Prater in Pictures

On Monday, the student assistants at my work took what is quickly becoming an annual trip to Prater, an amusement park in Wien, to celebrate the end of the semester. We rode the amusement park rides -- which were pretty comparable to Kennywood, with the exception of a distinct lack of large roller coasters -- and then ate dinner at Schweizerhaus, a restaurant in Prater known for its Stelze.

"Let's take one while everyone's hair still looks okay," said Edmina.

Andreas, Marlene, Laura, me, Matthias, & Nina

It was a good idea, because first on our list was a water ride (Wildalpenbahn). Everyone rode along, and my colleagues even bought me the 4-Euro souvenir photo of us as a going-away present. I was touched. Unfortunately, I don't have a scanner, so I can't post that photo, but here is another one from the ride:

Marlene & Nina on the Wildalpenbahn

We then rode a bunch of spinny rides. I was happy that the cafeteria options had sucked that day and I hadn't eaten much for lunch.

Me & Laura on Breakdance

Edmina & Marlene on Breakdance, which is Edmina's favorite ride

Next on tap was the world's tallest Swings ride (which are called carousels in German. I don't get it either.) Katharina is afraid of heights, so she wasn't quite as excited about this fact as I was:

Laura & Marlene, though, couldn't wait:

In the end, though, the ride was actually one of the highlights of the day. It provided a beautiful outlook on Wien, and you really felt a breeze being up so high in the air, which was incredibly refreshing on such a hot day (30 degrees!)

Katharina & I swinging

Right before eating, we rode the Space Shot, kind of like the Pit Fall, except you are shot up into the air as well as dropped down:

Nina & I listening to the crazy man with the microphone, who shot us up in the air a few more times than necessary.

One of the benefits of an amusement park like Prater, where there is no admission fee and you simply pay for the rides you want to go on, is that the food options don't all suck. People who ride don't need to eat, and people can eat without paying an arm and a leg to ride, which makes things a lot calmer. 

Me, Marlene, Matthias, & Laura drinking Radler at Schweizerhaus

 Schweizerhaus, where we went to dinner, is famous for its Stelze, so it was still swarming with tourists and run like a factory, but much better than the amusement park food I'm used to.

Stelze is Wienerisch, so you need a real Wiener to cut it. Luckily, Andreas was born in the city, and he did the honors as Marlene and I looked on in excitement.

I never would have trusted myself to see a deep-fried shank of pig leg, but the Stelze was actually really good. Being culinarily adventurous in a foreign country certainly pays off.

And after dinner, we all decided to play against each other in one of those games where you have to drop a ball in the hole to get your pig to move. Since we were the only people playing, one of us was bound to be successful, and Edmina won a stuffed dolphin named Paul.

Katharina, Nina, Matthias, Marlene, Andreas, Laura, me

It was a wonderful evening and the perfect beginning of my last week in Austria.