Anxious European Travels Part 2: Germany & Austria
View from the Imperial Castle of Nuremberg
Anxious European Travels Part 2: Germany & Austria
Part 2 of European Anxious Travels takes us to a few other cities in Germany then to Vienna, Austria. It was a dream, let me tell you. We used a service called Day Trip to drive us the few hour excursion from Munich to other Bavarian cities. Note for the anxious, the route is on the Autobahn which is a highway with no mandated speed limit. Needless to say, CBD oil was my best friend that day.
Regensburg & Nuremberg, Germany
To Do
Our first stop was in Regensburg, which is about 1.5 hours north of Munich and the fourth largest city in Bavaria. You don’t need a lot of time In Regensburg, but I do recommend taking a couple hours to walk around, eat some lunch, and explore The Dom. I’m a cathedral novice at best, but I have been in a few throughout Europe, including Notre Dame. And this was one had the most beautiful stained glass window display out of the bunch. Regensburg is a beautiful city that is wonderful to wander. Especially in the Old Town area, to take in classic Bavarian cityscapes.
The City of Regensburg
The Dom
After our lunch stop in Regensburg, we took the Autobahn (and I took more CBD) another hour to Nuremberg. Nuremberg is the second largest city in Bavaria and is where the Nuremberg trials—during which Nazi’s were punished and executed for their involvement in war crimes—were held. We spent the rest of our day wandering around Old Town, and up and down a street called Weissgerbergasse. Most of this street is a pedestrian walkway, and it is lined with homes and buildings that survived a bombing during World War II.
In the middle of this street is where the famous Christkindle market is held, and although we were there in October, there were still many little street vendors and Christmas shops. It was dreamy, to say the least. If I was there at Christmas time, I'd probably cry. The street ends at the beautiful Nuremberg Castle, which is one of Europe’s most famous medieval castles. Hike to the top of it and you get a beautiful view of the whole city. It’s basically like you are in a Disney movie and all of your childhood dreams come true.
Vienna, Austria
To Do
Upon arrival in Vienna, be prepared to have tracks from the Sound of Music stuck in your head the entire time - and I mean this in a good way. If the weather is nice, you should hop in an Uber and go about 30 minutes north of the city to wineries for some traditional Viennese wine, which is delicious by the way. The first winery we went to was Heuriger Sirbu, which had a gorgeous patio and views of the city. We walked to Buschenschank Andreas Wagner (longer walk than anticipated, by the way) next, after a recommendation from some friends we made at the first winery. There were no views here, but it gave off amazing backyard type vibes. We also crashed our new friends table and they taught me how to properly say “Gemütlichkeit” while laughing at my attempts. In their defense, making fun of me was fair.
The city of Vienna is so beautiful.
Spending a day wandering is a must (which is pretty much the theme of European travels). The main city center has many historic buildings, including St. Stephen’s Cathedral, which even as said cathedral novice, the exterior of this church was breathtaking. My family also spent some time at the Austrain National Library which looked beautiful through pictures—I spent a portion of that day resting and battling some anxiety (such is life), but hey, the pictures were great.
We also felt very cultured after seeing the famous opera La Bohème at the Vienna State Opera (or Wiener Staatsoper in German), one of the most famous opera houses in the world. In fact, part of the opera house was destroyed in a World War II bombing and restored post war. A heads up for the anxious though, the seating is very tight so you will want a seat towards the end of an aisle. There is also no central air so even though the temperatures were cooler outside, it was still very warm inside. Not ideal, but worth it.
Heuriger Sirbu Winery
St. Stephen's Cathedral
Vienna State Opera
To Eat
I was overall very pleased with the food in Vienna. Vienna is famous for their cakes, especially paired with coffee. We had lunch at Cafe Central (twice, actually because we couldn’t get into Hotel Sacher—very touristy, by the way), which is right in the middle of the city center. Here you will find traditional Viennese food (the goulash was amazing) paired along with beautiful sites.
In fact, Vienna is well known for their Italian food, and after a week of sausages and pretzels, we successfully filled our Italian craving at Restaurant Sole. Before the opera and our last night in Vienna we opted for a traditional dinner, and if you want a great schnitzel, Plachutta is the spot. Pro tip: there are a few within the city so know the address-- may or may not have learned that the hard way. We stayed at the Ritz Carlton (I highly recommend, great location) and ate at their restaurant DSTRIKT Steakhouse one night as well - I had a burger, and it was everything I needed.
Traditional Schnitzel at Plachutta
My Anxious Travels
Although I had avidly prepared for this trip, it didn’t go off completely without an anxiety hitch (see Oktoberfest tent example and borderline panic attack in Part 1). Jetlag, lack of exercise, and alcohol are all big anxiety triggers, and that’s basically how I blissfully lived my life for eight days. So, there were a few instances where I needed to bail and take some “me” time, which was completely fine. I wasn’t hard on myself about it, and my family was really supportive since I communicated how I was feeling. The European travels may have been anxious here and there, but I did it and you can too anxious friends!