Vienna - The Cleanest City I've Ever Seen

So I've been in Vienna a few days now, and wow - the first thing that comes to mind is that this is the cleanest city I've ever seen. I pride myself on saying that Chicago is one of the cleanest big cities in the US, which I still think is true, but Vienna takes it to a whole new level. I mean, obviously it's just 1.5M people, but walking around downtown it really feels like you are on the set of a movie. No garbage. People are very nice and everyone is dressed very cleanly. Nice and tidy. The history here is amazing as well. Mozart, Beethoven, Goethe, Freud, and so many more musicians and writers. So the first day I got here I met up with my sister, Stasha and we hit an Italian place near the main square. Yes, we always get Italian no matter where we are - be it Spain or Austria. Classic. So we go to this place called Ristorante Danieli, and the food could not have been more amazing! Pics below - you can imagine how happy my sister was to eat this food coming from Saudi Arabia. After that we walked around the city center area for a bit and then I headed back to take a nap. My host Isabella came home a few hours later and took me, my sister, and my friend Matt (who is RANDOMLY here for a Radiation Oncology conference) to dinner at this amazing local spot called Zum Posthorn. Apparently this place was opened in 1870!! There were definitely no tourists in the place and we ate the most authentic Austrian foods. Was a blast! After that we grabbed a quick drink at a nearby bar, and then all headed back to our respective homes and passed out. The next morning I met back up with Stasha and yes, we again had Italian. Ha. This time we went to a place right next to her hotel called Ristorante Fratelli. Does that name sounds familiar? Well, it should, because it's the name of the fugitive family in the movie The Goonies. Yes - one of my all time favorites. We couldn't stop laughing about the name and the fact that the food was AMAZING. We think the Fratelli's snuck out of the movie and made it to Austria ;) After the delicious lunch we went and saw the most cherished tourist attraction in Austria - the St Stephen's Cathedral, which was first erected in the 12th century. So amazing. So huge. So peaceful and cool. While we're walking around in the cathedral we hear a group of high school students start practicing singing in the front of the church. Wow. One of the more amazing sounds and images I've ever seen: about 30 kids singing to the accompaniment of 4 violins. So angelic. Stasha and me sat there for a while just soaking it all in. What a great way to see the cathedral. After that we got on the bus that takes you around the city and saw all the main sights, including the parliament, opera house, and other monuments to artists from over the years. As we are walking around we stumble upon this bike festival which is going on in the front of the parliament building. They had a bunch of ramps and jumps setup, and these dirt bikers were doing back flips and twists and all this other crazy stuff. Fun to watch. We head back into the city center and grab a drink at the hotel across from Stasha's, which is part of the same parent company, and they tell us we can go up to the rooftop and take a look. Wow. Breathtaking views from all angles. I took a bunch of great pics with my camera but of course I lost the chord necessary for uploading them to my laptop. I'm gonna get a new chord tomorrow so don't fear. This won't be like my delays in South American, I promise :) After the drinks we met back up with Isabella and some of her friends, as well as my friend Matt, as this trendy new place called Ulrich Cafe. I liked my meal but it wasn't that great, and sadly Stasha HATED hers. She actually didn't touch it, and then she left right after dinner. I felt horrible, but I put her in a cab and said I'd see her tomorrow. She ended up going home and getting a real nice sandwich from across from her hotel - so it worked out well. After dinner we went to a few bars, but nothing too crazy. This was Saturday night. The following day me and Stasha planned to hit up Bratislava, which is the capital city of Slovakia (formerly part of Czechoslovakia).

The flight in...

Our first lunch in Vienna. So amazing (and yes, Italian)

Modern Art Museum pics...

CAPONE!!

Picasso

My sister at a very weird video installation. 

I took a college seminar based on the painting in the bottom right of this pic. It's a picture of a pipe, but the words underneath say "This is not a pipe". Yes, very ethereal but very cool. loved seeing this. 

Eating more Italian - this time at Ristorante Fratelli!!

Hanging out with Isabella's dog…so chill