Waltzing, gluhwein in mushroom-shaped mugs, the famous Silvester Pfad winding through Vienna’s quaint cobbly streets (the sound of live music and the twinkling lights suspended overhead lead the way to the Rathaus) – what better place to ring in the new year than Vienna?

Dan and I had kicked around the idea with Rebecca and J a few months ago before someone said, “Should we just book it?” So we did.

The plan was simple: spend New Year’s Eve in Vienna, stroll the streets on New Year’s Day, then drive out to Flachau for skiing on January 2 and head back to Basel via car on the 4th. Of course, on paper, it’s super simple. In practice, not so much.

J and Rebecca would drive their car out to Vienna and then drive all of us back. But Dan and I were flying back to the US for the holiday, meaning we either had to drop our snowboard gear with J and Rebecca a few weeks before we flew home or we’d need to rent gear and pack what we could in our checked bags. Because we’re not the most organized of people, we ended up packing the checked bags and opting to rent gear.

On December 29, Dan and I left balmy New Jersey behind and landed in Zurich at 8:30am the next day. With six hours to kill before our flight to Vienna, we bought a voucher to the Swiss Business lounge, which offered recliners and a rest area where we attempted to sleep for a few hours so we wouldn’t be totally jetlagged when we arrived in Vienna.

It helped a little. We boarded the plane around 3pm and touched down in Vienna near 5pm. At the baggage carousel, we looked at public transport to our hotel for 3 nights – the Ibis Budget Wien Messe – which would take over an hour and cost 20 euros. Instead, we opted for an Uber, which was 23 minutes and 21 euros.

We arrived at the Ibis. A blue sign flashed “Budget” so as not to be confused with the Ibis directly next door that was red and just plain “Ibis” (we spotted a green Ibis in Zurich later called Ibis “Styles”, which we reason must be the posh Ibis). “Budget” was an accurate descriptor. After spending hours in the sky, I’d been hoping for something a little less basic, but there we were: a simple room with a simple bed, duvets rolled up and looking a little worse for wear, pillows stuffed with maybe 5 feathers from a sick pigeon, a bathroom with a barn door that offered little privacy, and a cramped shower. The paint on the walls had been chipped in spots and clearly painted over. But there was heating and a roof overhead, so there we are.

J and Rebecca had arrived a few hours earlier and were in town at a restaurant called Brezl Gwölb. They’d managed to snag a table until 8pm, giving Dan and I plenty of time for a rapid shower and change. We were happy to leave the Ibis behind, arriving at a nearby underground station after a short walk.

Here things became complicated. The ticket machine, which promised us 48-hour tickets, would not accept any of our cards or currency. We stood there, tapping, inserting, trying any and all manner of verbs, but alas – the cards would not work. Several subways sped by as we agonized over the machine until I finally scanned a QR code, turned on my data roaming, and downloaded the app. Then, we were off!

It’s been ages since I’ve been on a subway or been in a city where subway is the main form of transportation. I’ve been spoiled by the easy cruise of the trams with their windows offering views of the city. The underground was packed with people, and we crowded in, grabbing a handrail before we were jerked rapidly forward and sped along a dark tunnel to the next stop.

We emerged in Stephansplatz and began walking until we were out of the city centers and winding down quiet and quaint back alleys and small streets. A pretzel hanging from an iron bar signalled we were in the right place, and there it was: a tiny restaurant with a door leading down a few steps into a warm, quiet, traditional-looking restaurant. It was a dazzling juxtaposition to the charmlessness of the Ibis Budget.

Rebecca had texted earlier: “This place was built in 1341! An old thatcher’s house.” It didn’t disappoint. Nor did the joy of the moment we turned a corner and saw Rebecca and J at a table in the back, standing and waving in greeting.

I have to take a moment to introduce Rebecca and J, since I never blogged about our past adventures – and there were many. From snowboarding in Grindelwald from J’s family’s apartment to cruising Zermatt’s slopes with a clear view of the Matterhorn to spontaneously riding a car train, our first year in Basel was peppered with lively adventures. I felt guilty blogging about them at the time because the rest of the world was locked down from Covid (to be fair, we were also), and here I was, living large in Switzerland. All of those places we visited were virtually people-free because no one was traveling.

Rebecca began working at ISB with Dan and I, and we immediately clicked. Part of our bonds came from the fact that we had to do an online MYP training for the first few months of our employment, which may seem miserable, but we found ways to liven it up. We’d meet every Wednesday from 6-8, at first at a local restaurant in town called L’Atelier, where we’d work and then have cocktails. When the restaurants closed in October due to a Covid resurgence, we rotated apartments, hosting MYP nights.

