Fruitless - Vienna, Austria
On the first morning in Vienna, I was feeling particularly anti-social - one of those days where I just lay in bed on the internet all day, only getting up to eat or take a piss.
But something in my brain spurred me out of bed around noon - I only had this one full day in Vienna - let this not be a fruitless venture!
What made Vienna so unique? Well, I walked. I simply wandered about the city. Looking at the architecture, stopping at some hot dog stands to try each sausage type and different topping combinations, also stopping at a few cafés for a little coffee and a bit of writing. No grand tours, museums, fancy outings, or crazy clubs - just wandering and experiencing. I fully expected the time here to be kind of a waste, but it turns out that a little exploration can go a long way!
The highlight of Vienna was the Donaukanal. It was an offshoot of the Danube River that split off into its own canal for a couple miles before rejoining with its parent. The wide banks of this canal were elevated over the waters, but still a good ~30 feet (~10 meters) below the city streets. The promenade was paved but had plenty of benches, tables, and portions of grass, which altogether created a recreational walking area with plenty of little places to stop and have a picnic or get a beer at a mini bar. The coolest part of this area, by far, was the actual miles of graffiti lining either side of the promenade’s walls. It was an endless string of impressive urban art. I started to stroll along the promenade, listening to my Spotify Discover Weekly playlist (this updates regularly with new music). Plenty of bikers and runners whizzed past me as I stopped to take photos every hundred feet or so. I’ll let the art speak for itself:
After the canal, I saw a familiar face at the hostel bar: Mahir from Texas! I haven’t talked about him yet, but we actually met during a drunken night in Venice, and then we just so happened to be staying in the same hostel again in Vienna. Him and I spent the evening in Vienna chatting with Conner from Wisconsin. Awesome lads, they. (Oh, and funnily enough, I actually saw Mahir a third time a few days later one of Budapest’s famous ruin bars! Small world, right?)
The next morning I went wandering a second time, but this time with a little more purpose. I visited the Schoenbrunn Palace a little outside the city center. Entrance tickets to the actual palace cost money, but the gardens were free, so I threw on my headphones and listened to the album Fossora by Björk for the first time. This album is very avant-garde and I really enjoyed it, especially the latter half.
I left the gardens satisfied with my sightseeing, then made a spontaneous stop to refill my candy stash at a Lindt chocolate truffle shop which I happened to pass by (and that likely will not be my last visit to Lindt).
My time in Vienna ended with a delicious Irish coffee and some more writing before hopping on the train to Budapest, where things would take a wild turn for my well-being. Read more about it here, if you don’t mind reading something on the emotionally heavy side.
Fruitless by Bridal Party is one of my favorite songs right now, and inspired this post’s title.
