March 1, 2009

What a beautiful city! From the Danube River right outside our hotel, to the energetic people on the street, to all the amazing architecture and culture that the city has to offer?it is by far the most exciting place that I’ve traveled to.

In order to adjust to the time change more fully, we traveled to Vienna on Friday, Feb. 27 and arrived Saturday the 28th. Now it is Sunday and, except for a small workout to loosen up with, we have the day off, and we’re going to see the city!

A teammate of mine (Kimberly Derrick) has a boyfriend (Joe Betterman) who wrestles for Team USA and just so happens to be at a competition in Hungary, which is only about an hour away. Not only is he so close, but he has a friend from Vienna who offered to drive him to see Kimberly. It all worked out perfectly! They got to spend the day together, and Joe’s friend Peter gave us tips on all the cool places to see. We learned the Austrian subway system, and it’s actually a really easy town to get around.

So the first thing we did was check out a stop called Prater. I’m not sure why it’s famous in Vienna, but it was a type of fairgrounds with all kinds of rides, stores, snacks. In Austria almost everything is closed on Sunday, but Prater was up and running, just showing how popular it is here. We rode roller coasters, which were way cooler than anything in the States! We took a bunch of pictures and really just enjoyed how different things are in Vienna.

After everyone’s stomach was too upset to look at another ride, we headed downtown. The biggest stop in Vienna is Stephansplatz, and it absolutely took my breath away to ride the escalator up from the windy subway into fresh air and see St. Stephen’s Cathedral. The second most spectacular cathedral I’ve ever seen up close (the Duomo in Milan wins).

Downtown was cool, but unfortunately everything was closed. Even still, the streets were packed with vendors, people and entertainers. And like any true American team would, we sampled the local McDonald’s. : ) It’s weird how in every country a McDonald’s burger tastes different. Not in a bad way…just different.

I’ve heard that Vienna has very good wienerschnitzel and is also famous for a cake called Sachertorte. A schnitzel is a way of preparing meat where the meat is pounded down super thin, breaded and pan-fried. Wienerschnitzel is how it’s traditionally prepared with veal. And Sachertorte is supposed to be a decadent dark chocolate cake with a layer of apricot preserves in the middle. I’m dying to try them both, but I’ll have to wait for another day.

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