Johannes was working in Munich at the time and commuting to Basel every weekend to hang out with Rebecca and see his family, who are from Switzerland. We’d all met in early September at a night dubbed “Smythy’s Night Out”, where we celebrated a colleague’s birthday.

Late in September, at our MYP session at L’Atelier, Rebecca told us that J was coming in to town that night, and maybe he’d meet us at L’Atelier, so we finished our work and ordered cocktails, so by the time J arrived we were all quite joyful. It was that night that J invited us to spend a few evenings in December at his grandparents’ apartment in Grindelwald, and that was probably the start of our friendship and travels together.

Group dynamics can sometimes be difficult on trips, but our group of 4 gets on really well: Dan brings the music and the easygoing cheer; J brings an entire encyclopedia set’s worth of knowledge about Germany, Switzerland, tunnels, and geography; Rebecca brings pep and positive energy, excitement, and documents our trips with her sharp aesthetics and Instagram stories. I just show up and enjoy the ride.

After our first year, they moved to Thailand, but last year, they announced they’d be returning and living in Zurich, so Dan and I have scooped up as much time with them as we can since they’ve returned to Switzerland.

All that being said, it was an absolute thrill to see them again in Vienna. As we sat down and ordered beers and started catching up, all the grime and grogginess of travel and my crankiness at the budget hotel immediately melted away. They’re the sort of people who lighten the mood and whose joy is contagious; they’re a couple who absolutely embody the spirit of “joie de vivre” and it’s impossible not to feel the same when you’re around them.

We ordered schnitzel (they went with veggie options) and split a basket of warm and delicious pretzels. It was the perfect start to the trip, and we left around 8pm to wander the streets a little before heading back to the Ibis Budget.

On the morning of New Year’s Eve, we woke with no plans apart from maybe returning to the hotel in the afternoon for a nap and definitely hitting up the Silvester Pfad later that evening.

“There are no fireworks this year,” Rebecca told us. “They have a laser show instead.”

“It’s for the birds,” J added over breakfast at the Ibis. For a budget hotel, the breakfast wasn’t bad – fresh breads, hardboiled eggs, fruit, cold cuts, and coffee. Still, it felt more like a cafeteria than a refined dining space.

We decided to spend the morning wandering around the area by the hotel, which included a small theme park called Prater. The rides looked appealing, and as we stood there, the loudspeaker crackled to life and a deep, booming voice rang out: “Ten, nine, eight…two, one” followed by a loud explosion sound, and then, “Welcome to Vienna” in a tone that suggested you ought to run in the opposite direction rather than into the park.

Intrigued, we examined the rides until J and Dan set their sights on some go-karts. Determined to ride, but lacking cash, we embarked on a journey to find an ATM. (The park offered some, but with a 20% surcharge – what!?) After withdrawing cash from the ATM that dispensed only hundreds, we returned to the Go-Karts only to be turned away. They would not give us change for 100.

J had smaller bills, and we wanted to find the double-level Go-Kart track anyway, so we ended up on a roller coaster first. With no line and questionable safety, we hopped on. It was the kind where you step into the car standing and once it buckles you in, it tilts you forward so you’re flying around the ride like a superhero. What a way to wake up!

“Your body is still jetlagged,” J told us after we got off, spinning and excited. “It thinks it’s 5am and you just got off a roller coaster.”

This was exactly what it felt like, but any sense of sleepiness wore off immediately after the roller coaster. We ventured over to the Go-Karts, which Rebecca opted out of and I figured I’d give a go (I’d never been on one). I was extremely slow, and Dan and J were aggressively trying to speed around the course, so I did my best to just stay out of their way.

Later, we learned that the operator had been yelling at the guys for overtaking and colliding with one another. At one point, J smashed into Dan so his car was stuck against a wall on the top level. When we sped around again, poor Dan was still there, and even more unfortunate was the man climbing up to the top level to pull Dan off the wall.

From there, Dan and J did a weird VR ride that involved them being eaten and digested by a crazy clown butcher and which I very much do not regret not riding.

Rebecca and J went off to ride the Black Mamba, but J was too tall; meanwhile, Dan and I embarked on a pirate journey, which was rated 1 star in the “scary” category, so I figured it’d be fine. We were secured in our own little wooden cart that rolled along a rail, rotating as it went so sometimes I’d be in front, exposed, and sometimes it would be Dan. The beginning of the ride was fine: a big animatronic spider wriggled on the wall, someone shouted loudly, some chains illuminated over a barrel and shook. That was all bearable. But then the cart rotated and an animatronic pirate popped out at Dan and shook all over and might as well have been in the cart with us, so that was it for me. I’m not sure what else happened on the ride, but Dan said the animatronics were really good and he felt like the ride was even better than the VR one.

