Oh beautiful, peaceful Austria. The last stop to our Europe jaunt was this beautiful country filled with rolling hills and massive palaces. I believe I would have enjoyed this place more if we weren't all sick and tired and sore and broke. Everyday of sightseeing grew more and more torturous for my feet and spirit. It even got to the point where Sepehr, our unofficial group photographer got sick of taking pictures! Instead of his usual 200 snaps a day, he maybe only tok around 75 a day. Woe!
To heal my pain, I ate. I ate a lot in Vienna and in Salzburg. All I can remember is popping into restaurants and bakeries and cafes and stopping for something sweet, something warm, something delicious every chance we got. It's no wonder I gained weight when I got back to Cali!
Here, we all got a massive craving for home food, Persian food. Oddly enough, we found one a few streets down from our hostel! We quickly hightailed it there for a bountiful lunch.
Ten minutes after our ginormous Persian feast, we headed down the street and stopped by a bakery for some divine gelato, cappachino, and pastry. I love how these European shops would always provide a small glass of water to go with the sweets. They know even the sweetest of sweet tooths can't handle that much treats.
Afternoons usually entailed some sort of bread or pastry. I had heard that Vienna was famous for their "Wurstelstands" which are little stands that sell all different forms of hot dogs and pretzels. I ordered the standard hot dog which is a sausage embedded in a drilled baguette and infused with ketchup and mustard already in the bun. Every bite of the hot dog has melted cheese squirting out and it was a messy but ultra delicious treat.
Nightfall brought us to the ubiquitous Falafel and Kebab stands of Europe! Everywhere we go has these establishments which are usually opened until 5 in the morning. Kebabs are basically this humongous slab of meat hoisted up on a stand, roasting, with the oils dripping off. When you order a kebab, the kebab seller would use a knife and scrape off the meat so they're in thin slices. Then he puts in into either a pita or regular hamburger bun and douses it with veggies, delicious sauces. It is the BEST late night snack ever! Also the best breakfast, lunch or dinner ever. I'm really itching to open these up in LA. I think college students getting the munchies would most definitely hit these late night spots.
We usually have to end our nights with something sweet. Late night coffee shops proved to have just the sustenance. Here is a cone filled with berries and cream. YUm! We also visited the famous Mozart Cafe one evening and everyone thought a cup of hot chocolate infused with a little somethin' somethin' would warm our throats up. Turns out it did, it downright nearly burnt our throats! I think hot chocolate and alcohol should never mix. And it never will in my cup again.
In between all that eating, we visited some sights.
Is it wrong that I'm between some of the greatest minds of Vienna at the University of Vienna and all I can think about is having a hot dog from the Wurstelstand?
Apple? Why yes, don't mind if I do!
In front of the world famous Vienna Opera House, dreaming of our next meal.
The interior of this chapel in Salzberg. Our growling stomachs probably disturbed much of its peacefulness and tranquility.
Pretty building. I wonder if there are any good restaurants nearby?
This is the house where Mozart was born and raised. Looks just like a delicious slice of lemon cake huh?
St. Peter's cemetary, one of the famous landmarks where "Sound of Music" was based off on. The entire town of Salzburg was filled with these locations and we visited a few but wasn't able to find all of them. I never got to take my "running down the hill like Maria and her children" picture. Pity. But no worries, that Wurstelstand hot dog more than made up for it!
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