Vienna der eins
Vienna Day One.
The train pulls into westbanhof station around 9am, and even with my early to bed intentions, trying to sleep on the couchette proves to be a fairly miserable failure. I'm a walking zombie as I try and chart my course to the hostel. Its a bit further than I thought, but I manage to get there eventually. Looks like I picked another good one, though again I'm too early for check-in. I decide to walk around and explore the city a bit on my favourite mode of transportation in the mean time. I grab a McLunch (guh!) and pass many shops with german and english names.
When I return to the hostel to check-in I'm really impressed by the room. Its just as nice as a hotel room, except there are two bunk beds in place of the usual 2 queens (and there's no television). Its spotless, and all the bathroom appliances are sparkling and new. I grab a much needed shower, then head back out into the miserable rainy weather. I make my way up to the Leopold museum, but find that it closes in less than 2 hours, so I decide to see that tomorrow instead. I get drenched, and walk around the Imperial palace, an opera house (complete with whigged victorian people standing out front with horse and carriage awaiting them... talk about a time warp!), and a really nice garden. I try and call Jasmine at every phone booth I pass, but still can't get through. Make my way to a really nice gothic church, that just happens to be showing a film outdoors that evening as part of an ongoing film festival. I can't decipher what its about but I see the names Beethoven and Miles Davis. Hrrm, some kind of jazz-classical fusion concert? I have no real idea, even though my interest was piqued, I give it a miss and head back to the hostel instead.
The Viennese seem to have quite a fascination with the macabre. From their gothic architecture, to the many monuments and cemeteries they advertise, to the plethora of tatoo parlours and goth kids decked out completely in black, piercings poking out from their lobes, lips and noses.
I go into the bar and surf the web a bit, and try and catch up on some of the news. The keyboards here are crazy (have you noticed all the spelling mistakes and typos in my previous posts?) Some have the 'z' key where 'y' should be, quote characters require 3 digits and a lot of finger gymnastics to hammer out etc. I got a coupon for a free drink so I use that, but decide to have an early night to catch up on much missed sleep these past few days. I also use the time to try and plan out tomorrows events and while doing so, I meet my bunkmates; an Australian couple who are doing a 7 month pan europe/africa and partial asia adventure. Thats crazy! They have round the world plane tickets and are about 2 months into their adventure. They both quit their jobs and saved for almost a year, to be able to afford the trip. Hopefully the weather will clear up tomorrow!
The train pulls into westbanhof station around 9am, and even with my early to bed intentions, trying to sleep on the couchette proves to be a fairly miserable failure. I'm a walking zombie as I try and chart my course to the hostel. Its a bit further than I thought, but I manage to get there eventually. Looks like I picked another good one, though again I'm too early for check-in. I decide to walk around and explore the city a bit on my favourite mode of transportation in the mean time. I grab a McLunch (guh!) and pass many shops with german and english names.
When I return to the hostel to check-in I'm really impressed by the room. Its just as nice as a hotel room, except there are two bunk beds in place of the usual 2 queens (and there's no television). Its spotless, and all the bathroom appliances are sparkling and new. I grab a much needed shower, then head back out into the miserable rainy weather. I make my way up to the Leopold museum, but find that it closes in less than 2 hours, so I decide to see that tomorrow instead. I get drenched, and walk around the Imperial palace, an opera house (complete with whigged victorian people standing out front with horse and carriage awaiting them... talk about a time warp!), and a really nice garden. I try and call Jasmine at every phone booth I pass, but still can't get through. Make my way to a really nice gothic church, that just happens to be showing a film outdoors that evening as part of an ongoing film festival. I can't decipher what its about but I see the names Beethoven and Miles Davis. Hrrm, some kind of jazz-classical fusion concert? I have no real idea, even though my interest was piqued, I give it a miss and head back to the hostel instead.
The Viennese seem to have quite a fascination with the macabre. From their gothic architecture, to the many monuments and cemeteries they advertise, to the plethora of tatoo parlours and goth kids decked out completely in black, piercings poking out from their lobes, lips and noses.
I go into the bar and surf the web a bit, and try and catch up on some of the news. The keyboards here are crazy (have you noticed all the spelling mistakes and typos in my previous posts?) Some have the 'z' key where 'y' should be, quote characters require 3 digits and a lot of finger gymnastics to hammer out etc. I got a coupon for a free drink so I use that, but decide to have an early night to catch up on much missed sleep these past few days. I also use the time to try and plan out tomorrows events and while doing so, I meet my bunkmates; an Australian couple who are doing a 7 month pan europe/africa and partial asia adventure. Thats crazy! They have round the world plane tickets and are about 2 months into their adventure. They both quit their jobs and saved for almost a year, to be able to afford the trip. Hopefully the weather will clear up tomorrow!
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