Vienna Vidi Vici

4:24pm 7/3/08- The trip from Salzburg to Vienna was uneventful but pleasant. My hostel is located very close to Westbahnhof (train station), which was really nice. I'm sharing a room and one bathroom with 7 people, including 3 girls, so it's interesting to say the least. I kinda like it though, and it's fun meeting people from all over as only one other person is American.

I set out on foot right away towards the Schonbrunn and explored. I walked around the side and came around this one corner to a beautiful view and a gust of wind hit me at the same time. No chorus of angels, but it was still pretty cool, I then took a picture:



I really liked the gardens:




I hiked up to the Gloriette and noticed they had tables out for a cafe. As my new thing is eating with cool views, I sat down and had a little cake and apple juice with this view:



When I walked down and out my feet were kinda hurting. I had been wearing flip flops for the past two days and it was taking its toll. I noticed a sort of bike rack vending machine nearby where you can rent bikes and they have locations all over where you can return them. The bikes just lock into these stalls and you use your credit card to get them out. They're free for the first hour, 1 euro for the 2nd, and 2 euros for each subsequent hour. So i got one and just started riding. I had no idea where i was going but rode the cruiser in my plaid shorts and t-shirt like some beach bum. The Viennese hadn't seen an Ostler on a bicycle in over 30 years.

Before I knew it, I was riding alongside a student demonstration with police escort. I sped ahead where they were clearing the streets of traffic and had the roads to myself. I figured I'd just play the dumb tourist but at least have plenty of room to mosey. All of a sudden I came upon the main cathedral of Vienna, Stephansdom:

-PICTURE REMOVED-

For some reason I forgot to take a picture of the church, so this one is borrowed, nice Jeff.

I continued on to the Danube, went down a ways and found a station to lock up the bike. I ended up using it for 55 minutes, so it was free. I walked around the inner city and did some people watching.

Today I did the self-guided tour that Dad outlined. I started at the Belvedere Palace:




Then continued to some other sites, stopping by Stadtpark, where Dad had spent a lot of time as a missionary. I tried to think of what unfinished business my Dad would have me do in an area where he had worked so hard and diligently. I thought for a moment and realized it is something all missionaries would want, a nap. So I found a park bench and snoozed for about an hour in the warm sun. Then I went to the old city again, got lunch and continued exploring.

9:35 AM 7/4/08- I'm somewhere in western Magyarorszag, the anglicized version obviously being Hungary. After my entry yesterday I went to call the tour I'll be going on tonight in Budapest. You're supposed to call 24 hours in advance to confirm, which is retarded since the tour is nonrefundable anyway. So, I had to buy a stupid phone card just for that purpose and went to a pay phone. I called and said that I'd like to confirm, to which the lady said, "ok, you're confirmed." Puzzled, I responded, "um do you know who I am? As in who is confirming?" She says, "Oh, right, what is your name?" Yikes.

I headed back to the hostel to see the plans of some people I met and we were talking for about 20 minutes when I realized I couldn't find my wallet. For some reason, I can remember the most obscure dates and other trivial things, but the whereabouts of my belongings always seem to be my Achilles heel. I couldn't find it in the room and realized I must have left it at the pay phone. I ran to the pay phone, and as you have probably anticipated by the lack of curse words in this post, it was still there. This wasn't a pay phone on some small street either, this was Mariahilfstrasse, one of the busiest streets in Vienna. But sure enough, the good people of Vienna let my wallet be, so thank you Wieners, you will not be forgotten.

So, back on track, I headed back to the old city and went to dinner at the Griechenbeisl, which Mom and Dad recommended, as it dates back several hundred years and hosted the likes of Beethoven, Wagner, and Strauss, to name a few. The food was very good, and once again I imagined a conversation with the past patrons, perhaps getting Wagner's thoughts on the use of his music in Bugs Bunny cartoons.

Afterwards, I walked to the Hofbrau and surrounding areas, here are a couple pics:






All in all, a great city, although I know I missed a lot of things. I just got really tired after the first day there and need to start pacing myself or else I'll have no energy to run with the bulls in Pamplona, rollerblade in Paris, or barter with the ladies of the night in Amsterdam.