Living that Vienna life

So I mentioned I am staying in the Wahring district of Vienna. I am in one of those tall apartment building that stand one after another in long rows.  The place I’m in is 125 years old. 

When you enter the building there is a cement staircase that is in a spiral that goes up as high as 3 stories. I’m sure it is the original staircase because of how it’s built and it’s appearance. At first it was kind of scary to go down, but now I’m used to it. 

What’s weird is that if you come in at night, there are no lights in the hallways or on the staircase. Maybe we don’t know how to turn them on, I don’t know. Kind of eerie. Especially in an old building. Probably ghosts of former residents wander the hallways.

On one level there is this wash basin thing (see picture) outside an apartment, obviously part of the original building. Maybe you washed your hands before you go in.

So the place itself is very decent. It’s weirdly designed in that there is a large room with a double bed and living room area. There is a kitchen. There is a small bedroom and a bathroom. The toilet is in its own small room. When you have to spend some time in there (!) it could be claustrophobic. 

The beds have very firm mattresses. Apparently Austrians and Germans like their beds firm.

Of course there is no air conditioning. A couple of good fans though. No screens on windows. Washing machine

is in the bathroom. No dryer. All of this has been standard with the trip except usually no fans.

To one side of the building is an outdoor market selling produce, flowers. There are a couple of restaurants that only have outdoor seating. One is fish. So smell of fish is strong. We aren’t on that side. 

There is a church about a block away that rings bells at 7 am, then at 7:45 am in case you didn’t hear it the first time. Then it ring at 6:15 pm and again at 7:00 pm. This is every day.

About a block away is street with groceries, coffee shops, clothing stores, restaurants, anything you need. Tram runs on that street. Train station couple blocks away. 

That is life in a Vienna neighborhood.