17 May 2018, Thursday

Rise and shine, it’s time to move on to another city! At about 7:40am, we checked out of our Budapest Airbnb apartment and took the Metro to the railway station. The approximately 245km train journey to Vienna, the capital of Austria, takes just under three hours. Compared to the 8.5-hour train ride we endured from Belgrade to Budapest, three hours was nothing! We arrived at Budapest-Keleti railway station at 8:05am, way in advance, as usual. Our Railjet 62 train departed Budapest only at 9:40am. Nevertheless, it was always good to be early, especially after our near-miss in Mykonos on Day 5.

The Railjet train was the most comfortable one we had taken yet. It was modern, sleek and fast. There was even an area where kids could gather to watch cartoons and educational videos. So many people brought their bicycles along for the train ride that the bicycle rack was completely full when we departed Budapest.

At 11am, the train stopped briefly at the Hungarian city of Győr, where Customs officers boarded and the train continued its onward journey. Before coming to us, the officers questioned an Indian couple seated ahead of us. They were travelling with a young child. The questioning took some time so we opened our ears to find out what was going on.

The couple claimed that they had left their passports in their hotel at Budapest, so they did not have their passports with them at the moment. They were about to enter Austria and yet they didn’t have their passports with them. So weird! Of course, the officers didn’t buy their story and ordered them to alight at the next stop at Mosonmagyaróvár, which was still within Hungary.

The officers came to us next. They looked through mum and dad’s passports for a long time before demanding to see their air tickets. As they were already in an uptight mood having to deal with the Indian family earlier, I gently asked the officers what the issue was. They said they could not find any proof of mum and dad’s entry into Europe. I explained to them that we had been travelling together for the past 17 days, and that we flew from Singapore to Athens on 1 May 2018, before making our way to Bulgaria and Serbia before coming to Hungary.

I requested permission to check mum and dad’s passports. When I thumbed through their passports, I discovered what the issue was – the Athens entry stamp on both their passports had mysteriously disappeared! Unconvinced, I flipped through the pages again and saw that all the entry and exit stamps from our previous border crossings (Greece/Bulgaria, Bulgaria/Serbia, Serbia/Hungary) were intact except for the Singapore/Greece one. But because the entry stamp to Athens was missing, there was no proof of how they had entered Greece, which raised the question of whether they had entered Europe illegally.

I checked my own passport and saw that my Athens entry stamp was still intact, so there was definitely a record of our entry to Greece. I examined their passports again more closely and this time round, I noticed that there were faint traces of the Athens entry stamp. However, most of the stamp had faded away, with only a small part of the black border remaining. Most crucially, the words and the date had disappeared, so there was no way to tell what it was.

As I had already disposed of our Singapore-Athens Scoot boarding pass, I did not have any physical copy to present to the officers as proof of our entry. After cracking my head, I pulled out my laptop as a last resort and showed the officers the soft copy of our e-boarding pass, which contained all our names on it. I then showed them photos that we took in Athens and some of the other countries, to prove that we had been travelling together all this time.

Finally, they were satisfied that we were not trying to pull a fast one on them. They gave us a warning and told us to be more careful in future. That was a really tense 10 minutes and we were so relieved when they finally let us through. There was no stamping of passports at the Hungary/Austria border because both are EU countries, unlike at Serbia, which is not part of the EU.

After the incident, we discussed what could have happened. We reckoned it was because at the Athens airport, I went to a different immigration clearance counter from mum and dad, so my passport was processed by a different officer. Immediately after clearing immigration in Athens, we had all checked our passports and saw that there was an entry stamp in each of our passports. We could only surmise that the Athens immigration officer who processed mum and dad’s passports had either stamped the chop very lightly, or that he used a different type of ink for the chop, some kind of mysterious disappearing ink. That was the only explanation why my Athens entry stamp was still intact but theirs was not.

Here are two lessons we learned from this incident:

Lesson 1: Always check your passport after clearing immigration to make sure that you have an entry stamp. If you notice that the ink of the stamp is faint, unclear or incomplete, immediately go back and get the officer to re-stamp it!

