Erntedankfest and Baden

It was really rough waking up early after a late night out and all the activities from yesterday. But I allowed myself to sleep in until about 9:30am before making myself some porridge and putting in my laundry. Elise and I were heading to the Erntedankfest at Heldenplatz, the large square outside the Hofburg in District 1 Vienna. 

It was a gorgeous day for the Erntedankfest! This is right around where it was held

Elise enjoying harvest season!

It was actually the coolest festival and so much fun! The Erntedankfest is held every year in Vienna and is an agricultural harvest festival to celebrate the beginning of the harvest season. There were numerous food stalls giving out samples of honey, sausage, meat, cheese, fruit, vegetables, seeds, nuts, milk, and more and the option to purchase delicacies and organic fruits and veggies for great prices. In addition to all the food stalls and samples, there was a giant tent with lots of long tables surrounded by food stalls selling lunches, desserts, and, of course, beer. At the far end of the giant tent was a traditional Austrian band and dancing troupe, complete with lederhosen and dirndls! Lots of festival-goers were even dressed up in traditional clothes! The tent looked like what Oktoberfest is like: long tables full of people meeting other people, drinking lots of beer, listening to traditional music and getting dressed up in Austrian clothes. It was actually so much fun to walk around!

Giant tent of food wonder

Pastries on pastries

I love the Erntedankfest!

Elise and I met up with our friend Steph and we continued to peruse the various food stalls. We basically ate our lunch with free samples. We tried some delicious pumpkin seeds covered in vanilla, cinnamon, coffee, orange, and chocolate powders and Elise and I were so close to buying them. Instead, we contented ourselves with trying each flavor multiple times. We then tried some fresh goat cheese and nut and rye bread, then decided to try organic flavored milk. I tried raspberry and loved it! Elise had blueberry and Steph got mango, and each was incredible. However, it was very creamy, so it probably wasn't too healthy! We also got apples and pears and then went to buy humongous cucumbers and brightly colored tomatoes for really low prices. It was such a steal!

The Erntedankfest in Heldenplatz in front of the Hofburg

Steph was very excited about Erntedankfest, because Dwight says in The Office, "If only's and but's were candies and nuts, then everyday would be Erntedankfest." She's been desperate to know what exactly Erntedankfest was ever since she first saw that episode years ago, so now, she is content. And Erntedankfest was one of the coolest festivals I've ever been to! Everyone was just so happy and dressed up in traditional wear and dancing to the live music while drinking beer and eating cheese and fruits and sausages. It definitely helped that the summery weather was still around and the day was warm and sunny!

There was even a parade with harvest-themed floats around the Ringstraße!

We dropped our veggie purchases off at Steph's apartment in the 5th District (she's one of Anna's roommates!) because it was closer than our Villa, and then we headed to get the blue and white Badenbahn tram. The three of us were going south of Vienna to visit the little town of Baden! I think we might have purchased the wrong ticket on the way there, but we weren't too worried. Baden was the last stop on the hour long tram, and soon the city of Vienna was gone outside the windows and instead replaced with grimy suburbs and then beautiful hilly horizons. We made it to Baden by 3pm and discovered what a sleepy little town it was (although it was Sunday so maybe that was why it was so quiet).

The little town of Baden

Baden Rathaus

We walked through the little town center and came across a gorgeous fountain and monument outside of the Rathaus (City Hall). Right by the Rathaus was a little stage where elderly men and women in traditional outfits danced together to live music. It might have been another version of the Erntedankfest! It was really cute. Almost everyone in that town was very old or alone with their dogs. But it was a sunny little town and as we searched for a restaurant to grab a quick bite to eat, we stumbled across one of Beethoven's summer houses! Apparently it was his favorite house, here in Baden. Unfortunately, there was construction being done on the house so we couldn't get a good look. But at least we saw it!

Steph chose a Greek restaurant called El Greco for lunch. I saw that it closed at 3pm and reopened at 5pm, but when I mentioned this to her, she walked straight in anyway. Lucky for us, the owner said he'd serve us and the kitchen wasn't quite closed yet. He seated us and then turned out to be a little too friendly, asking where we were from and what we studied and how he hated politics (aka what Elise and I do...). We quickly ordered gyros and a Greek salad (for me!) and talked amongst ourselves so he'd get the point. It took a while, but after we refused the cigarettes he offered us and heard him describe his love for Memphis, Elvis Presley, and Harley Davidson, he left us alone for a bit. 

The food came and was delicious! So that was a plus. We also had another Greek waiter who found out we were American and walked up to our table and said, "Indiana Jones" and then walked away. We found it hilarious. It's like us walking up to him and saying something ridiculous like, "John Stamos."

We finally made our way to the Röemertherme Hot Springs, which was the original intent of our trip. At least by getting lost in the tiny area on our way to the springs we got to explore the little town! Elise had been so excited to sit in the hot springs and maybe get a massage, but we found out when we arrived that it was basically two indoor pools, a jacuzzi, an outdoor pool, and a hot sulfuric pool. But we'd come all this way and we were absolutely going in, despite the hefty 10 Euro entrance fee. 

Röemertherme Springs

Elise and I ready to relax

Anna and Meghan met up with us about twenty minutes after we'd arrived and were sitting in the sulfur pool outside, which was really nice because it totaled the number of people our age up to five. Almost everybody was a lot older than us and probably had grandkids. There were a few young couples with little children but it was elderly people getting their relaxation on. We joined them and had a great time relaxing in the water and talking. We somehow managed to spend over two hours in Röemertherme before heading back through the little town to get Steph, Meghan, and Elise a gelato before boarding the little tram back home. Baden was a quaint and sleepy little town, worth a visit to get away from the bustle of the city and see some Austrian mountains up close, but it wasn't the most exciting place ever. Apparently it's really beautiful at Christmas time when all the markets pop up in the cobbled town square, and I can definitely see that. Perhaps I'll make another trip out in December...

The accident was awful! This is only one of the 3 cars

Our commute back wasn't too bad until we picked up our veggies from Anna and Steph's apartment. From there, Elise and I had our long commute back to the Villa. We were both very sleepy, yet very chatty, and went through our usual routine of switching U-Bahns and then catching the tram from Schottentor (which I finally learned to pronounce the other day--"shot-en-tor"). Tragedy struck about three or four stops away from Schottentor. The conductor stopped the tram and in German told everybody to get off (Elise and I followed the sparse crowd because we don't know much German) and when we got off, we saw a horrible car accident lying in the middle of the road. Two cars had collided at an intersection and one lay completely flipped upside-down and smashed the windows of another, parked, car. It was a horrible scene and didn't look like it was going to be cleaned up anytime soon. Elise and I faced the obvious: we would have to walk to get home because there was no way the trams were going to be running for a while. The police hadn't even made it to the scene yet! 

It took us about half an hour and we were so exhausted by the time we arrived home after 9:30pm. We'd been commuting for almost 3 hours! We didn't join some of our roommates, RA, and her Austrian friends playing a game in the living room but rather came up to do our German homework and go to sleep. Speaking of which, I have 9am German tomorrow and haven't slept more than 6 hours in a few nights now. Until next time!