Austrian Winter Wonderland - Vienna!

I recently got back from Vienna! It's one of my dream destinations and I was so happy to finally get the chance to go :)

The flight itself was nice with lovely crew, and before I knew it we had landed in Vienna... and we were greeted by SNOW! :) I was so happy to see it again and feel wintry. However, as soon as the cabin doors opened I realised it was actually freezing, minus 7 in fact! Luckily, after learning my lesson in Hong Kong, I had packed for really cold weather haha.

I had arranged to meet my friend, Laylah, who is from Vienna. We met whilst studying abroad at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands. I hadn't seen her for almost 2 years so I was really excited for a good catch up.

Once I arrived at the hotel and checked in, I felt like I needed to thaw out before braving the cold again. After a nice hot shower I was ready to go and explore a little bit of Vienna :) Laylah had suggested going to the Belvedere Palace and it had been on my list also. After checking with the concierge exactly how to get there, I headed out. It was only a 10 minute walk, but the air was so icy it felt a lot longer. My fingers and toes were numb by the time I got there and the sun had almost set. However, I did manage to get some nice pictures of the Palace and the grounds surrounding it. It looked so beautiful covered in snow with the lights glinting off the fresh powder. I suddenly didn't mind how cold it was and just admired the view.

I then decided to get onto the metro and head into town so I'd be closer to meet up with Laylah. She was meeting me after work so in the meantime I walked around the city and did a little shopping :)

Laylah had made a booking at a restaurant called Motto am Fluss. It was such a nice place with a lovely view of the river. The decor inside was so pretty, really elegant and chic, with a wintry vibe. It had outdoor seating also which would be perfect for the summer. The food was kind of bistro-y style and really yummy. I forgot to take a picture, but I had a sweet potato gnocchi in a creamy sauce which was delicious. After we ate we went to a really cute rooftop bar for a couple of glasses of wine.

Motto am Fluss :)

I didn't want to leave because I felt like there was still so much to talk about! But the tiredness and jet lag was finally catching up with me and it was time to head back to the hotel. It was so nice to be able to see my friend after what felt like ages. It's one of the things I really love about this job because it makes it really easy to stay in touch. I definitely want to come back to Vienna in the summer and see more of the lovely landmarks. But I'm also really happy I got to see it covered in a deep blanket of snow :)

After my Birmingham flight I'm going home finally! I really can't wait to see everyone and celebrate my sister's 21st birthday! I'm also looking forward to relaxing, watching TV (I don't have a TV in Dubai yet!), and feeling snuggly and wintery. I've missed that feeling this time of year whilst living in Dubai, but hopefully it won't be as cold as Vienna!

After my leave I have a flight to Johannesburg! I really can't wait for this one. I hope some of my crew want to come and see the lions with me :) Stay tuned for lots of pictures of me snuggling a lion cub!

- Parul xo

#layover #vienna #winter #austria