“The storytelling was really good,” he told J and Rebecca after.

“What story?” I said. All I remembered was a shark, a cannon, and some barrels. My eyes were closed for the rest of it.

We decided to try our archery skills next, won a prize, and then rode one last ride together. A spinning nightmare, this one was called “Breakdancer”. A sign on the ride explained that after 8pm, the ride would spin at 100% velocity. We tried to guess what velocity we were spinning at. It was plenty fast for me, and probably not the best choice of ride for someone who gets motion sickness. As a kid, I used to love those rides – the teacups, the spinny ones where there was a wheel in the middle and you could pull it to spin even faster, the Gravitron at the local fair where you spun so fast that when the floor dropped out, you were plastered to the walls. It’s funny how little tolerance for motion my adult body has. I think adults should have more opportunity to play and have adventures between childhood and later adulthood.

Leaving the park, we all felt giddy and excited, spending our New Year’s Eve morning riding rides and playing games like kids.

For lunch, we stopped by a bakery called Ullman’s, which served up tasty brunch and salads, and then I think we maybe went back to the hotel to get changed into layers for NYE.

We took the subway into town and walked around for a few minutes before finding a pub – and in the nick of time. We settled into a small table in the crowded pub to see the people in line behind us getting turned away.

“This is the warmest we’re going to be tonight, and maybe our only chance for food before we start wandering,” said Dan, “so we should stay as long as we want.”

That ended up being close to 5 hours. By the time we left, it was 8pm. Still, we’d enjoyed several pitchers of craft beer brewed on site (the place was called 1516 Brewery), some tasty käsespatzeli, and we all honed our coaster-flipping skills, though none of us can compete with Rebecca, who managed 40 I think. (The world record holder reigns at 112!)

Bundled and ready for adventure, we set out on the Silvester Pfad, following the twinkling lights through the streets from stage to stage. At the Graben location, a DJ occupied the center of the street, with bright lights flashing and rock music playing before suddenly, the classical, dulcet strains of a waltz would play out and the crowd would back up, forming a wide circle where couples stepped in and waltzed around.

It was wonderful. We sipped gluhwein from our mushroom cups – mushrooms, among other things, symbolize luck and fortune in the new year – and watched as a DJ, headset balanced between ear and shoulder, played a waltz. It was a strange sight, but also lovely to see couples in winter coats waltzing in the street.

We made our way to a few other locations before feeling kind of cold and in need of warmth. It was 10:30, leaving some time before the laser show at the Rathaus. We lucked out again, ducking into a pub called Molly Darcy’s. The streets were packed with people, so our hopes of finding a seat were not high, but a friendly Dutch family was heading back outside and we scored two stools at the end of the bar in the entryway.

The family returned a few minutes later, saying it was too crazy outside, and thus began the start of our beer-sharing and friend-making in the cozy warmth of an Irish pub in Vienna on New Year’s.

The pub emptied out around 11:30 as people made their way to the Rathaus or Stephansplatz, where the Pummerin bell rings. We made a decision to stay in the pub for midnight, which Rebecca and I both sort of regret, but we still got our share of Austrian tradition: like in Germany, on New Year’s Eve, TV stations air this old movie called Dinner For One, which is timed to end just a minute before midnight. I’d heard of the movie before, but here in the pub was the first time I’d seen it, albeit sans audio.

It looked ancient, but apparently it was made in 1963 and features a rich woman who plans a dinner party and no one shows up, so, quite reasonably, her butler is forced to drink the drinks provided for each of her guests as she sits and sips her own and he gets progressively more drunk. I’m not sure if he gets to eat the dinner, which I did not see, but he does interact quite often with a tiger rug.

Just before midnight, the Dutch family bought several bottles of champagne from the bartender and we tore off the plastic from plastic flutes, filled our glasses, and counted down to the new year, when we all toasted and shortly after, the pub filled up again with people returning from the main squares.

I’m not sure how fantastic the laser show was, but when Dan and I left at one am, there were certainly lasers going off and they were quite bright and illuminated the whole sky. It was a fabulous night, an uneventful ride back on the subway, and I can’t believe I’m admitting it, but it was something of a joy to return to the hard bed and flat pillow at the Ibis Budget.