Vienna Take Two

The following day we slept in a bit and went to Naschmarkt while Sean and Johnson were in class. We were going to get some items for dinner that evening. A short metro ride away it stopped us right in front of the market. I missed the markets in Europe and couldn’t help wish they had things like this in America. While we have many markets in the U.S. none seem to be of the magnitude Europe’s are.  All the produce, meats, spices, cheeses, hummus and more were a bit overwhelming at first. We saw a huge barrel of sauerkraut and knew we had to get some, so we decided to cook sausages that evening.  We got two types of sausage, some peppers and bread for the evening. For lunch we had a delicious cup of noodles from a vendor there.

When we got back to the apartment Sean and Johnson headed to Schonbrunn with us. They wanted to check out the Zoo even though I was more excited to see another Palace. This palace was designed after the Palace in Versailles, France. It was breathtaking and huge. We walked the grounds a bit and through the gardens was the Zoo. We walked over the wolf park and witnessed a walrus and seal show. After the zoo, we walked up the garden and stopped at the terrace that looked over the palace and the city of Vienna. We enjoyed a beer there as the sun went down. On our way back we passed by a grotto and took in the rest of the grounds.

 

                Back at the apartment we cooked up a meal for Sean and Johnson and they said it was the best meal they had made in their apartment, regardless of what that says about their cooking abilities I took it as a compliment. Once we were stuffed and finished all of the beer we got ready for Tequila Tuesdays at the Travel Shack. This is where Sean and a lot of people in his program frequent on Tuesdays. We headed out and braced ourselves for the Vienna nightlife. This was a little bar quite a ways from Sean’s apartment. The place was packed with mostly Americans until we found ourselves in a tiny room with many Europeans attempting to sing Macklemore and Ryan Lewis. We were in a European karaoke room. This room was pretty entertaining for a while and I must applaude them for the effort. In all actuality they probably sang better than I, even if they didn’t speak English. At the Travel Shack I also learned what the Chuck Noris shot was. I did not learn about it by taking one, but rather by witnessing one. As I stood in line at the bar I was caught off guard when the bartended slapped two of the gentlemen on the other side of the bar across their faces. My first thought was- damn I wish I could do that. Then my second thought was-what on Earth did they do? It wasn’t until later when I saw some promotion videos playing I realized they were taking the Chuck Noris shot, which was famous to this bar. It was fun to see Sean and his friends dancing and dancing a bit myself. Overall it was a great evening. When we got back to Sean’s apartment I insisted we have another Kaiserkriener. This was my first mistake of the evening, that or the tequila shots. The next morning the Kaiserkriener did not sit right and we did not make it up for our day trip to Salzburg. Although I was disappointed we didn’t make it, I had the best day in Vienna yet.