Uncategorized – My Best Travels

My husband travels to Germany at least once a year, sometimes more, depending on company requirements. He tries to take advantage of his business travel by adding a few days to see a new city before heading back home. And because I am the wife, I get to join him, obviously :).

Germany itself is a large country which means you have a variety of cities to choose from within Germany. But one can also easily travel to any other European country from Frankfurt airport. This year we decided to visit the city of Venice for a few days. You can read more about my Venice travel blogs https://withnarriman.travel.blog/2019/04/14/when-in-venice-eat-like-an-italian/

The best thing about travelling in Europe is the ease of movement when you have a Schengen visa. Add to that the fact that their transport by rail is as good, if not better, as their transport by air and you end up with one of the easiest and convenient holidays.

Frankfurt Main Train Station

When making our travel arrangements, we try to get the best deal possible, not only in terms of cost but also in terms of travel benefit. We search for flights that will take us through as many cities as possible, even if it’s just for a few hours. For this trip we managed to book our return flight from Venice via Vienna and added a seven-hour stopover before departing to Frankfurt and then onwards to Cape Town.

I did my research, as usual, and was pleased to find that Vienna has a fast train service which takes you from Vienna airport directly into Vienna city centre in exactly 16 mins. The cost is 20 euros per return ticket, which is really nothing considering you will be seeing another city in another country. It was a no brainer for us.

We arrived at Vienna airport on Sunday morning at 8.30am and we learnt that the CAT Train (City Airport Train) leaves every half hour and the next train would leave at 9.00am to arrive in Vienna City at 9.16am. At the CAT kiosk you are able to purchase either a single ticket, a return or a combo which is a return ticket plus a pass on the City Red Bus Tour. We opted for the combo which seemed like a good deal for us considering that we had only five hours to spend in the city before heading back to the airport to make our connecting flight.

True to European style, the train departed at exactly 9.00am from Vienna airport and arrived at exactly 9.16am in the city centre.

With it being Sunday, it seemed like the city was still struggling to wake from its slumber and shops were only just beginning to open their doors while travellers started making their way around. As we exited the Train Station we wandered around for a few minutes and as we crossed the street we stumbled upon the StadtzPark (City Park).

Stadtpark Vienna

What a pretty sight to see cherry blossoms blooming in the Park as the European winters begins making way for a delightful spring.

This municipal park was opened in 1862 after the destruction of the Vienna city hall. In the centre of the park you will find a gilded statue of musician, Johann Strauss. The park is divided in two sections by the Vienna River and while strolling through the park you will find various statues of famous Viennese artists, writers and composers.

The Red Bus Tour has one if its main stops at the Stadtpark. This is where we hopped on the bus to begin our tour of the city.

Our next stop was Prater. With its almost 1,500 acres, the Prater is one of the largest recreation areas for the Viennese people.

The Giant Ferris Wheel

Vienna’s Riesenrad, the Giant Ferris Wheel – one of Vienna’s most iconic landmarks – has been turning since 1897 in the Prater.

The Giant Ferris Wheel at the Prater – Vienna

The area around the Giant Ferris Wheel, known as Wurstelprater is a kiddie’s paradise. Here you will find the most exciting and exhilarating amusement rides you could think of. I might be wrong but I think I saw the world’s highest swing here.

I know I said, it’s a kids paradise but you would most likely find that adults are as intrigued, excited and exhilarated with the many amusement rides and novelty stands.

I think we spent far too much time at this amusement park mesmerised by the many attractions it has to offer. Word of advice, do not be distracted by the shiny, blingy attractions or you will lose too much time. We hurried to catch the next bus to continue on our tour. With a little bit of walking and navigating, we finally hopped on the bus and were on our way to the next sight.

The Vienna State Opera

The Opera house kind of just appeared as the bus took a turn on it’s city route and the recorded guide pointed out the famous Opera House to the right. We quickly had to scramble to get to the bottom of the bus to jump off.

