VIENNA
this is a little update, I'll backdate it later and add pictures...:
ThursdayI was really nervous before I left, stayed up till 3 or something last night because I couldn't sleep and then almost overslept ... a good friend called me at 7.15 in the morning...
Dropped of the keys at
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ashyra and left the car there and then walked to the train station. Of course, both my trains were late, so what's the hurry?
It's REALLY relaxing to just sit in a comfortable, clean, airconditioned train with stuff to read, food and a well-filled mp3-player!
I tried working on some songs, but couldn't come up with anything decent. ah well...
It took me just about 12 hours from door to door meaning I arrived in Vienna at about 7.30 and checked into the hostel 'bout ten minutes afterwards.
Wombat's a really nice place! It's very modern and very clean. Kinda not like a hostel, but then again, yeah it is. We only got a double bedroom with our own bathroom though, so it actually was a lot more like a cheap hotel. It was decked out in all IKEA, so naturally my boyfriend felt right at home ;)
I showered and later we went to see
tothefly a.k.a.
Paperbird and it was really... Well, first off, the music was really great if a bit too loud for the venue. But I do love her voice and her style and her lyrics, so it was all good. I bought a CD too and I recommend, you do the same!!
While we waited, we got chatted up by a really stoned friend of hers who couldn't remember a thing. Seriously, in the course of 30 minutes she asked us about 3 times where we were from!
Also, she told me I was beautiful. And again. And then she turned to my boyfriend, asking him if we were dating. Then telling him how beautiful I was. And finally, a little disappointed, she asked me if I maybe happened to be just a bit bi.
Well, I might be, but not with you, honey ;)
H. and I were really really wiped out though, so we went home pretty early.
FridayI started off taking pictures... Really weird pics. I met a photographer in a fotocommunity and even before we had any plans he asked me to come to vienna, for nude pictures tho. I'm too fat for that ;)
So, when Vienna evolved into a plan, we agreed to just meet for casual pictures.
If I'da known he was so into crappy 80s-style I would've taken money from him. But ah well. I got to see Mozart's grave ;)
After noon I met the boyfriend back at the hostel and we went into town. We went to the
Naschmarkt and had lunch there and walked through the city seeing all sorts of sights (like the Stephansdom);)
We went window-Shopping a bit in the MariaHilferStraße and bought the first postcards... I was really wiped out at night, I suspect it was from the pills I took against my hayfever and I barely managed to stay awake as we ate the obligatory Schnitzel at
Figlmüller which was really delicous though. Highly recommended!
SaturdayWe got up early to see the open Training in Vienna's
Spanish Ridingschool. The horses are SO beautiful, it was definately a little girl's dream come true to see 'em.
However, the training itself is not that glamorous. They don't really do any formation-stuff and leave you wanting for the really expensive shows (tickets start at 26€!) and it's not allowed to take pictures. *cough cough*
We also saw the imperatorial appartments from the Sisi-era which was quite interesting and they do give you student discount, but afterwards we decided to stay outside.
The weather was truly beautiful! The sun shone bright and warm and I caught just a tad bit of a sunburn. Well. I tan nicely, it's not that bad.
We had lunch again at the Naschmarkt, very very delicious "Palatschinken", which is basically thin pancakes wrapped up and filled with various stuff (you can also get 'em plain).
We each had a spicy one with Wiener sausages and cheese and as a dessert we got a sweet one with fresh strawberries, topfen (a sort of mild sour creme) and chocolate sauce. I thought they'd just sprinkle on the chocolate, but MAN it was rich! We were incredibly stuffed afterwards! We also bought gifts (food ;)) and some stuff for us to eat during the train ride.
Stores here close REALLY early. We were back at the hostel at 5.30pm and all the supermarkets were closed so we couldn't buy anything to eat or drink for the journey. *whoa*
We did take the cutest couple-pictures though down at one of the tubes stations (Karlsplatz) where they'd attempted to write out all sorts of statistics on mirrored walls, including the number PI and the number of people in love in vienna or starving to death in the world.
Surreal undertaking.
In the evening, after lots of messenging on cell phones in foreign, expensive networks, we went to see the
Subway to Sally accoustics-concert. I had actually wanted to meet a girl that I know from an online forum for real there, but being from Switzerland she couldn't quite make it. I was kinda sad, cause I'd really wanted to meet her, but we met her boyfriend and two other friends, so it was okay. The concert was really great, too! The sound was fantastic, I stood right before the right-hand box, close to the front (where I could actually see) and it was all still pretty differentiated, well tuned and not too loud. I was quite impressed. The show was awesome, too, accoustic sets really suit them!
Sundaywas the first day we had breakfast together. You can get a really nice all-you-can-eat-breakfast at the Wombat's for 3,50€. No eggs, but different choices of bread and rolls, juice and a pretty nice selection of coffee. I usually had an espresso with rich hot chocolate. *yum*
We went to the
Prater first, which is like a giant amusement park with two big ferris wheels and - well. Lots to see :)
The ancient ferris wheel is really expensive tho (8€ für a 10minute ride), so we took the other one instead and took pictures of the old one :)
The Restrooms are really... worth the 50ct-pay! Especially the ones at the Wurstlprater!
We took a nice relaxing stroll and then walked to the WienerKunstHaus which houses a permanent exhibition of
Hunderwasser's works. It was really odd to walk the uneven floors, an effect he wanted to achieve but left me and my hurting feet rather ambigous about the whole matter. I don't feel degraded by even floors - no way, sir!
The exhibition was interesting though very scarcely commented (you needed to buy an extra audio-guide) and the top floors were reakly cold. They had a nice collection of fotos by a ... baroness or something. I'll complete it later...
We got back to the hostel in the late afternoon - our feet just wouldn't carry us anymore and everything was closed down!
So, we got changed in the hostel, had some drinks in the WomBar and finally left for the train station.
There was a bit of turmoil when we found out that the train-booking system had got things completely messed up.
Isntead of comfortable resting chairs we wound up with two regular seats in a stuffy, fully manned waggon. AGONY!
I was so exhausted that I started crying at the prospect of spending the entire night there and then having to go to Uni the very next morning upon arrival.
We finally managed to see the conductor and for an extra 20€ he let us sleep in the resting chairs and stay on board till DU. I guess we bribed him, cause 20€ doesn't fit with any charges I've read about. Ah well.. As soon as we switched seats, I fell asleep!
To put it in a nutshell:
Vienna is BEAUTIFUL, the weather was great and you need WAY more time than just a weekend!
tired
accomplished
pissed
stressed