway. His place did have a great breakfast though – ham and eggs, rolls, orange juice, and of course some melange. All so good!

After the big party and waltz that is the New Year celebration, Vienna has a "hangover waltz" at the Rathaus on New Year's Day. We went up to see what was going on. Along the way we passed the remnants of the night before - fireworks boxes, beer cans, and lots of sleepy-eyed people. And we also noticed the walk/don't walk signals at the corners. They are couples holding hands, standing and waiting to go, then walking surrounded by loving hearts. So sweet! The best part is the gender makeup of the couples that are different at each intersection. We crossed at the two ladies in love. Great job, Vienna!

We walked into the plaza and this hangover waltz. First, the Rathaus. That is the architecture of Vienna I've gone on about since we got here. It towered over the platz casting a majestic, almost fairy tale castle-like presence. As we were ogling the beautiful building we stumbled into the New Year's Market up in the platz. It was open! As I mentioned with our mugs, the pig is a symbol of luck for the new year, and there were pig items all over the market. Pig toys, pigs on signs, the same pig mugs, even pig figures dressed as bikers and dominatrix! I've read that the reason pigs are lucky is because they root forward while digging for food whereas chickens and others scratch backwards. Seems a subtle observation, but that's what I've read. Naturally, as pigs are lucky, pork is also considered a lucky food for New Year's Day, particularly pork and sauerkraut. Beth is from PA Dutch country, and pork and sauerkraut for luck in the new year has been a tradition in her family as well as it is here in Germanic countries. And wouldn't you know that right here at the market is a stall selling pork sausage with sauerkraut? Did we get some? Of course we got some! Afterwards we stopped for a heisse schockolade. Sure it's just hot chocolate, but it sounds so much better in German! And on the cold morning that it has been, the warm drink really hit the spot. As we stood at a table with our drink, speakers were playing out the music (not live this time) as a few dancers waltzed through the platz. We didn't join them today, but it was nice to watch. Austria can only handle my dancing once per trip, trust me.

We went back through the market, all the while the Rathaus towering imposingly above us. I took a few pictures, and in each of them it looks like I Photoshopped the building in the background of another picture. It has such a dominating presence, especially when compared with the tiny little market stalls. Remember what I said about just standing in front of a building and appreciating its beauty and details? This was one I could have spent a lot of time with. Stunning!

Speaking of architecture, we decided to flip the switch in a complete 180 degree turn. We took the subway and went from the very traditional, stately, and imposing design of the Rathaus down to the full on funky! Friedensreich Hundertwasser was an architect in Vienna who had a flair for unique designs. He liked the curves of nature as opposed to the straight lines and squares found so often in modern structures, even calling the straight line "Godless and immoral". He was a big fan of incorporating nature into the city, and believed in what he called "window right"- the freedom of a person to assert one's individuality even in a public building by having the right to reach out their window to modify and personalize everything they can touch. These beliefs heavily inspired his architectural works, and the Hundertwasser House in Vienna stands as an amazing example. A seemingly random patchwork of shapes, patterns, textures, and colors come together to make a building complex unlike anything else in the city, and certainly in stark contrast with the elaborate imperial architecture Vienna is known for. This is our second time here, as we visited with dad on our last visit. We looked around the area, marveled at the very non-traditional styles, and wondered how much was his design and how much was the "window right" of the tenants. Around the corner from the Hundertwasser House is the KunstHaus Wien, an art museum designed by him as well. I took a picture of Beth standing out front, recreating one we took almost ten years ago. We didn't go in as it was closed today, but we were in last time. He hated straight lines, not just in windowsills or in the patterns, but also along the surface of the floor. He thought since the ground in nature isn't perfectly flat, neither should it be in the places we live. We remembered the dips and hills as you walked across the room, and have heard that people often need custom furniture. With a hilly floor, the legs on your table and chairs all can't be the same length! Certainly it was a unique place to see, again made more unique by its comparison to the other buildings in the city. I'm curious about what it would be like to live there, though. I do get the point, as I am a big fan of inspiration by and incorporation of nature, and I do really love curves (I mean, obviously). But I also wonder how long it would be before the novelty wore off, and I'd want to be able to move my couch or a table over a few inches without having to resize the legs?

Our time in Vienna was winding down to its conclusion, but there was one more café stop needed before we were to go. The line proved that we simply weren't getting into Sacher this time around, but that was fine. Café Museum welcomed us again, and we eased into those comfy booths for one last cuppa. As we looked at the menu we noticed that their pastries are sourced from Landtmann. Fitting, as these two places are the cafés we called home during our stay. We didn’t need the elegance or touristy hype of the others, these two suited us just fine. We went with the latte this time, served in a big glass as it should be. We shared an exquisite passion fruit torte, and Beth got a house-made himbeer lemonade. My last coffee drink in Vienna was a Franziskaner. No, not the German beer! This is basically a mélange but with whipped cream instead of the milk. We took our time there, enjoying our drinks and absorbing as much of the atmosphere as we could. I loved this place so much. There are tons of cafés back home, from the trendy Starbucks to the homey private corner shops, but none of them are anything like this. If I were to open a café back home, I'd leave the other styles to those others. I'd make one of these.

It's our last night of the trip. We never want our trips to end, though honestly we were looking forward to this night for a while now. We needed a way to get from Vienna to Frankfurt, and decided to book a ride on the EuroNight train. We get the transport done while we are asleep, so we aren’t missing valuable trip time. And we have the room covered as well! Two birds with one stone! We got our bags and bid farewell to this great city. A quick subway ride to Wien hbf and we got our train. Our cabin was at the end, a nice small compartment with a sink, fold up table, and a bench seat. The whistle blew and we departed for Frankfurt Süd. We watched the city go by from our window, but after that it was getting too dark to see out. The attendant dropped off our breakfast order (included!) and we checked off the items we wanted and our wake up time. Then we dropped our table and had a nice light dinner. Wasa crackers, herring in tomato sauce, Ottakringer radler, and a small dessert of leftover snowballs. A map of our travels on a makeshift plate, enjoyed in our sleeping compartment on the night train. Such a fitting end! We pulled down the bunks, and Beth set up the bottom while I had the middle. It was nice to see there was a harness that strapped over the gap so I didn’t go flying out of the bunk mid night! We hung down on her bunk for a bit and checked a box off the sexy version of the bucket list, then strapped in our separate bunks for bed.

The slow rocking of the train was actually comfortable. Not quite as soothing as a boat, but nice still. Next stop – Frankfurt!