So here is my Vienna spiel. Gerlinde dropped me off in Freistadt around 1 on Friday so I could take the bus to Linz. I got to Linz at around 2:30 and took the 3:30 train to Vienna. The train ride was about 1 hour and 45 minutes. I was staying with someone from school's sister and her bf. The sister met me at the train station and took me back to their flat. Before we left the train station I bought a 3 day bus/tram/metro pass. It entitles me to unlimited rides on any of the public transportation for 72 hours. From the train station we took the metro 3 stops and then we had a ten minute walk to their flat. After I got situated they went over the layout of the city with me which was good cause I didn't have any clue at first. It turned out to be quite easy really (mostly all the main tourist attractions are located inside the ring in the center of town). After talking for a little bit we went out to dinner at a Chinese Buffet restaurant. It's pretty much like any other Chinese Buffet back at home, just maybe a little smaller. They had french fries, fried shrimp, spring rolls, rice, lo mein, fruit, sushi, etc. It was really good. After dinner I took the tram into the city center just so I could get my bearings straight for my day of site-seeing on Saturday.
I left their flat around 9:30 and headed straight to the ring. As I was walking I saw the Hotel Sacher. The Hotel Sacher was where the Sachertorte was created. This is what wikipedia has to say about it "Sachertorte is a chocolate cake, invented by Franz Sacher in 1832 for Klemens Wenzel von Metternich in Vienna, Austria. It is one of the most famous Viennese culinary specialties. The Original Sachertorte is only made in Vienna and Salzburg, and is shipped from both locations. The only place where you can find the Original Sacher Torte outside of Austria, is in the Sacher shop of Bolzano, Italy. The cake consists of two layers of dense, not overly sweet chocolate cake (traditionally a sponge cake) with a thin layer of apricot jam in the middle and dark chocolate icing on the top and sides. It is traditionally served with whipped cream without any sugar in it, as most Viennese consider the Sachertorte too "dry" to be eaten on its own." Anyway they have a cafe where you can go in and have some and that is what I did. It was really good but honestly it tastes the same as the chocolate cake I have after Table Tennis sometimes (shout out to Ed, Ed, George and Ron, I'll be back soon guys).
After the Sachertorte I headed to the Stephansdom (St. Stepehens Cathedral). This is the most famous (and tallest) church in all of Vienna. It was very beautiful but a lot of the outside had scaffolding all around it (like most of the buildings in Europe). I went inside and had a look and of course, like most of the churches in Europe, it was very pretty. The church has two towers you can go up, the north and south tower. The north tower is shorter and you take an elevator up and the south tower is taller and you take stairs up. I opted for the, you guessed it, the south tower. You get better views from the taller tower obviously. To reach the top of the south tower you are to take 343 stairs (says the sign) but I counted and only got to 335 stairs. Either way it was a lot of stairs. The views from the top were of course amazing. Vienna is a very pretty city too. After the church I walked around a little bit. I saw the Hofburg Imperial Palace but did not go inside. Around two I met up with the people I was staying with and we went to an Australian pub to have lunch. After lunch we went back to their flat. I took a little nap and got ready for the night. We headed back downtown around 6:15 and were trying to get tickets to a musical (I believe it was a Roman Polansky piece) but it was sold out. So we met up with a few of their friends and went back to the Australian Pub for dinner/drinks. We got back home around 12ish.
On Sunday they took me to the Belvedere and the Schonbrunn, both of which are palaces. After them we went back to their flat, had lunch and they took me to the train station. I took the 2:40 train back to Linz and caught the 4:45 bus back to Freistadt.
Once again the Ravens go back to sucking really bad.
Between Vienna and Prague I would have to say I enjoyed Vienna more. I think a lot of this has to do with the weather. Prague was very cold and rainy and Vienna was only a little cold and no rain. Good weather can make any average city amazing and bad weather could make any amazing city average, in my opinion. Also, Vienna is a much bigger city and I feel like there is more to do and see there.
This week is probably going to be a pretty quiet one. I do know I am going back to the school on Thursday. I do leave in 20 days though. I can't believe it has been 6 weeks already. Time is seriously flying by.
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