Blog 16 von Weronika

Honestly, one of my favourite “activities” to do here is just going for a walk. As simple as that sounds, it is really fun. The city’s architecture is one of a kind and truly breathtaking. So, just spending some time with no plan or map going around the city centre is so much fun, as you find new hidden gems that you wouldn’t find on any list or tour.

Take some friends or go alone and just follow your heart and you might find some unusual places, cute shops with interesting window displays, delicious restaurants or just pretty architecture. Vienna is truly one of the most aesthetic cities I’ve ever been to.

Here are some pictures from one of my walks to further inspire you to go for your own adventure:

Blog 15 von Weronika

A fun and less typical idea for a day off is going to a Botanical Garden and Butterfly Garden (Palmenhaus & Schmetterlinghaus). There is one not that far from the DeutschAkademie in Burggarten.

It’s an amazing idea for a rainy day when you can’t really spend the day outdoors. Here you can spend some time admiring nature and the beautiful butterflies, a great activity to get rid of any stress. There is also a cafe, so you could go for some nice hot coffee or tea, to make light of an otherwise rainy day. And if the weather clears up, you can spend the afternoon in the lovely Burggarten right by the garden.

Blog 14 von Weronika

Friedrich Stowasser, better known by his pseudonym Friedensreich Regentag Dunkelbunt Hundertwasser, was an Austrian visual artist and architect, who was very opposed to the idea of “straight lines” and any “standard” or “typical” ideas.

So, his art is characterised by its uniqueness. One of his most famous works is HundertwasserHaus in Vienna, it’s a very unusual apartment from both the outside and inside.

The outside of the building is very colourful and a varied mix of patterns and building materials. It really stands out from the surrounding buildings. Inside the apartment you will find uneven flooring, grass roofing and other peculiar sights. It’s a very unique tourist attraction that is worth visiting even just to see from outside. The museum inside is currently closed until early 2024, so sadly I couldn’t visit it.

Blog 13 von Weronika

If you’re looking for a fun activity to do alone or with a group, but don’t know what to do, sign up for a pub crawl with Dick Mack’s Irish Pub. It’s a great way to spend a night out, meet new people and enjoy some drinks at a few different pubs.

The pub crawl guides are truly amazing at their jobs, they have games and challenges planned out for you to really enjoy your night. Included in the ticket are some free long drinks/beers and shots, and the games (we played beer pong and flip the cup), but the craziest part were the challenges, which were dares that we could do to get a free shot.

It was so much fun! And the people there were so nice and open to conversations with everyone. Honestly, it was overall a wonderful experience and I would recommend it to everyone.

Blog 12 von Weronika

Thrifting has become a very popular activity that not only saves you money, but also saves the planet. With the amount of fast fashion being produced right now, the amount of waste and garbage being produced is overwhelming. We need to take a step back and reevaluate our overconsumption and need for buying new and trendy clothes that go out of style within just a few months.

Here are a few of my favourite places that have a great selection of pre owned clothing:

1. The Kettenbrückengasse Market – as mentioned in a previous entry, the flea market is an amazing place to find really cheap, but cool clothing. There are always people selling clothes in bulk and if you have the patients and time to go through the piles, you can find some great deals
2. Floriangasse 24 – a small thrift store with a decent  selection and very low prices, you can definitely find some good pieces here. When I went they even had a box outside with free books and some free clothes.

3. Vinzi Shop – a bigger store with clothing organised by section, which makes browsing easier.  A very neat store with a lot of things to choose from and changing rooms to try them on.

Blog 11 von Weronika

Vienna is a vast city with many forms of transportation available to make sure you can get around easily. Here are some tips for choosing the best transport for your trip:

1. Buying tickets in the WienMobil app is cheaper than buying them from the driver
2. Single trip tickets are only worth buying, if you’re only here for a few days and are taking the public transport less than 4 times a day. If you’re taking the transport 4 or more times during the day, a Day Ticket or a 24 hour Ticket is way more worth it.
3. If you’re in Vienna for a week and are planning on using public transport everyday, then the Week Pass is the best option.
4. Some of the Tickets, like the Vienna City Card have extra bonuses that come with the card, so definitely check those to not miss out on some great deals
5. One of my favourite ways of getting around the city is biking. Vienna is quite a flat city and it’s filled with bike lanes, which make riding a bike here one of the best options for transport. You can either bring your own bike, rent it from a bike rental place or with the WienMobil app rent city bikes for only 0,60 euro per 30 minutes. And honestly, in 30 minutes you can get to most places in the city.

