A Ride on the Riesenrad

Jenn's Aunt Marla and her three daughters, Shiri, Roni, and Arielle came to Vienna to meet up with us at the end of January. They live in Israel and were looking for somewhere fun to getaway to for the weekend. It unfortunately was extremely cold at that time, but it was really nice getting to be with them and we actually got to do a lot in Vienna that we hadn't previously done.

WIA: We take all of our guests to the very famous schnitzel place, Figlmuller, but it never disappoints. We ate lunch at the modern and trendy Orlando di Castello. The decor is in stark contrast to many of the more traditional cafes and restaurants in the city. The burgers were not only tasty, but smaller in size, which was perfect. Burgers are always way too big. They are also, to generalize, pretty crappy in Europe. On Saturday night, we ate at TGI Fridays which was better than I expected. Marla and the girls like to hit the American chains when they travel because they don't get that type of food in Israel. The portions were enormous and it's much more expensive than a meal should be at Fridays, but overall, the experience was okay. We never would have gone there on our own and truth be told, it's always good to get a taste of American food, so I wasn't too upset that we ended up there.

WIS: We slept in our own bed over the weekend and met them in each Vienna each day. We considered staying in Vienna for a night, but we're so used to taking the train or the bus, that it's just not a big deal.

WID: We hit a lot of tourist sites that I hadn't previously been to in Vienna, which was kind of fun. The clock museum and the Sigmund Freud Museum I could have done without, but I was just along for the ride. The State Hall of the National Library was very cool. It looks like a palace with statues, collections of random fancy things, busts, and frescoed ceilings, but filled with tons of very old (some comically large) books.

The highlight of the weekend was our adventure on the Vienna Riesenrad. We had never heard of it until Marla brought it up. She had read about it in a guide book. It's a big Ferris wheel, but instead of the normal seats or cages, they have huge boxcars, kind of like train cars. It moves incredibly slowly, so there is no real chance of motion sickness. One spin around took about 20 minutes or so.

On an extremely cold Sunday, we went to the Tiergarten (zoo), which is part of the grounds of the Schonbrunn Palace. It was pretty fun, though the animals and the zoo were a bit worn down. My most recent comparisons were zoos in New Orleans and Miami, which we visited with our nephews. They are also both really great zoos. Anyway, the pandas were entertaining, as were the penguins, who seemed quite comfortable in the freezing weather.

WAM: On Saturday evening, we walked to the big ice skating rink that they open for the winter in front of the Rathaus. I was a little nervous because Marla and the kids weren't that into going, but it turned out to be cool. There is one large open skating area and then a more narrow long route that winds around the park. We didn't skate because the line was really long and we were on our way to dinner, but it looked like a lot of fun. If we're around next year, we'll go.

WTF: After the Riesenrad, Shiri and Roni went for a ride on this big, crazy, spinny thing. I can probably list 100 reasons why it was a horrible idea, but I'll stick to four for now:
1. The rides in the whole fair area were pretty antiquated
2. Europe isn't exactly known for its strict safety measures
3. The temperature was hovering around 12 Fahrenheit
4. The ride literally lifts you in the air and swings you around in nausea inducing circles at an incredibly fast speed. Why is that fun?
The girls loved it.

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