Trailing along the Blue Danube
10 days in the heart of Europe — visiting the cities of Vienna, Budapest and Bratislava
Choosing the destination and trip planning
After more than a year of planning we finally made it to Vienna. Picking a destination was the hardest part. There were multiple reasons for picking Vienna. I was already familiar with the works of Gustav Klimt, Monet, Matisse, Picasso, Egon Schiele, Edward Munch, Ferdinand Waldmüller thanks to a 2 week course in Art History while studying in design school. An opportunity see them firsthand was compelling enough to book a round trip flight to Vienna.
Since I was travelling with my mother I wasn’t too keen on going backpacking across Europe. Instead I decided on Vienna as my base for exploring other central European capitals. Budapest is only two and an half hours away from Vienna and Bratislava just an hour distance. But confused as I was I took 8 months to land up on a destination. Inspiration comes from the most unusual sources and in this case it was Billy Joel’s “Vienna” and George Ezra “Budapest” that helped seal the deal.
I booked my flights 4 months in advance and the rest of time leading up to the trip was spent in booking accommodations, train tickets and of course getting the visa. As a person who enjoys the nitty-gritty of travel planning I was quite happy with how my itinerary had shaped out. We spent 5 days in Vienna, 2 days in Budapest and Bratislava was an easy day trip from Vienna.
The sites/apps that came handy
Airbnb was our choice of accommodation in both Budapest and Vienna and is probably the best way to witness the local life first hand. Our home in Budapest was in a quieter part of Buda on a lively pedestrian street full of small cafes. Our hosts were very forthcoming with giving us any practical advice we needed regarding currency, credit cards or weather.
I booked my train tickets on Oebb, the website of the Austrian National Railways. It’s probably the best way to get around even though the bus is cheaper. The main train station Wien Hauptbahnhof was just a tram ride away from our apartment and not to mention Austrian Railways is super efficient and the views (of the countryside) were amazing.
I had spent hours on youtube researching but I would recommend subscribing to Woltersworld for travel tips, do’s and don’ts, Geography Now for a not-so-mundane overview of the countries you plan on visiting and Rick Steves’ Europe for travel inspiration. I also had Lonely Planet city guides saved on my phone so I was able to access the information offline. I had also downloaded offline google maps for all 3 cities but I soon realized that I was lost for directions. See google maps can tell you where the Belvedere is but not where the entrance to the complex is. The Belvedere is a huge complex so going around it to find the entrance is really not feasible. Some help from two kind policemen saved the day. Since we used public transport (train, trams and the U-Bahn) a good piece of advice to all fellow travelers is give the local transit app a shot. They can really save your time. In Vienna we used Qando Vienna and Budapest Transit, the latter works offline too. But nevertheless getting lost in the streets of Vienna is otherworldly. Also it would be blasphemous to go to the city of Mozart and not see the concert. The one we attended at Palais Palffy was a good mix of opera, Mozart and Strauss’ compositions and ballet. It was here in 1762 that Mozart gave concerts with his sister.
The highlights
Since this was my first ever trip to Europe the delights were many. But what struck me the most was how well equipped and pedestrian friendly the cities were. There were pedestrian traffic lights installed at every crossing and even where there were none cars would slow down to let pedestrian pass. With the 24, 48 or 72 hours travelcard getting around the city is a breeze.
In Vienna and Budapest the attractions are spread over a large area but Bratislava is more compact and can be easily explored on foot. Bratislava’s old town held us under its spell with its beautiful cobbled stoned streets which we toured on an Oldtimer bus. What could have been an ordinary Sunday afternoon was transformed into an extraordinary experience when the tourists and locals alike were treated to folk song and dance performances by the Slovak children. In Bratislava every street you turn a delightful experience awaits you. The warmth and hospitality of Slovak people overwhelmed us and neither one of us wanted to leave. A lot of travelers overlook Bratislava but in my opinion this hidden gem was truly worth the visit.
I was a little nervous before visiting Budapest but only because Hungary’s official currency was Hungarian Forint and not the otherwise ubiquitously used Euro. But once we reached we found lots of private money changers and they offered really good exchange rates. And I am glad that I decided to visit Budapest for it was our favorite. Who knew Budapest was this beautiful! Sitting on the banks of the Danube and watching the sun go down and the Hungarian parliament light up was simply enchanting. Although our trip was a short one but given a second change I would have stayed a week in Budapest to truly experience this Hungarian beauty on the Danube. The same could be said for Vienna as well, if I had more time in hand I would have taken a cruise along the Danube to see the Wachau valley and the Melk monastery.
How to survive as a vegetarian
This will be by far the most frequently asked question for a vegetarian visiting Europe. But my dietary choices never posed a problem. We savored local and non local dishes like Backlava, Falafel, Apple Strudel with vanilla sauce, Sachertorte, Langos, Chimney roll with gelato and much more. If you research well you would know which delicacies to keep an eye out for. Also we had a fully equipped kitchenette at the apartment so we prepared breakfast every morning. I remember this one particular incident when on a whim I bought camembert cheese from the local supermarket despite my mother pleading me to pick a more familiar looking cheese. Camembert is a strongly flavored cheese with a white outer rind created using fungus. This particular variety of cheese took some getting used to. See usually its very difficult to keep me away from cheese!
In retrospect…
What I learnt from Vienna’s art galleries and museum is how rejection of one art movement paved way for another. So boredom is not necessarily an artist’s worst enemy. Art movements like Impressionism, fauvism, expressionism, new objectivism, cubism came into existence as a reaction against the preceding movement. Egon Schiele’s work had the most impact on me. His depiction of what society otherwise deems grotesque was rather bold and interesting. One can find his collection at the Albertina.
Although the three cities were in close proximity (all three were also part of the Austro-Hungarian empire) the language and the culture were quite distinct. We found it quite amusing when locals everywhere greeted us with “Namaste” and showed their gratitude with “Shukriya” or when the waiters scratched their heads trying to single out the vegetarian dishes on their menu. Whatever little interaction we had with the local people will be forever etched in my memory.
Next on my bucket list
There are so many destinations but the charms of Slovenia are hard to ignore. Ljubljana, Lake Bled and Piran are already on my itinerary. But in an age where inspiration and information are abundant its very hard to pick a destination and I am truly spoilt for choices. Until then guten tag.
