Semana Santa - Part 2: Vienna

There were pretty flowers everywhere in Vienna

Spice selection at Naschmarkt

Veggies at Naschmarkt

My lunch at Naschmarkt

Gardens of Belvedere Palace

Belvedere Palace

Vienna Opera House

A little history of the famour Sacher cake

The infamous cake

Inside Stephensdome

Gardens of Hofburg Palace

Bonnie at Hofberg Palace

I thought this was a pretty cool dish collection in the Palace

Fancy napkins!

Hofberg Palace

Hofberg Palace

Parliament Building

More pretty flowers!

Random pretty church

Easter bunny cactus!

Easter egg market

Outside the restaurant with the big Schnitzels! 

Weinerschnitzel!!!!!!!!! 

On April 20, Bonnie and I took a really early train to Vienna.  Upon arrival we took the metro to our hostel.  It was the same hostel "company" that I had stayed in two and half years ago when I came to Vienna, just a different location.  Luckily, this hostel was located in front of the cutest open air market, Naschmarkt.  They were swelling fruits, vegetables, Mediterranean food, dried fruit, nuts, Asian food, and had lots of cafes sprinkled about.  We stopped at one and had fresh juice (orange, carrot, and apple), pumpkin soup, and basil ravioli.  It was so very pleasant!  After our pleasant lunch, we went to the Belvedere Palace to go to the art museum there where they have a large collection of Gustav Klimt.  I enjoyed the art but Bonnie didn't really like it.  We then went to the center of town to walk around the Ring Road.  Next to the Opera House had the famous place where the Vienna Sacher cake was first made and popularized.  It was a chocolate cake with apricot jelly in it.  It was good, but nothing to travel all the wait to Austria for.  We decided we were too tired to go to the Opera that night so we went back to the hostel for some drinks before then going back out to the Naschmarkt to eat Chinese food and then crash.  The next day we went back to the market (seriously my favorite place ever) to have a bagel and to buy some nuts and dried fruit that we could take on our train ride the next day.  We headed out to the Hofburg Palace, which is the biggest palace in Vienna.  It was 3 exhibits in one.  First there was the palace's silver collection which was mostly dinnerware.  Next there was the Sisi museum (Empress Elizabeth).  There was a free audio guide that came with the walk through and it was actually filled with interesting information.  I really enjoyed hearing about how messed up Sisi was, it was fascinating!  The last part was the actual palace.  After the palace we went to a nearby café where I had spaghetti with veggies and some Prosecco outside.  We walked around the Ring some more (this was the main road that circled the center of the city) until it was time to wait in line for the Opera tickets.  We met Annie and Megan in line and waited for a while to get our cheap standing room tickets.  It was only 4 euros to attend one of the most famous Opera's in the world (or at one of the most famous Opera Houses).  We got some ice cream before the Opera and then went inside to stand.  It was ROUGH.  The first act was an hour and 45 minutes.  Standing still in a small space for that long was not really my thing, although it was a good experience.  We left after the first act because the whole things was 5 hours.  After the Opera we went to get some Schnitzel at this restaurant that was recommended by a local.  OH, MY, GOSH, they were so worth it! It was the size of a gigantic plate.  We split one of those and had some spinach dumplings as well.  I really love schnitzel.  After that we ended our evening before having to leave early the next day.  

Semana Santa - Part 1: Prague

The Slovakian countryside

Adorable Slovakian family!

Bonnie outside the restaurant where we had our first Czech meal

MEAT PLATTER

Old Town Square

Easter Market madness

Easter Eggs were EVERYWHERE... even in the TREES!

View of Prague Castle

My yummy potatoes at the Easter Markets in Old Town Square

Smoked Cheese!

Chocolate Covered Strawberries!

The Astrological Clock... but it was broken at the time...

Creepy puppets everywhere!

Art on the wall in the cute little pub we stopped in

Absinth is popular in the Czech Republic

U Fleku: the restaurant we went to

Wenceslas Square

New Town

Easter Markets

Sunset over Prague Castle

Crazy architecture in New Town

Roasted Pork Knuckle/Knee

The group at U Fleku

We had entertainment as well!

Jewish Synagogue 

Building in the Jewish Quarter

Bonnie on the rooftop terrace in Little Town

These were popular here too... like cinnamon buns maybe?

