Naschmarkt and Schonbrunn
A chill day at the Naschmarkt and Schonbrunn Palace
This was the first day since the start of the program that I felt like a Vienna local. I got up bright and early and went with some other students tothe Flohmarkt at the Naschmarkt. The Flohmarkt is the largest flea market in Austria and considered one of the best in all of Europe, the fact that it's next to the massive farmers' market and collection of restaurants that make up the Naschmarkt is just a bonus!
I started the morning with a pretzel as well as a melange. A melange, in Vienna, is an espresso topped with milk foam. Similar to a cappuccino, this is the quintessential Viennese coffee drink and I've had it on several of my mornings here. It's foamy, warm, and delicious and I can't imagine a trip to Vienna without trying at least one. There is a popular, albeit unverified, legend that explains how the melange gave rise to the cappuccino in the rest of Europe. A Capuchin friar named Marco d'Aviano was participating in the Battle of Vienna during the 1683 Turkish Siege enjoyed melanges so much that he mastered the recipe and brought it with him on his future travels. Since this coffee was owed to a Capuchin, it was called the cappuccino.
After walking through the Naschmarkt and seeing the massive amount of fruits, vegetables, fish, and meats, we finally made it to the flea market section. I must say, I was expecting slightly different vibes at the flea market than we got. Everything was extremely expensive and much of it was a little creepy such as this collection of old plastic Disney characters.
The market as a whole was very impressive and quite large but the individual items up for sale were not inspiring to anyone in the group of us that went there. While the flea market may not have been the best thing I've seen in Vienna, the food stands that make up the majorityof the Naschmarkt were lovely and, if I had no limits on the size of my stomach, I could have spent hours trying every type of baklava, every berry, and every sausage. I plan to return here another day so I can get the full Naschmarkt experience and eat my heart out.
While I wish I could say the afternoon was as eventful as the first couple hours of the day, it was not. I was behind on my blog and somewhat desperate to catch up so I spent several hours working on that before I got a call from Dr. Stuart asking if my friends and I wanted to join her for an evening walk around the gardens at Schonbrunn Palace. After our late night out last night, and with many people needing to work on blogs, the only people who were able to come with Dr. Stuart were me and my friend Anna.
This was my second evening walk around Schonbrunn and I don't want it to be my last. There doesn't seem to be a better time to visit the palace than as the sun is setting. The building turns a beautiful golden hue and the grounds are almost completely empty. It's so peaceful wandering through the perfectly symmetrical gardens and getting to admire the artistry that goes into maintaining this place every day. We walked through the gardens to Hietzing, a neighborhood in Vienna which used to be its own small village before being incorporated into Vienna in the late 19th century.
We ended the day in the same beer garden we went to on our very first night in Vienna where Dr. Stuart and I split a pork schnitzel and all three of us had a round of Zwickl. While there, we saw a massive group of people all speaking in American accents and went to ask them what they were there for. Turns out, we were seated next to a choir who had just performed Edward Elgar's The Music Makers and many of them had flown in from the US to perform. Today was a lot more chill and a lot less packed than days before it but I'm quite grateful for the lowkey adventure I got to have.