Lesson 2: Never throw away your boarding passes while you’re still on the trip. You never know when you might need it to prove that you had entered the country legally, or in our case, entered Europe legally. You might also need the boarding pass for travel insurance claims if something bad happens (touch wood).

After that close brush with the authorities, we were quite worried about whether we would encounter the same issue when we cross the border from Austria to Czech Republic next. Thankfully, mum and dad only have one more country to go before flying back to Singapore, so hopefully nothing will happen. Imagine if it was me who had encountered the issue of the vanished Athens entry stamp, the remaining 80+ days of my trip could have been jeopardised. What a close call!

The rest of the journey sailed by and we arrived at Vienna’s central railway station, Wien Hauptbahnhof (Hbf) at 12:21pm. Wien is Vienna in German. There is no time difference between Hungary and Austria. The moment we stepped off the train, it was immediately obvious that Vienna is very different from the three European countries we had visited before this. Everything is immaculate here. It’s so clean and orderly, with clear signs and directions at the train station and on the roads. There is no graffiti on the streets and there are no rough edges. Vienna is no doubt a very advanced, first world city.

The area around Wien Hbf was surprisingly quiet and devoid of humans, considering it is the main railway station of the city. It took just five minutes to walk from Wien Hbf to our Airbnb apartment. Our host arrived shortly after and led us up to his apartment, located within a modern building, totally different from the one we had vacated in Budapest hours earlier.

Airbnb apartment – Stylish 2 Bedroom apartment near Belvedere & City
Address: Vitalygasse 4, 21, Wien 1100, Austria
Price: S$393.23 for 3 pax for 2 nights

The apartment was very clean, well-furnished and cleverly compact. There was a washing machine + dryer in the apartment so we made full use of it and quickly put our dirty laundry to wash before heading out again at about 2:30pm.

(Exchange rate: 1 Euro = S$1.625)

The first thing we did was to walk back to Wien Hbf to buy our 24-hour travel passes, which allow for unlimited travel on public transport like trams, buses and subway trains. The 24-hour Vienna ticket costs 8 Euros/S$13. If it sounds expensive, it’s because a single trip ticket for the WienerLinien public transport network already costs 2.40 Euros (S$3.90). Anyone still wish to complain that public transport in Singapore is expensive?

By the way, public transport in Vienna works on an integrity system. There are no physical barriers when you enter the train station. On buses and trams, the driver won’t ask to see your ticket when you board, and you can choose to board and alight at any of the doors. It is totally up to your own initiative to tap your card at the validation machine when you board. Nevertheless, random spot checks are conducted and it’s not worth risking a hefty fine if you’re caught. After getting our travel passes, we had a quick lunch of Thai food at one of the restaurants at Wien Hbf before starting our sightseeing proper.

Armed with our newly-purchased travel passes, we took a tram from Wien Hbf and alighted at Belvedere Palace (aka Schloss Belvedere), a short distance away. Schloss Belvedere was built in the early 1700s as a summer residence for Prince Eugene of Savoy, one of the most successful military commanders in modern European history. The palace comprises of two buildings – the Lower Belvedere was completed in 1716, followed by the Upper Belvedere in 1724. The latter is so-called because it stands on higher ground.

The palace buildings were built in Baroque style and they are separated by a beautifully landscaped garden. Today, the Upper Belvedere houses a permanent exhibition of Austrian artworks including masterpieces by the renowned Gustav Klimt. The Lower Belvedere houses temporary exhibitions. Entry to the palace grounds is free, but you will need to pay to enter the museums.

However, museums are not really our thing, so we didn’t enter the palace buildings to view the exhibits. We just snapped some photos of the Lower Belvedere and admired the pretty fountains and gardens. After the brief visit to Schloss Belvedere, we took the tram again and went to the city centre.

Most of the key sights are located in the first district, or Innere Stadt, with Stephenplatz as its centre. This is the historic old town of Vienna. We visited St. Stephen’s Cathedral first, an obvious choice because of its imposing presence over the rest of the area. By now, you should know that I am fascinated by European cathedrals. I am not a religious person but I love visiting these places of worship to marvel at the architecture and their rich history. I am always in awe of how these buildings have stood the test of time over centuries, and how they have remained central to a city’s identity, both geographically and spiritually.

