A hop across the border.

W for Wien!

Over this weekend we took a short mini-break to Austria and hopped on a coach to Vienna. It was a 3 hour drive there and the differences between the two cities was vast. The best way to describe the differences is to think of Hungary as East Germany and Austria as West Germany. In terms of the Soviet Union & that history the relationship was essentially like that. But given that there used to be the Austro-Hungarian Empire - it's easy to see who did the best out of that one! 

Jumping for joy in the capitalist & Western paradise of Vienna

We experienced a wide variety of weather conditions over the weekend. We had blaring sunshine & heat, we had overcast skies, we had torrential rain and we had just glum drizzly conditions. It was a mixture - but made the choice of clothing rather more difficult. Safe to say running through the rain in shorts & a hoodie to catch our bus home definitely gave me pneumonia. 
We had a really great weekend and did lots of fun things. The only sad thing was that I was struck down with flu and so spent most of the time sniffling and coughing. Something which has only worsened on my return to Budapest. Once again I manage to find myself struck down with severe flu - not an ideal situation given that I have 2 weeks of final exams beginning next Monday. My body certainly has great timing! 

Making daisy chains in an Austrian park at the StadtFest.

We took a bus from Budapest to Vienna which is the cheapest option and also pretty speedy. We spent Saturday afternoon wandering around the city and exploring the beautiful streets. The affluence of the city was easy to see, especially via shop windows and the smartly dressed natives. I found it especially comforting to be in a city where I could understand the language - I learnt German at school and so found it easy to get back into the swing of Deutsch. 
We found that there was a Stadt Fest Wien happening that day, a city wide Festival, with the art festival beginning in Vienna on the 11th May. There were a large number of exhibitions, mostly about sports offering opportunities to try those activities. There were freebies being handed out - including copious amounts of Austrian Apple Juice. There were festival style food trucks & benches, along with folk music & light rock bands playing. It was a really nice afternoon of relaxation and we all had bratwurst for lunch!

In one of the mazes at the Schloss!

We headed to our hostel which was on the outskirts of the city at the metro stop Hütteldorf to freshen up and drop off our bags and from there we headed back into the city to catch the end of the Stadt Fest. We managed to see the 2011 Austrian Eurovision entry giving a concert and they were wildly popular! We went to sleep very early that night as we were all exhausted!
On Sunday morning we spent the morning at the Schloss Schönbrunn which was the Imperial Summer Palace and very impressive. Luckily the sun was shining and we saw the palace & gardens in all their splendor. We walked around the gardens & woods and stopped for a little picnic of strawberries (probably illegally as I'm pretty sure we weren't allowed to sit on the grass!). After that we left for the city and headed to the MuseumQuarter for a long and slightly late lunch. We strolled around the MuseumQuarter and saw an art & craft exhibition and other interesting cultural exhibits. 

The palace as seen from behind the fountain.

Unluckily it started raining just as we headed to catch our coach and we were soaked running to the bus! But once we arrived back in Budapest it was 9pm & still 25º.....! It was a fabulous trip and I really like Vienna! Definitely one of my top 10 favorite cities!