Tamara Hebert

We took an eight hour bus ride from Novi Sad to Vienna to spend a couple of days relishing in the beauty of this stunning capital.

An enormous thanks to the famous Rick Steves for providing me with late night travel entertainment months ago, which in turn planted some culinary seeds in my mind for that glorious day when I would visit Vienna. Well, here we are, and it was everything I could have imagined and more.

Also, a very big acknowledgement to the Gretl Guides: Vienna podcast for her incredibly helpful cultural commentary, historical facts and insight.

We began our trip with some little pastries underground at the Ubon station immediately in front of St. Stephen’s Cathedral. They were very affordably priced, fresh and tasty introductions to the local baking scene. (No picture, but you can trust me – they were quite good).

We then entered the north aisle of St. Stephen’s which is free, and you can see a good deal down the aisle from that vantage point. It was absolutely stunning.

Next, my mom and son took coffee at a coffee house across from the cathedral – the coffee culture is much more seriously taken here than in the states, with waiters serving you at the finer locations. I again didn’t get a photo of the coffee, but I’ll make up for lack of food imagery shortly.

Post coffee break we stopped in at the gift shop of Mozart’s flat, we didn’t want to pay the entry fee but the gift shop had been a room in his apartment so that was good enough for us!

Then we stopped in to THE BEST second hand shop I have ever been to, directly across from St. Stephen’s Church! It was so cute it was basically a boutique!!!

We heartily enjoyed some schnitzel and potato salad (unbelievably good) at the famous Figlmüller restaurant.

Afterwords I stepped in to the Lindt store where Ella chose some Lindt ice cream… her face says it all.

And we continued our food tour with the famous Sacher Torte from Hotel Sacher – rich (in the most elevated sense of the word) sponge cake with an apricot jam filling, covered in a thin chocolate crust. No words.

As we had continually shared meals and desserts, it was never an “overfilled” feeling, but the most pleasant, heartily enjoyed sort of meal.

Nonetheless, it was Jovana’s turn to get something special, and she got a strawberry sorbet – her favorite – after some fun looking at a lovely fountain in the city.

I ended up leaving the family and going on a walk of a lifetime to see the Belvedere Museum, with the sole intent of seeing one painting – The Kiss. I have never had any interest whatsoever in Gustav Klimt, or the painting, but I figured if it was available to see, and I was close, why not?

That was quite possibly one of the best decisions I could have made that day. Not only is the Belvedere a sight to behold, but Klimt’s Kiss was more moving than I could have imagined in person. And – I’ll leave my feelings about it at that.

Oh, and also, I did get to see this darling painting by Monet! What an unexpected treat!

And that is all for tonight, Day Two will *hopefully* come soon!