Construction of St. Stephen’s Cathedral began in 1137 and it was believed to have been completed in 1160, making it over 850 years old. The design is a mix of Romanesque and Gothic styles, but it is most famous for its distinctive tiled roof, a little reminiscent of Matthias Church in Budapest. The South Tower, affectionately called Steffl (German for Steffen, aka Stephen), is 136.4m tall and you can pay 5 Euros to climb 343 steps to the top for a wonderful view of the city.

The interior of the cathedral is very grand. It is exactly what you’ll imagine a Gothic church to look like, with intricate stone statues adorning the pillars and dramatic arches framing the high ceiling. The dim lighting also gives it a slightly creepy feel.

After visiting St. Stephen’s Cathedral, we walked around the old town. It was deceptively quiet when we were at Wien Hbf earlier, but that is because everyone is here in the city centre. The pedestrian shopping street in Vienna is very pleasant for walking, with wide pavements and regal buildings flanking the streets. Everywhere you turn, it’s just beautiful.

I chanced upon an EMI Austria music store and just had to enter it. This was the first proper CD/music store that I had encountered during this trip and it felt so good to browse through the racks and physically touch the CD albums. I left empty handed because they were really expensive – a standard CD album costs 20 Euros (S$32.50)!

We then walked to the Hofburg Vienna, the imperial palace of the Habsburgs, who ruled Austria until the end of World War I. It is one of the largest palace complexes in the world, with 18 wings, 19 courtyards and over 2,600 rooms. Today, Hofburg is the official residence and office of the president of Austria. Some of the buildings have also been converted to house the Sisi Museum (Sisi is the nickname of the beloved Empress Elisabeth of Austria), the Imperial Apartments and the Imperial Silver Collection, which can be viewed with a ticket.

The Hofburg grounds were huge. I didn’t do much research on Vienna beforehand so I wasn’t very familiar with the key attractions at the time of our visit. We went to the Austrian National Library for a look but didn’t pay to enter. It was quite a pity because the State Hall in the Austrian National Library is one of the most beautiful library halls in the world. The huge Baroque hall measures almost 80m long and 20m high, has marble floors and a magnificent dome adorned with frescoes. Oh, it also contains 200,000 volumes of rare books. Admission fee to the State Hall is 8 Euros (S$13), which is pretty pricey but in hindsight, would have been worth it.

After the missed encounter with the Austrian National Library, we wandered around the Hofburg area for a while more before walking back to the city centre. We eventually settled on McDonald’s for dinner, which was like comfort food on a cold, blustery day. The fried gouda cheese snack was simply heavenly when paired together with the raspberry jam sauce. Yummy.

On the way back, we passed by the Vienna State Opera House (aka Wiener Staatsoper). On the outside, it looks just like any other old building, but based on the pictures I’ve seen, the inside is truly spectacular. The Wiener Staatsoper is one of the most prestigious opera houses in the world and tickets for its shows sell out months in advance.

According to its website, the dress code for attending opera performances is to “match the way you dress to the elegant setting of the opera building”. Black suit and bowtie is the norm for men. The website also added that “persons dressed very informally (for instance, wearing short pants or leisurewear) may be refused admission”. So, remember to pack along a suit if you’re planning to catch a show at the Wiener Staatsoper.

Watching an opera performance at the Wiener Staatsoper is undoubtedly one of the quintessential experiences of a visit to Vienna. Well, as I mentioned earlier, I didn’t do much research beforehand so I missed the opportunity this time. Perhaps if I’m fortunate enough to be able to visit Vienna again in the future, I will put this at the top of my list.

We then caught the subway and popped by the Interspar supermarket at Wien Hbf before making our way back to the apartment. Grocery shopping has become our favourite pastime because eating out in Europe is expensive, so we will always buy some bread and pastries from the supermarket for our next day’s breakfast. I was still trying to keep to my daily budget of S$80 so every dollar counts. With that, it’s the end of Day 17!