2019 was a big year for me travel-wise and at the end of Summer I still had a few free days before starting my Master's course, so I decided to seize the opportunity for a solo trip to one of my favourite cities: Vienna. (Funnily enough, this is also the title of one of my favourite songs).
I'd wanted to go on a solo trip for a while and although I'd been to Vienna previously, I couldn't remember it very well so I was determined to revisit. Vienna is the capital of Austria and lies on the Danube River (which always reminds me of the famed Danube Waltz). This city has a rich history and an abundance of famed people lived here, including Mozart, Beethoven, and Freud. There are many pros to Vienna: it is beautiful and clean, rent doesn't tend to be expensive as many properties are government-owned, and its Central European geography makes it easy to explore to continent. These are all reasons why I would love to live in Vienna, however due to my lack of German, it wouldn't be feasible in the long-term.
My favourite way to explore a new city is to simply walk around, with the main landmarks as objectives (in order to walk with purpose and reduce the chances of getting mugged by not appearing to be a foreigner) and after arriving in the city, I walked around the historic city centre, which has an abundance of grand monuments to admire. St. Stephen's Cathedral was the main landmark that stuck with me, however the Opera House (Wiener Staatsoper), the Gothic City Hall (Rauhaus), and the Hofburg Palace (including the beautiful Volksgarten) are all worth visiting too. There's an entire Museums Quarter if you enjoy spending time in museums and if markets are more your cup-of-tea, I'd recommend visiting Vienna's most-famous market: Naschmarkt, which features an array of colours and foods to enjoy; because it's a bit of a trek to get to I'd recommend riding an electric scooter here - this was my first experience on an electric scooter but the clear cycle lanes made it a safe environment to give it a go. One thing I really enjoyed about my trip in Vienna was that it coincided with the annual Filmfestival Rathausplatz, where films are shown in the evening for free for the public to enjoy (there was also the opportunity to try local cuisine, which I always make a point of doing when abroad, and although Austrian cuisine isn't my favourite, I made sure to try it nonetheless).
I took a hop-on-hop-off bus one day in order to explore the landmarks that weren't within a walkable distance, including the Danube Tower, Prater, and Hundertwasser Village. The Danube Tower is the tallest structure in Vienna and overlooks the city, however what I liked most in this area was actually the use of the river as a swimming spot by the locals, specifically the Danube Island, which is an artificial island lying on the river in Vienna. I learnt that the graffiti along the walls of the Danube is in fact encouraged my the officials as a way for youngsters to express themselves and their art (as well as to discourage graffiti on buildings around the city), which I found fascinating. Prater is an amusement park, and although I didn't enter the premises, I recall finding it slightly creepy on passing, but it provides a lot of fun in the city. Lastly, Hunderwasser Village features shops, cafés, and restaurants in a converted factory and is reminiscent of Telliskivi Creative City in Tallinn or LX Factory in Lisbon. Haunderwasserhaus and Kunst Haus are also worth visiting as both are unusual residencies within Vienna.
I love Austria for the same reasons I love Norway: in Summer you can explore the stunning mountains and lakes and in Winter you can ski or snowboard. Therefore, on my last day of this trip, I decided to rent a little Fiat 500 and explore more of the country. Initially, I'd planned to go to Prague, however the weather in the Czech Republic wasn't ideal, so instead I visited the Austrian city of Graz, as well as the Green Lake (Grüner See). Grüner See is located in the countryside and is surrounded by forests and mountains, so was the perfect place to relax after a long drive. The drive was a lot of fun and reminded me greatly of the Sound of Music, with its beautiful hills, cloudless skies, and small, Austrian villages. I distinctly remember driving with the sun roof open, listening to podcasts and stopping often to take pictures. After walking around the lake and through the forests, I settled down with a book and took in the landscape. Then, I set about visiting Graz; this beautiful city is much less touristic than Vienna and featured colourful apartments, the classic padlocked-filled bridge, and beautiful buildings.
Throughout the trip there were only two minor hiccups: the first was that I couldn't figure out how to navigate the petrol pump in the outskirts of the city, which was necessary to do before returning the hire car (although a kind local ended up helping me out), and the other was eating alone in restaurants. The biggest qualm I had with solo travel was eating alone in restaurants, as I wanted to try the local cuisine, but didn't want to feel uncomfortable. After witnessing a solo traveller in Bosnia eating alone, I felt less awkward doing the same, however in one restaurant in Vienna, both the waiter and a table with three women kept staring at me, which was rattling. On another occasion, I'd looked on TripAdvisor for dinner recommendations and found a nearby restaurant that was highly rated, however there weren't many windows to peek in from the outside and when I walked in, it felt like I'd walked into a Western movie - the 'restaurant' ended up being more of a pub, however there were only three tables with a couple of people smoking indoors and as I walked in everyone went silent and looked at me (it turned out that they had all been mid-discussion). I felt uncomfortable so just went to the bar and ordered some water, however it was given to me in a glass bottle so I tried to drink it as quickly as possible and after conversing with the locals briefly, I asked if I'd be able to leave the premises with the glass bottle and they allowed me to, so I went to another restaurant instead. Saying this, every other meal had been enjoyable and relaxed.
Vienna is ideal for a solo trip as many of the locals speak English, there are a lot of activities to do, and it is easy to get around, and this trip was the perfect get-away - I would definitely recommend visiting this beautiful city!
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