{"id":34401,"date":"2024-09-12T09:21:30","date_gmt":"2024-09-12T07:21:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thechillreport.com\/?p=34401"},"modified":"2024-09-20T11:47:56","modified_gmt":"2024-09-20T09:47:56","slug":"vienna-fan-dave","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thechillreport.com\/en\/2024\/09\/12\/vienna-fan-dave\/","title":{"rendered":"A real Vienna Fan: Dave has visited the City over 20 times"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Most people who visit Vienna leave with a heavy heart and love to revisit Austria\u2019s capital in their memory. Some never leave. And some come back over and over again<\/strong>. One of the latter is Dave. Born and raised in Britain, he worked in the railway industry<\/strong> ever since he was 15 years old. Even before that he loved travelling. As his father worked on the railway as well, he got a few free tickets a year as well as reduced rate tickets. And from the age of 9<\/strong> he was travelling around Britain by train. At 14 he ventured further and visited Rome. With no internet, no google translate and fewer English speaking people<\/strong> than today that was quite the challenge. But that didn\u2019t stop Dave from his adventures. And later on becoming a real Vienna Fan. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Dave
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\"Venna
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Besotted with the City<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

On the day after his last exam, Dave travelled by train to (then) Yugoslavia. He spent two weeks near Rejeka<\/strong>. Then he travelled to the bottom of the country and back to Belgrade. From there he got the night train to Vienna. \u201cIt was an old bottle green coloured coach with plastic seats\u201d, <\/em>Dave remembers. \u201cI had the compartment to myself,<\/strong> which was good for early July\u201d. <\/em>He arrived at the S\u00fcdbahnhof two and a half hours late. \u201cI felt lonely and sad\u201d<\/em>, Dave admits. His plan was to get the night train from Vienna to Buchs<\/strong> in Switzerland that evening. He knew that he had to change stations and worked out it was a tram 18 he needed. But he couldn\u2019t work out the direction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Vienna
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\"Dave
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\u201cAt the time I didn\u2019t speak a word of German and didn\u2019t know how to buy tram tickets. I ended up jumping on the tram and got to Westbahnhof without paying.\u201d <\/em>Still feeling sorry for himself, he left his suitcase at the left luggage<\/strong> and walked down Mariahilfer Stra\u00dfe to the Ringstra\u00dfe. By the time he had to get onto the train to Switzerland, something had changed. \u201cI was besotted with the place. The architecture, the parks and everything bowled me over.\u201d <\/em>A true Vienna Fan was born.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tipps from a Pro<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

We asked Dave for three things every first-time visitor should put on their bucketlist: \u201cThis is down to a personal choice<\/strong>. When I was younger I loved the Prater. Now, I\u2019m too old, but the ferris wheel<\/strong> should be down whilst mimicking the theme from \u2018The Third Man'\u201d. <\/em>He also recommends a tour around the Ringstra\u00dfe, either by foot or tram. \u201cAnd the gardens of Sch\u00f6nbrunn Palace<\/strong>. Maybe Grinzing\u201d, <\/em>he adds. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dave\u2019s favourite Food and Hotel<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Asked for his personal favourite when it comes to dining options, he states: \u201cobviously Wiener Schnitzel\u201d.<\/em> He likes to stay in the Hotel Kunsthof<\/strong> near the Prater. Dave likes it for its lovely courtyard for summer evenings where you can watch bats at sunsets. \u201cThey have an honesty bar too\u201d.<\/em> Plus: The hotel is located in walking distance to Praterstern station with direct trains to the airport.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Dave
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\"Vienna
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For him, the best time to visit Vienna is either May for nice spring weather or September <\/strong>for Sturm season<\/a>. One of the biggest differences between Vienna and other cities is in his opinion good public transport, lower prices<\/strong>, good rail connections and lots of grand architecture. Viennese people strike him mostly as friendly and we\u2019re quite sure that this real Vienna Fan will be back soon again. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Have you been to Vienna lately and would love to share some of your travel experiences with our readers? Do not hesitate to get in touch. We\u2019re looking forward to hearing from you! Either e-mail us or leave a comment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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