Vienna

Arriving late at night, my couch surfing host was still awesome enough to pick me up at the train station when I got off the bus. Like my previous bus trip, I was lucky enough to talk to a friendly guy who let me use his phone to call her. Otherwise, who knows if I would've ever found her among the several exits to the station. She took me back to her flat, where we enjoyed a vegan pastry,  then went to bed.

The following morning, Carina first took me on a walk to the top of the mountain beside her house. Upon reaching the top, I was able to get an amazing view of Vienna, as well as see a cute hostel nested beside a vineyard and an extravagant hotel. We then took the bus to Sici Palace, an extravagant palace with well manicured gardens filled with large fountains and statues. Electing to see the gardens only and not enter the palace itself, we took the U-bahn back to the city center. We first stopped at Vienna's first vegan grocery store on the way. By chance, the owner, Jan, was there when I visited and I was able to speak with him. Despite being vegan for around a year, he has embraced the lifestyle so much that he decided to create the new store. When I asked him what he suggested in buying, he led me to a nougat which he apparently sells more than grocery bags. Of course I picked one up to try.

The getting of the store has a small cafe and before leaving, Carina and I split a meal with rice flavored with bets, as well as a vegetable dish mixed with collard greens and mushrooms. Stuffed to the brim, we walked around the city center, which includes Stephansdom, the prominent church in all touristy Vienna photos. By chance, we also walked into a symphony practice at another church, which was a surprisingly nice treat.

Already hungry, we stopped at a cupcake shop.to eat one of the best cupcake I have ever eaten in my life, a vegan chestnut variety. Still.hungry, we headed to a two month old vegan ice cream place called Veganista. With every flavor made with vegan ingredients, I was overwhelmed with the choices. Nevertheless, I settled on matcha and cookies (like cookies and cream) to finish our walk through the city.

It was Carina's last day of work the following day, so we headed to.the grocery store and then home to make a few goodies for her co workers.  Despite being simple, her tomatoe pastry was delicious. I was also amazed that she could make such fabulous cakes with no measuring tools or recipes. Everything she did was impromptu. Needless to say, I devoured her homemade delicacies.

Since Carina had to work, I had the morning to myself, so I decided to go to Belvedere, which is composed of three art galleries. Focusing.on different periods, I.was able to.get a nice overview of art while viewing the spectacular architecture and paintings if the Belvedere buildings. I will say that the contemporary art exhibits were quite    Meet up with Carina to see opera house, secession building, Naschmarkt where the variety of vegetables and fruit available is much greater and you can get fifteen falafel for three euros, Hundertvasser  houses, walked through the city and stopped at another ice cream place with vegan options, meet up with Michael at Rupp's pub and got vegan goulash and schnitzel  and apfelstrudel with vanillesauce

Day 3:
After a very late start, I was off to the Fine arts museum with Mario at noon. Despite being full of gorgeous paintings, since I have been to so many art museums recently, I get as though I wasn't appreciating the works of art any longer. Nevertheless, I spent  several hours there before heading to the connected museum to see Roman ruins, coats of armour, and various instruments. A bizarre albeit interesting mix of artifacts to end the day.

Since Mario's English wasn't very good, we also had many translation adventures. I learned that pleated skirt can be 'crease rock' with just a space. And unfortunately I forgot the word that translated to 'sip hummingbird'. We arrive home around six and after a quick break left for a restaurant, which was a sort of mix between a winery and restaurant.
The set up of the restaurant was something I had never experienced. We ordered the food first and were served our meals on trays. Then we headed to the seats that we reserved, where we would be served drinks. I  ordered a tofu noodle dish but unfortunately it was terrible so I ended up eating a spinach strudel. Carina and Mario also ordered a mushroom quiche which was delicious. We spent some time just chasing then headed home where I ate way too much of her amazing homemade hazelnut chocolate and coconut chocolate cake for dessert. This night was another example of a couch surfing experience that I can cherish. Simply as a tourist, I would never have had the knowledge to come here. As a seemingly well known type of restaurant, I'm glad to have had the Vienna experience.

Day 4: Vienna countryside
My plans weren't definite and I wasn't sure if I should stay in Sunday or not, but I am extremely happy I did. After going to mass at a church by their flat, we headed to her home town, which is also very close to Mario's. On the way, we passed another hundertvasser masterpiece, an incinerator. Despite the rather unenvironmentable purpose of an incinerator, seeing hundertvasser's take on it was quite beautiful. His characteristic bright colors, jagged shapes, an extensive use of plant life made the building an obvious hundertvasser work.

We first stopped in the middle of a vineyard, where we climbed to the top of a building to get a view of the countryside. Purple and green grapes covered every inch that one could see in the distance. After, we headed to Carina's father's home, where her brother and sister still live. Her sister, Silke, works in the city but endures an hour plus commute daily so that she can take care if her two horses. Her brother takes a large role in the vineyard and farm tasks with her father.
After meeting her grandparents, we walked through the area that they create the wine and schnapps in. It's incredible how many bottles that they produce for such little labor. I tried a vegan stromb, and her father said that since this batch was successful, they were going to convert all of their current wines to a vegan production process. (Many wines are not vegan because the filtering process utilizes gelatin from pigs.) After, we headed to the traditional wine cellars below the earth, where I was able to try several of their wines; my favorite was a mix of red wines.

After the wine tasting, we went to a llama farm whose purpose is to educate  rather than to produce b meat. Unfortunately the alpacas were scared so I want able to get really close up unless the owner put them in a leash, but it was refreshing and surprising to  find out that the male owner was also vegan.
With time to spare, we went to one if her father's close friend's horse farms then headed to the Czech Republic, just a few kilometers away. With a much lower cost of living, Carina told me that her sister comes here for three euro pizzas. Next, we headed back to her father's house where I took a nap before we headed to dinner.

Although I wasn't aware, the restaurant Schillingers is a famous vegan restaurant about an hour from Vienna in the suburbs. Since we were already out of the city, Carina made a reservation for us. I was extremely excited as this restaurant has been vegan for five years. Carina also told meet that.when Pamela Anderson comes to Vienna, she.had her food cater from them. Additionally, the restaurant also caters a vegan menu for a kindergarten school and many people have transferred their children to this school just for the vegan menu.
Ready for some excellent vegan dishes, I ordered the special, a vegan chicken with fried potatoes and a pumpkin mash. Carina ordered a meat stew with dumplings, and mario ordered cordon bleu (all vegan). I loved the chosen, but the mash was quite salty and the potatoes were plain. I thought that Carina's dumplings were excellent, as well as Mario's cordon bleu. Of course there's always room for desert, and I ordered nougat dumplings and shared with Carina, who ordered chocolate pancakes. I thought the dumplings were spectacular.

We stayed at the restaurant much longer after we finished, simply talking and enjoying each other's company. Around ten we headed home, and I was exhausted.