Built in Neo-Renaissance style, the Vienna State Opera is situated in the heart or centre of the city.If you have time, you should do the 40min tour which offers insights into the history, the architecture and the operatic life of this institution. Unfortunately, we were not able to do the tour due to time constraints.

Diagonally across from the State Opera I was pleasantly surprised and delighted to find a street vendor selling kebabs and pitas. I opted for a pita bread filled with the most delicious falafel with humus and salad. You should definitely try and find this street vendor if you happen to be at the Vienna State Opera.

THE BEST falafels I have ever eaten!

Stephansplatz Pedestrian Mall

Instead of hopping back on the Red Bus we decided to do the rest of the tour by foot. We followed the crowds and soon found ourselves in one of the most popular pedestrian shopping malls in the centre of Vienna. The atmosphere around this area is festive and it seems as if everyone had decided to come out for some Sunday afternoon shopping.

Be sure to watch the time as you wonder in and out of the many brand name stores. And be sure to watch the purse too. In my experience, goods in Vienna is more expensive than some other European cities like Venice, Spain and Paris.

St Stephens Cathedral

There are many churches in and around the Stephansplatz but none as majestic as the well-known St Stephens Cathedral. Also known by its German title, the Stephansdom, this church is the mother church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Vienna and the seat of the Archbishop of Vienna.

Parked outside of this beautiful church are horsemen with their carts waiting to take you on a scenic trot around the city of Vienna. If time allows I recommend you spoil yourself to this treat. I’m sure it will be well worth it.

Unfortunately for us, time was running out and we had to head back to the train station to catch the train back to the airport.

We were fortunate to be able to add this historic and architecturally rich city to our travel itenary at very little extra cost.

Travel Tip : When travelling in Europe search for flights that will take you through as many cities and countries as possible without compromising on your total travel time.

When my hubby and I travel to a new city I do my research and I make a mental note of the sights I would like to see and how much of the city I want to explore. When you have limited time, you have to be selective and you must have some sort of a plan.

Armed with “sort of a plan”, we normally head out first day and allow the city to lead us on our path. Most times we end up at the exact places we intended to see, effortlessly. It just works out that way when you have a clear intention.

Having done all the research I can, I am normally still surprised to learn that there are a number of seemingly insignificant facts I didn’t know. Here are my top 5 things I discovered about Venice that is useful to know before you go:

Marco Polo Airport Venice is NOT located in the city of Venice.

To get to the city of Venice you have to take a Vaporetto from the airport which is located 12.4km from Venice by road and 10km from Venice by water, in a city called Tessera. Arriving late at night we travelled this 10km by water only by the light of the motorboat. It took us about one hour twenty minutes to arrive at Arsenale bus stop. It was only on our next trip in daylight that we understood the way the water bus systems works in Venice.

The streets of Venice are mostly empty at night.

If clubbing or wild loud restaurant parties are your idea of a night out, then Venice is not the place to go. As the day draws to an end, you will find the busy streets of Venice seems to quiet down to a hush. This is when couples come out to walk, hand in hand under the beautiful Venice moon.

The endless bridges can be difficult to navigate with luggage or prams.

Pack light and if you are travelling with a baby or toddler, make sure his/her pram is able to move easily up and down stairs. There is no way to get around Venice without crossing at least 10 bridges in the space of 10 mins.

Just because it looks like a pizza doesn’t mean it is a pizza.

The first night we arrived in Venice our host Ricardo sat us down and gave us some solid advice. About Italian food he said, there are some really good Italian restaurants in Venice where you can find authentic Italian pasta & pizza but most of the restaurants in the touristy part of Venice is not Italian. So be careful when you see a pizza on the menu. There are quite a few Chinese owned restaurants in Venice.

Not all gelato ice creams are created equal.

The rule is if it has this creamy swirl on the top of it, chances are it’s not real. Genuine gelato ice cream is not displayed with all the swirly stuff. The proof is in the taste. Here is a pic of genuine authentic gelato ice cream Yum!