Vienna, Austria. Friday, 16th May 2014.
Lufthansa flight LH 765 from Mumbai to Munich was on schedule and departed Mumbai international airport on the dot at 01:00. We were on our first trip to Europe together. Had
been planning for this trip for a number of years now; it was finally materialising. Couldn't sleep on the flight, so spent my time changing channels - English movies; and flight information. The breakfast served just before alighting at Munich was average - I had opted for Indian vegetarian as I did not fancy eggs and sausages at 04:30 a.m.! Munich was enveloped in clouds but just before touchdown, we had a wonderful view of the landing, thanks to camera 2, which showed us what the pilot was seeing.
Munich airport was spic-n-span as expected and both of us comfortably completed our morning ablutions in the washroom which was far cleaner than most Indian homes! A long walk brought us to a police check, where we were asked to show our passports, hotel reservations and return tickets by a stern young officer. he was curt at the beginning but relaxed on seeing that all our papers were in order. We then proceeded through security check where I was literally groped, to the duty-free shops. Then to gate G31, for boarding
Austrian Airways' flight OS 112 to Vienna. We were pleasantly surprised to find a vending machine for tea, coffee (many flavours) and hot chocolate - on the house - as well as a kiosk stacked with English and German newspapers, for the taking. This was courtesy Lufthansa.
The flight from Munich to Vienna lasted an hour and five minutes. Had the weather not been bad, it would probably have been of a shorter duration. We were served just a bun filled with lemon cream; and beverages, but the bun was excellent. And yes, the views of Munich as we took off were marvellous and Urmila was impressed. All the houses were similar in size and shape, bearing roofs of a similar colour - red. It looked well planned.
Touched down at Vienna at 09:40 and immediately our hopes were dashed! The tarmac was wet and dark clouds threatened more rain. We exited the aircraft a little disappointed and colleting our bag from the conveyor, left the airport. Two friendly locals directed us to the S-Bahn (surface rail) station of Wien Flughafen (Vienna airport), where we purchased tickets for Wien-Mitte station. Again, friendly locals showed us how to use the credit card to buy tickets. Boarded the S-Bahn and were ready to travel to Wien Meidling station, where we would board the U3 to West Bahnhof station and from there, the U6 to Meidling. However, I
consulted the local transportation map on my TAB and saw that we could alight at Rennweg and change to S1 or S2 train for Meidling. We did precisely that and once more with the help of a friendly local, managed to reach Meidling comfortably. The sight of Vienna city was magnificent. On one hand there were the old constructions with eye-catching architecture, complete with red tiled roofs and on the other, gigantic, modern ones. At Meidling we felt bitterly cold so were forced to remove warm clothing from the suitcase. Exited the station guided by people and boarded a swanky city bus numbered 7B, for Hotel Holiday Inn Vienna South. A fellow passenger on the bus showed us where to alight; and the way to the hotel. A light drizzle added to the excitement as we walked the short distance to the hotel, admiring cute roadside cafes on one side and huge skyscrapers on the other. The hotel building was wonderful too - light mustard in colour and huge. Checked in at a friendly reception desk.
Were allotted room no. 203 on the second floor; front-facing. Excellent room with excellent facilities.
The weather was bad, a light drizzle being off and on; and the temperature had dropped to 9 degrees, with heavy wind. We had to step out for lunch, which we did. Found one named ' La Miramare' close by. Tried a Greek dish, Kotoplo (chicken breast cooked in pepper gravy, served with vegetables and French fries). Urmila had minestrone soup while I tried an
Austrian draught beer. The taste was good, but not much different from what we get back in India. We then tried dessert - Tiramisu and Mohr-id-hamd; chocolate cake topped with cream and immersed in chocolate sauce. Both were delicious. We planned to visit the restaurant again. Returned to our room for a while and then stepped out again, this time to the bus stop opposite Wienerberg city, quite close to the hotel. Boarded bus no. 65A and rode till its last stop at Reumannplatz. The route took us through the very beautiful city Vienna; with its clean roads, disciplined traffic and impressive buildings. Most of the
buildings were compact and uniform in size and appearance. They were pained in light, pleasant, pastel shades. Many houses have tiled, red, sloping roofs; and with a number of chimneys, make for excellent viewing.
At Reumannplatz, we walked to its U-Bahn station and rode on train U2 to Schwedenplatz.
Exited the U-Bahn station and wanted to travel by tram to Ringstrasse, but th einclement weather pit paid to our plans. We shopped around the beautiful area for bakery products, fruit and chocolate; and arming ourselves with these, returned to Holiday Inn by the same route, once again admiring the royal capital of Austria! The warmth of the room comforted us further and we called it a day at 19:30!