St. Nicholas' Church

John Lennon wall

Charles Bridge by day

Ta Fantastika (Black Light Theatre we went to)

Inside the restaurant we went to the second night

Annie and her goulash

Megan, Bonnie, me, and Annie at the restaurant

So in Spain everyone gets a week off for Easter, which we call Semana Santa ("Saint Week").  For my Semana Santa, Bonnie came to visit!  She first came in to Spain where we hung out around Granada for a few days.  On Saturday, April 16, Annie, Bonnie, and I  took the bus from Granada to Malaga airport, where we set up camp at a closed coffee shop in the airport and attempted to get some sleep.  Our flight was around 7 a.m. I think so we had to stay at the airport because there were no buses that went to the airport that early.  Anyway, after a very uncomfortable night of "sleep", we checked our bag and flew to Bratislava, Slovakia.  Upon arriving in the very small airport, we took a bus to the local train station where we immediately bought a ticket to Prague, Czech Republic.  On the train these two Czech men kept trying to talk to us even thought the language barrier was too much to get any point across, but after they got off the train, this adorable blonde Slovakian family (a father and 3 boys) sat next to us and they were so cute! It was fun to watch the little boys interact with each other.  The Slovakian and Czech Republican countryside was adorable.  So quaint and beautiful! It was a long, but scenic train ride, and finally we arrived in Prague.  Bonnie and I split up from Annie because we were staying in different hostels.  We found it a little confusing to get to our hostel and so we almost took a taxi, but they were trying to scam the hell out of us on money thinking that we wouldn't know any better because of the change in currency, but thankfully I had done my research and we turned them down.  Eventually we found our hostel called Hostel Elf.  Ironically, the woman at the front desk looked just like an elf….. After checking in, we were exhausted so we decided to stay in the neighborhood, which was not a touristy neighborhood, all local.  So we went to a local bar to have the infamous Czech cheap beer.  We had a few beers but it was a little awkward and really smoky so we left to go to a restaurant that our hostel had recommended.  It was soooo yummy, but also really smoky in there.  We had salmon and a giant meat platter.  It was so great to have meat that wasn't just ham!!!!! After eating we headed back to the hostel for some much needed sleep.  The next morning we had breakfast at the hostel and then walked into Old Town.  There were so many beautiful buildings! That is the best part of Prague really, all of the beautiful architecture.  Since it was Easter week, all the markets were up in the Old Town Square.  We were supposed to meet Annie, Megan, and Alex later in Old Town for lunch so we passed on through to the Prague Castle.  We crossed the river and then we walked up a long way to the castle.  It is kind of like a little village up there and kid of confusing which part was the actual 'castle'.  We went in to the St. Vitus Cathedral, which was beautiful.  After enjoying the castle grounds, we went back down to the Old Town to meet the others.  We had lunch at the Easter markets.  I had these potatoes with cheese and seasoning and it was so delicious! We had dessert of chocolate covered strawberries.  After lunch, we split up from the group and Bonnie and I went to find the notorious Black light Theatre.  We made reservations there for the following evening and then went to the most adorable pub for some more beer and to rest our feet.  We were the only people in there and it was decorated like a library and had photography everywhere.  It was quite pleasant!  Then we went to make a reservation at U Fleku, which was listed in my 1000 places to go before you die book.  It was in New Town, which was obviously really modern.  We stopped at a wine bar U Sedu that had been recommended on Hostelworld.  After that we went to Wenceslas Square which was filled with popular shops.  After that it was about time to go to our reservation at U Fleku and meet the others.  The restaurant was really adorable and traditional.  It is known for being a brewery also and selling the beer they make only there.  It was decent beer.  I ordered a Czech specialty, roasted pork knuckle.  It might have been roasted pork knee, but the translations were always different.  Either way, it was delicious, it tasted like pot roast!  After dinner we all walked along the Charles Bridge by night.  It wasn't very crowded and had a beautiful view of the castle.  On the way back towards the hostel we stopped at a bar Rouge before calling it a night.  The next morning we had breakfast again at the hostel before Bonnie and I headed to the Jewish Quarter.  It was really disappointed that we couldn't go into the Jewish Cemetery because it was Passover.  The buildings were beautiful though.  We walked across the bridge to the Little Quarter, which was the area of town below the castle.  It was so quaint!  We went to a rooftop terrace restaurant for lunch which was very peaceful.  I was so sick of meat at this point so we had healthy portions of fresh mozzarella and tomatoes with fresh basil and some garlic soup… yumm!!!  After lunch we walked around some more and went in to the St. Nicholas' Church.  Then we went and sat by the park for a a while to relax before heading back to Old Town Square.  We walked around the markets some more and saw this dance contest of little girls doing these choreographed moves, which was entertaining.  We stopped at a bar overlooking the square to judge the Budweiser beer.  The Czech claim that their beer is the real Budweiser, so we had to see which was better.  It tasted completely different.  It kind of tasted like a more flavorful Bud Lite.  We then went to this adorable restaurant that Annie had made reservations at for us before then heading to the Black light Theatre.  That was by far the most strange performance I have ever been to.  It was called "Aspects of Alice" which was a knockoff of Alice and Wonderland.  It was impossible to follow and I'm pretty sure you were supposed to be on drugs while watching it.  Either way, we felt like we were on drugs after witnessing such an odd performance.  That was something I bet I will not ever get the chance to see again in my life, but I'm okay with that.  After the show, we headed back to the hostel to get some sleep before heading to Vienna the next day.