contests & giveaways,  inspiration & wanderlust

we want to go with oh to vienna!

the-romantic-the-winoWe’re still three weeks away from our trip to Switzerland and Ireland, and well, well, well, wouldn’t you know? We’re already thinking about what could be next. Spoiler alert: we currently have our sights set on Vienna.

We’re addicted! Lucky for us, it has come to our attention that the end of our upcoming trip coincides perfectly with Go with Oh’s Spring 2013 Blogger Contest!

Chances are, if you’ve followed The Lazy Travelers long enough, you know the Go with Oh deal. A winning blog post results in one month of traveling around Europe, staying in up to four Go with Oh apartments. All of which are conveniently placed in top cities throughout our favorite continent.

When these cities include Berlin, London, Florence, Rome, Prague, Paris, Dublin, Vienna, Barcelona, and Venice, the prompt “Where do you want to Go with Oh?” is almost unfair. However, there is one standout on the list that is currently tugging at our heartstrings:

We want to Go with Oh to Vienna!

As we type, last round’s winner, Leah, is on her European dream tour with the one and only Lola. We’ve been following along as these ladies have explored Prague and Italy, and can’t wait to see what mischief they’ll stir up in Barcelona and Paris.

Like Sherry before them, they’ve prompted us to envision our own dream month in Europe. We’ve collectively conquered most of Western Europe, but lately, our focus has been drifting east…

We want to use Vienna as our home base.

In our research, we’ve learned that the airport is a mere 25 minutes from the city center. By public transit, no less! Honestly, can they make this more convenient? Because of this, from Vienna, we could easily fly to the Czech Republic or Hungary — two places we’ve also been dying to explore. Or, better yet: we could hop on a train and make our way around the Austrian countryside. The wino can already tick a winter tour of Innsbruck and Salzburg off her list, but based on our hours of pouring over Google image searches, we’re pretty sure it’s just as stellar in the summer.

Oh look, Dan & Audrey confirmed it!
Photo Credit: Uncornered Market

We want to live like a local. For real.

As we realistically consider an entire month in Europe, there is one thing that has continually stood out to us. A major benefit of staying in your own apartment for a month is the ability to come and go as you please, without being concerned about unpacking and repacking with each destination. This is a huge plus for us, because we both clearly have a habit of severely over-packing. We could settle down for a bit and let our Oh apartment feel a little more like our Oh home-away-from-home.

But with one homebase, we’d get to practice what we preach. We’d get to know the ins & outs of our neighborhood — and more importantly, our neighbors! We’d have a regular grocery store, a regular pub (number one priority), and would be able to master the city as we explored everything Vienna has to offer.

It also doesn’t hurt that we would get to return from each daily excursion to a place that could look like any of the below:

Knowing that this is waiting for us after a daytrip will make the return to Vienna that much sweeter.
Photo credit: Oh-Vienna.com

Basically, what we’re saying is this. If we win, we pinkie promise that with a month to work with, we’d take Vienna by storm. We’re pretty sure you don’t doubt it, either.

We want to wander the MQ.

It’s ok if you don’t know what that is — we’re just practicing speaking like a local. Apparently, the MQ = the Museums Quarter and it’s been all the rage since 2001. We’ll give ourselves a tour of the five modern art museums, as well as the on-site cafe (le duh). We won’t stop here with our cultural tour of Vienna, either. We’ll pay homage to Mozart with a visit to Mozarthaus Vienna. But don’t worry, we won’t try and dust off our old piano skills. That would just be cruel.

Perhaps we’ll even take a stroll past the Hundertwasserhaus House… or maybe we’ll score a Go with Oh abode in one of their 52 apartments (is that even possible?!)?

Photo Credit: SolitaryWanderer.com

One thing is for sure: you can bet that at LEAST one of our daytrips will take us to the hills of Austria. There, we’ll picnic with wine and spin ourselves silly while singing, a la Julie Andrews.

please get that reference.

We want to stuff ourselves silly.

Give us an afternoon exploring Vienna’s world-famous Naschmarkt and we’ll be sure to carbo-load in a way no one has ever seen before. Pretzels, schnitzels, strudels, whatever it may be be. Go ahead, dare us.

See what happened the first time the wino ventured into Austria?

We want to overcome our mutual fear of carnivals.

When you hear the words “amusement park,” does anyone else envision being trapped in a fun house with spooky carnival music playing in the distance while hobbled carnival workers leer at you at every turn?! …No, just us? Carnivals and the likes freak us out. So don’t blame us that the pictures of Prater Park are scaring the bajeezus out of us. But hey, part of traveling is overcoming fears and whatnot, so we’d give it a try. Probably. At the very least, we can be convinced to take a photo together atop the Riesenrad. Maybe. We’ll see.

Although honestly who knows, they’re just really freaking scary, ok?

Photo credit: WienerRiesenrad.com

We want to wander cobblestone streets and find the perfect cafe or place for a pint.

This is a Lazy Travelers itinerary staple, for sure, but after seeing this picture from Raul of I Live to Travel? It’s a Viennese requirement:

We could pay a visit to the famous Kaffe Alt Wien or the adorable Kleines Cafe. We could test our limits at Babu or cozy up at Barfly’s, because, based on name alone, it seems more up our alley. We could add Loo’s to our list, but really? History has taught us that the best bars are the ones you never expect to find and can’t wait to share.

What has become very clear to us after pouring over all things Vienna is that the Lazy Travelers were meant for this city.

Or maybe Vienna was meant for us? Either way, we’d love the opportunity to Go with Oh and explore all that Vienna and the surrounding area has to offer.

And the best part? If we get the chance to Go with Oh, you’d be able to follow our every move. Because you know we’d never have it any other way.

xo!

the romantic & the wino

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The Lazy Travelers are two transatlantic best friends who have mastered the art of exploring a new city. Though Ashley is based in London and Carolyn is in Philadelphia, we'll use any excuse to reunite around the world. We’re professional bar hoppers, pub crawlers, and food testers, and you’ll never see us zipping around, checking things off a list of “must-sees.”

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