Of Heuriger, Curry and Snow

Alriiiight, here comes another post full of pixies!

Dinner @ÖAD Guesthouse

Visited Fish & Vishnu, the 2 NUS guys who are also on an exchange program in WU Wien, at their hostel yesterday. Their room is superb, man -it’s like a mini apartment furnished with avant-garde furniture with a really nice kitchen they have all to themselves. The neighbourhood is pretty scary though, being peppered with erotic video shops and strip bars, wahaha.

Anyways, Cheryl and I were greeted by an inviting curry aroma as soon as we stepped out of the lift.

 

The guys cooked us dinner! :) :) A delicious meal of prata + chicken curry and peaches for dessert, yum yum. As you could see from the top left picture, Vishnu managed to master the art of flipping prata overnight :p

After dinner, Min Dan joined us and we headed to a nearby casino to catch the Champions League match between Real Madrid and Bayern Munich. The boys and Min Dan had their money on Real, so it was all quite fun to watch, especially when Bayern won the match in the end, hurhur.

Heuriger @Schübl-Auer

Tuesday night was spent at the Heuriger organized by WU Wien’s International Buddy Network. The restaurant itself isn’t half as nice as the one I went to with the girls, Hiro and Paul on my first day in Vienna, and the food was just so-so. A lot of the exchange students were there, though, so it was nice in its own way.

Innsbruck

To pick up where my last post left off, here’s a travelogue on my Innsbruck trip with Cheryl, Min Dan and Yishan. The 4 of us took the train from Vienna to Innsbruck at 6am in the morning last Friday, shortly after we partied the night away at the Buddy Network Welcome Party, so we were all pretty much knocked out during the 5-hour trip. Unfortunately, the thick clouds and drizzles that greeted us at Innsbruck further dampened our mood.

 

For the uninitiated, Innsbruck is the capital of the federal state of Tyrol in Austria. This gorgeous mountain city hosted the 1964 and 1976 Winter Olympics. On the one hand, its Altstadt (old town) is where one can find fancy architecure and relics of the Hapsburg empire. Its snow-coated mountains, on the other hand, are perfect for skiing and hiking.

A typical sight in Innsbruck

Yishan and me in front of the Triumphpforte, which was built in 1765 after the betrothal of Emperor Leopold II to Maria Ludovica. His father, Francis I Stephen of Lothringen, died during the celebrations. One side if the arch symbolizes the joyful aspect of the event, the other the sadness.

Maria-Theresien-Straße, Innsbruck’s most distinctive street that runs south from the Altstadt. It is lined with church domes and shopping boutiques.

Annasäule, the column built to commemmorate the Tyroleans’ 1703 victory over the Bavarians during the War of Spanish Succession.

At the Swarovski Crystal Gallery (the Swarovski company started off at Wattens, which is really near Innsbruck!)

 

In front of Goldenes Dachl (Golden Roof), the gold-shingled balcony meant for honoring Maximilian I, Innsbruck’s favorite Hapsburg emperor. It was built by Friedrich IV in 1420 as the residence of the Tyrolean sovereigns and completed in 1500.

 

Helblinghaus, originally a Gothic town house, dating from the 15th century. In 1730, the facade was decorated with late-baroque stuccoes by artists from the Wessobrunner School.

 

A candid shot of me taken in front of the Hofburg Imperial Palace

Cheryl and me in front of Landestheater, originally the court opera house of 1654. It was converted between 1844 and 1846 into Classical Style by the Venetian architect, Segusini.

Fortunately for us, the sky started to clear later that day, so we were able to enjoy ourselves a lot more. After all, what could be more perfect than a sunny day spent in one of the finest gardens north of the Alps?

Hofgarten, a park laid out in the 16th century by Archduke Ferdinand II and changed into baroque style by Maria Theresia. I bet it’s breathtakingly gorgeous in spring!

 

A giant chess set in the park

I have this penchant for horse carriages, so was delighted to find one outside the park!

Ferdinandeum, a museum that houses finds from prehistoric and early times

Done with the sightseeing at the Altstadt in just half a day, Min Dan and I headed to Nordpark for a cable car ride up the Tyrolean Alps. We were dying to see some snow, you bet!

 

We had a panoramic view over 400 mountain peaks of Stubaital, Ötztal and Zillertal Alps, all perfectly coated in snow!

Some skiing event on a mountain slope

Min Dan was damn excited!

So was I! =D

 

Min Dan left her left glove in Vienna, thus the freezing expression on her face, haha

Watch us play with snow and take a look at our cable ride on my Vodpod widget at the sidebar, or click here -both videos are courtesy of Min Dan!

After a satisfying dinner at a great pizzeria in town, we took another train ride to Salzburg where Hiro, Alex and her boyfriend Vien were gonna meet us. Look out for my next entry on Salzburg and in the meantime, here are more photos of beautiful Innsbruck!

P.S. I love Austrian trains -Eurostar barely holds a candle!