Kevin Runs Europe: Day 38

Distance: 7.0 miles

Bratislava-Vienna

The first part of the day was spent on a free walking tour of Bratislava. I learned a tremendous amount about Bratislava and Slovakia from our tall, lovely guide, most of which I summarized in yesterday’s post. After the tour, we headed for the bus station to make the short trip to nearby Vienna.

Old Town street and the unfortunately ever-present golden arches (right)

"Man at Work" sculpture - a very popular attraction in the Old Town that's there for no apparent reason at all

The Blue Church - it's really, really blue inside and out

Traditional cream soup in a bread bowl at the Slovak Pub - a great place to try traditional Slovak foods

2nd narrowest house in Europe with the world's narrowest kebab shop on the ground floor.

Modern office buildings just outside the Old Town

Bratislava is extremely close to Vienna, 30-45 minutes by bus or train (1hr and 15 minutes on our bus due to construction). Given its proximity to one of the most-visited cities in Europe, you’d think Bratislava would be a more popular stop on people’s itineraries. Strange. Well anyway, we’re spending two nights in Vienna before heading to Prague. This isn’t my first time in Vienna. I came here for a couple days on my own before studying abroad near Salzburg, Austria for four weeks in the Summer of 2012. Vienna’s still very much the same as I remember – grand and beautiful. As the former capital of the Austrian Hapsburg Empire and now the capital of Austria, it’s a city full of palaces, monuments, and culture.

You may have noticed that pretty much every day for the past week or more has been listed as “recovery day.” My Achilles has been a little swollen this whole time. Today, it seemed the swelling had pretty much disappeared, and I was dying to go for a run, so I figured I’d go for an easy one in the Schönbrunn Palace Gardens, which were really close to our hostel. I had done the same run when I was in Vienna two years ago. This time I did it at sunset, rather than sunrise like I did two years ago, and just the change in lighting made the gardens seem like a different place. My Achilles didn’t bother me at all the whole time, which led me to believe that it must be almost healed (I found out I was wrong the next day).

Front of Schönbrunn Palace

The Schönbrunn Palmenhaus, which houses plants from all over the world

The Gloriette - just a fancy thing on the hill

Schönbrunn Palace from the Gloriette

After finishing up my run, I took the U-Bahn to the center to find some supper (Curtis had eaten while I ran). I knew exactly what I was looking for – Käsekrainer. Käsekrainer was created when the Austrians took Carniolan sausage (a Slovenian invention) and mixed little pieces of cheese inside it. In my opinion, this invention is perhaps Austria’s greatest gift to humanity – after Beethoven and Mozart. I wasn’t just looking for any Käsekrainer, though, I was after the best Käsekrainer in town – at the Bitzinger sausage stand next to the Albertina Museum. It was glorious. I then walked along the ring road that goes around the city center. Most of Vienna’s monumental buildings, including the Hofburg Palace, the Austrian Parliament, and the Vienna City Hall line this road.

Tonight I also received the news that my dad is coming with my mom and sister to Prague and will be traveling with us to Leipzig and Berlin, so that’s good. We’ll be meeting them June 26th, after which Curtis will go home and I’ll continue traveling with my family for about 10 days.