Hallo from Vienna, Austria!

This past week I took a short trip to Austria to attend the third and final day of the Rolling Loud Europe music festival! I saw several popular artists including Travis Scott, Don Toliver, Ice Spice, NLE Choppa, and some up-and-coming American and German artists over about 12 hours. I stayed at St. Christophers Inn, Vienna, which was fine and had nightly activities including Karaoke and other deals/games at their in-house restaurant/bar. My stay averaged around $35/night, and the staff were all very kind and helpful with information about the city. Since I was only in the city mainly to attend the concert, I did not have much extra time to explore the area I was in, but what I did see seemed pretty commercial. There were a lot of popular shopping stores and fast-food restaurants not unlike an American plaza, but I did take public transport to the Innere Stadt area. There you can see a lot more architecture, including St. Stephen’s Cathedral (surrounded by other historic centers and information), Peterskirch (a huge nearby church with free entry, a large playing organ, and beautiful decoration and paintings), and slightly further away the Opernviertel area with the Sisi Museum, and several palaces. All locations are available to enter for an additional fee, but extremely impressive to admire just from the outside. Many more shops and restaurants are spread throughout both areas. If I had stayed longer, I would have taken a walking tour around the city to learn more about its history, as the city seemed to be pretty large.

As for the actual concert, I took a bus around 40 minutes from my hostel to the Magna Racino horse-racing stadium where the concert was held. I paid about $180 for the entire day (for all artists) and the concert featured two stages. I stayed at the main stage since I wanted a closer spot towards the railing for a better view and not to be crushed by the huge crowds. It was extremely sunny at first but later started down-pouring, and there was a very long wait between some of the acts (up to two hours). The artist Don Toliver, whom I had gone to the concert to see, performed songs from his new album and his popular older hits. Towards the end of the concert, I did leave a bit early since there were free buses back to Vienna and the crowds were already getting very big and rowdy. The crowd was mostly men around 18-25 and it was extremely aggressive at times with everyone so close together, although I never felt unsafe by myself. Water, a portable charger, a fan, and earplugs are definitely needed, and I am glad I got to experience it, but overall I am not sure I would do it again. It was an extremely long day and I did not get back to my hostel until 2 am, and no restaurants or stores were open by the time I left. I was exhausted and bruised afterward and did not have much energy, so I rested until it was time to leave for Hungary!

xoxo,

Ang around the World 🙂