Austria was the next stop on our 12 day trip! We took a sleepy afternoon bus from Budapest to Vienna, and then made our way to a sweet Viennese neighborhood where our Air BnB was located. The area was filled with old apartment buildings, independent grocers, and the occasional towering church. That night we made Indian food and chilled, happy with a homemade meal and Netflix after traveling for six days.

We only had one full day in Vienna, so we got up bright and early the next morning and took the tram to the city center. The view out the window amazed me! Vienna is so grand and imperial. There are huge marble-washed buildings everywhere (at least in the center). It creates this overall impression of royalty and wealth. I remember saying at one point “It’s like a bigger Paris.” And by big I mean the buildings are behemoths and the details are large. It’s impressive.

We weaved our way through the perfectly manicured, sculpture-and-fountain dotted gardens in front of the Belvedere museum. Vienna is known for museums, and one of its crown jewels is The Belvedere. Entrance was $12 even with a student discount, but well worth it.

The Belvedere has this amazing Gustav Klimt collection, in addition to a lot of other cool paintings and a regal interior. We were mainly there for Klimt though, who is probably my favorite artist now. Seeing his paintings in person was surreal– his famous The Kiss is a floor-to-ceiling masterpiece imbued with rich color and plated in gold. Then there are the gorgeous Water Serpents series, the Portrait of Adele, the Sunflower, and many more. His work is not only beautiful, but it has this mythical quality that makes it very enticing.

After spending a few hours in the Belvedere, we walked to the picturesque Kleines Cafe and sat outside on teal tables. When in Vienna you must get two things: apple strudel and sachertorte, which is a traditional and fudgy Viennese chocolate cake. So of course we ordered both at Kleines, along with Viennese-style cappuccinos. It was delicious. We sat in the cool fall weather and watched fashionable people walk by. I had no idea, but Vienna is supremely stylish. Sartorial splendor everywhere! I’d see couture-level outfits pass by, young women with bright tousled hair in dreadfully hip get-ups, men in designer coats and older couples with fine hats and cashmeres scarves. It’s enough to make a person want to go shopping…

…Which we did later. Or at least attempted to. Even the thrift shops were expensive! Not to mention the designer stores on Graben, a famous street in the first district lined with gorgeous architecture and accented by the occasional horse-drawn carriage. Located on Graben is Demel, home of the original sachertorte– and fancy interior decorations. We got two slices of the cake to-go, and then walked along the river.

The river is a whole different side of Vienna. Both sides of the walls along the Danube are covered in vivid street art. We marveled at elaborate graffiti, twisting sculptures, bright murals. The mix of art and concrete and rushing river is very grunge-y and cool, and makes for a nice walk.

After walking around the city a little more, we stopped at the Secession building to see Klimt’s Beethoven Frieze, which is an elaborate and magnificent mural he painted that covers three walls in this one room.

For dinner we went to Schachtelwirt, this tiny little place that served absolutely amazing pulled pork dumplings in a box with a cold bottle of Edelguss– which the cashier/cook told me is the best beer in Austria.

The next day we went to the fanciest McDonalds I’ve ever been to for brunch (we were on a budget at that point). It was located right near the overground and had a fabulous bakery (including cheesecake!) and a lovely upstairs coffee lounge. It was quite the venue, and fitting for Vienna, which is a thoroughly sophisticated city.

After chilling there for a while, we took the underground to the train station, where we took a train to Salzburg. Unsurprisingly, Austria had very nice trains.