Arrival

Thirty-four hours after leaving Sydney, we arrived in Vienna for the start of our Austrian-Italian adventure. The flight was very packed on the way over, so we were all very glad to be back on terra firma.

Our accommodation in Vienna was a very nicely furnished apartment located a short distance from the city centre. We were a bit apprehensive about the actual quality of the apartment as it was one that we booked over the Internet. But we were not disappointed.

After settling in, we ventured to explore our neighbourhood which is a relatively quiet area but with shops and restraurants nearby. After buying some goodies from the local supermarket to stock our fridge, everyone was itching to go and explore the city.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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The Giant Ferris Wheel

Seeing that it was already late in the afternoon, we opted to visit a number of "secondary" sights that we had on our list. Our first port of call was the Giant Ferris Wheel that is widely marketed in many Viennese websites and tourist brochures.

This turned out to be a major disappointment for all of us. When we arrived at the nearest subway station to the attraction, there weren't any signs that directed us to the ferris wheel. The station and its general vicinity were quite run down and dirty. We were able to find an information counter and the person directed us to the fairground nearby.

We found the fairground, and we saw a ferris wheel, one which we all assumed to be just a normal ferris wheel. The GIANT ferris wheel must be further ahead. As it turned out, that first rather normal looking ferris wheel was it -The GIANT ferris wheel.

Okay ... not the best way to start a holiday especially seeing that we have just flown halfway around the world. We were all thinking the same thought - I hope there's gotta be more to Vienna than this ! And as we found out in the subsequent days, Vienna has so many other wonderful things to see and do. The tourist bureau should really drop the Giant Ferris Wheel from their marketing brochures. It is really overrated !!

1. Giant Ferris Wheel

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The Danube Tower

After beating a hasty retreat from the Giant Ferris Wheel, we took the subway to the nearby Danube Tower. I am a big fan of the reality TV series, The Amazing Race, and the Danube Tower was one of the locations of one of the challenges during the first leg of the fourth season of the show. Beyond that fact, we were hoping to catch a good view of Vienna from the top of the tower.

There were a lack signage yet again from the subway station. We could see the Tower in the distance but there was a huge fenced park between us and the Tower. We took a punt and walked down one side of the fence until we found the entrance to the park. There were no signs inside the park either, so we kept walking in the general direction of the Tower and stopping and asking for directions frequently.

We finally were able to get to the Tower after walking 20 to 30 minutes from the subway station. It was already dusk by the time we got there and the observation deck at the top afforded us a great view of the Viennese nightline.

It has been a long day and we were all quite weary from the long flight over from Australia and the day's activities. After the tower, we headed back to the apartment.

2. View from Danube Tower

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