Couchsurfing in Vienna, Austria

My friend Will from Melbourne who I met years ago at a work conference in Las Vegas has been traveling through Europe for the last few weeks. His most recent stop was Vienna, Austria so I decided to take a trip to see the city and meet up with him. Will was in Budapest until Saturday evening and was staying with some friends in Vienna. So I decided to try couchsurfing for the first time and logged on to see if somebody would host me.

I wasn’t sure what to expect with couchsurfing. I know that some hosts will show you around their city while others just provide you with a place to rest your feet and sleep. I didn’t have any expectations going into it and figured that I could always sitesee by myself on Saturday until Will got back into Vienna. But of course if I made a new friend and got to have a local show me around, it would be an even better weekend. I wrote a few people who seemed to have similar interests as me and were around the same age. Oliver responded first that he could host me.

Friday at 4 I jumped on a train to Vienna. Some people had suggested that the train is a bad way to go because it takes a long time (6 hours to Vienna). It turned out to be a beautiful trip through the mountains and small villages. So many castles on top of rolling green hills and places I wished I could stop to tour around for a bit.

Oliver offered to pick me up at the train station when I got in which was really nice. Of course I was a bit nervous to meet him but so far our exchanges had all been very pleasant and I thought it was really generous of him to pick me up. When I arrived I immediately felt at ease. He’s one of those people I could tell I would get along with and I felt comfortable and welcomed right away.

We walked around the city for a bit so that I could see it at night and looked for a place to grab a drink and a snack. Vienna is dramatic at night with all of its massive intricate buildings lit up. We walked “The Ring” of Vienna which goes around the city and pretty much has all the major sites on its route. At City Hall there was a festival going on to celebrate Istria, one of the regions of Austria, and here we grabbed a bite to eat. Oliver had told me he was a bit sick with tonsilitis so I expected we wouldn’t stay out too late. But after we saw the city he drove towards his flat which is a bit outside city center in the hilly wine region and drove us to the top of a hill where we hiked back to an old chrurch and got a great view of the whole city at night. Afterward we arrived at his flat where we stayed up talking until about 2 in the morning over some wine. I am now a huge fan of couchsurfing! I’m sure each experience will be different but I think for the most part its a network of like-minded people who want to see the world, have great experiences, and meet interesting people. Oliver told me a lot of great stories of couchsurfing through India and Italy and now he wants to give back by hosting others since his hosts were so generous to him.

Saturday morning we woke up and went to Naschmarkt which is a giant farm market and flea market. If I lived here I would shop there every day. There was such a variety of fruits and vegetables, spices, olives, pickles, greek food, cheese, meats, etc. I could probably spend all day looking through the flea market but it was crowded and we had things to see. So after what seems to be the standard breakfast here (soft boiled egg, bread & marmalade, fresh squeezed juice, and of course coffee) we walked “The Ring” again in daylight. We saw Hofburg, the Museum of Art – Museum of Nature, Parliament, City Hall the University, Karl’s Church and went inside St. Stephen’s Cathedral. When we entered I was really blown away. I had read about it in my guide book and it talked about the stained glass windows. Colored lights streamed across the dark cathedral painting the arches and walls in a rainbow. It took a minute to realize that this wasn’t from the stained glass but from some colored cellophane the hung over he windows. We weren’t sure the reason for it. Oliver wasn’t a fan but I kind of liked it because it meant I was seeing the Cathedral a bit differently than most people get to see it everyday.

After the city tour we headed to the vineyards closer to where Oliver lives. We took a nice long hike with some great views up to the top. We both decided we weren’t in the mood for wine so we ordered their fresh grape juice mixed with soda water. I’ve never had this at a vineyard before. It was really pretty amazing. Especially after a long day of walking in the sun it was pretty refreshing. Oliver wasn’t hungry but as normal I was. Inside you could order a meat and cheese board. I chose a few slices of different kinds of meat and cheese and a pickle for a snack. Oliver pointed one type of meat out and said I should try it. I wasn’t sure what it was but it turned out to be my favorite so I asked him. I knew I didn’t really want to know… it was blood sausage. Oh, well… I will eat it again it was that good!

After the vineyards we went back to the house to relax a little bit. I got in touch with Will who was back from Budapest but after the long day we decided to meet up with him on Sunday instead. Later we went to dinner at a local restaurant that served typical Austrian food. We ordered a dumpling soup and then two skillet dishes that were another sort of dumpling. One reminded me of macaroni and cheese and the other something I would eat for breakfast with eggs mixed in. They were both very good comfort food and we couldn’t even finish it all it was so filling. Oliver is also a designer and is working on building up his own advertising company that caters to people in the health and exercise industry (personal trainers, chiropractors, nutritionists, yoga instructors, etc.) So we had a lot in common to talk about and shared some ideas.

On Sunday we decided to hit a few places that are a little bit outside of the city center. We went to Schönbrunn Palace, Belvedere Palace, Hundtervasser house, and The Plater. As a thank you to my host I treated him to his first ride on the ferris wheel in Vienna where we got a great view of the city. We had a beer in the famous beer garden there and watched as other people ate giant legs of pork. I wish I had gotten a photo of a waiter carrying the huge tray of pints because it was really quite impressive. Afterward we went down to the Danube River and rested our feet for a bit. The weather was really nice and some people were swimming. I think it’d be pretty cool to live in a city that has a place to relax and swim so close by.

Sunday night we finally met up with Will and his friends at a beer garden that was pretty close by. Will was staying with a friend from Australia who married a Viennese girl and moved there. Another of his friends from Australia who is now living in Hamburg was also in town. We ate dinner (another dish with blood sausage! ) and drank so many beers I lost count. Everyone was so much fun and we were talking and laughing late into the night. It was really cool to be able to meet up with Will again after so many years.

Monday was my last day and we woke up a tiny bit hungover and went and got some breakfast at a place Will and his friends recommended. Actually, they had showed us a photo of their breakfast the night before and their whole table was covered with plates and so of course I wanted to go. It didn’t disappoint. We hung out for a little bit there with Oliver’s friend Max and then headed out to another hiking spot with some good city views. This place had a tree for each birth month and a placard describing what a person born in that month is like. Then we took a short hike through the woods to a small chapel and after that we headed off to the train station so I could head home.

Vienna is an amazing city but I don’t think my experience would have been anywhere close to the same if it weren’t for staying with Oliver. I really lucked out by meeting someone that I was instantly friends with. The best part is that Oliver and his friends were planning a trip to Croatia and he invited me to come along. Actually, as I am typing this (two weeks late) I am on the train to meet them in Maribor to head to Croatia for a few days. So, couchsurfing actually turned out to be an amazing decision and I’m looking forward to traveling to other places and meeting more great people while I’m here.

Click the gallery to scroll through images. They are in no particular order as I am lazy right now. Perhaps I will add captions later.