Blog 10 von Weronika

Prater is a massive theme park located by the Donau river. It’s a great place to spend an afternoon riding all the rides or just strolling through the park. The entry is free, but the rides usually cost around 5-10 euros per person.

There are tons of types of rides, from ferris wheels and rides for kids to extreme rollercoasters with many loops (only for the strongest of stomachs).

There are also several mini games and arcade games, if you prefer remaining on the ground. 

The day I went the weather wasn’t the best, as it had been raining most of the day, but most of the rides were still going. I decided to keep my lunch that day, so I didn’t actually ride any of the rides, but just walking around the park is fun in itself, and also looking at all the absolutely crazy people that decide to go on some of the more extreme rides.

For the less adventurous people there are also a lot of different restaurants on the grounds.

Blog 9 von Weronika

As I’ve been learning German for some time now, I wanted to tell you some of my favourite tips that I’ve learnt:

1. Having a separate little notebook just for vocabulary. It’s way easier to memorise
   vocabulary when it’s all in one place and not all over your normal notebook.
2. Trying to think or narrate your day in German. This is something I do when I’m walking to the store or to school, it doesn’t require much time or a lot of knowledge of the language, but when it becomes a habit it’s way easier to actually talk in German.
3. Keeping a diary. If you have more time on your hands, you can try keeping a diary and writing how your day went (as best as you can) in German. It’s also a fun thing to look back on when your German gets better.
4. Watching videos or movies in German. It can be quite difficult in the beginning, but you can also find short easy videos in German, such as Nico’s Weg, to practise listening to the language.
5. Practising speaking German with your friends from class, or just in everyday life. Comes with practice, but this way you can build up your confidence while speaking German.
6. Download an app for cue cards and input your new vocabulary, so that you can have easy access to more knowledge whenever you’re bored on the U-bahn or tram or when you’re waiting in a queue or just bored at home.

Blog 8 von Weronika

Looking for a job isn’t the easiest thing to do, especially in a foreign country, so here are some tips and links to websites that I used to find jobs:

Links:

1. Inditex Careers – a website with listings of retail jobs, from basic cashier jobs to managers
2. StepStone – a wide range of jobs
3. JobSwipe – great selection of job opportunities
4. LinkedIn – higher requirement jobs

Tips:

1. Ask your German teacher – this is how I got one of my first job interviews (at Swing Kitchen)
2. Look for local ADs – most places just put signs in their shops advertising that they are looking for people (during my stay I saw it for 5 guys and BIPA)
3. Ask your friends about their jobs and whether they have free spaces
4. Just go door to door with your CV

Hope this helps!

Blog 7 von Weronika

An amazing seasonal activity is the Film Festival, they set up a massive screen and seats right in front of the stunning Rathaus.

There are shows planned for every night and it is an extraordinary free experience for  this summer (until the 3rd of September, so hurry before it ends!).

There are also stalls set up with various cuisines from all over the world and delicious drinks for you to try. It’s  a very popular spot and you can meet very interesting people here. The shows vary from movies to concert recordings. An overall wonderful idea for a night out with friends or family!

Blog 6 von Weronika

One of my favourite activities in Vienna so far has been visiting the Flea Market in Kettenbrückengasse. It happens every Saturday and I would recommend going quite early in the morning because it tends to become very crowded and hot after 11am.

It’s a massive market filled with numerous stalls selling everything from fruits and vegetables to vintage clothes to chandeliers and fancy old fashioned mirrors (my absolute obsession <3). Every single time I go I find interesting knick-knacks and always end up buying things.