Austria...not Australia

hehe...I just liked this sign

April 22 - Wednesday
My Mom, the Stepdad and I hopped a Pendolino train to Vienna. I've been informed that a Pendolino train goes much faster than a regular ol' train and leans as it turns. Cool. My favorite part was the airline-esque service we got: sandwiches, drinks, and a Ho-Ho...whahoo!

After accidentally riding the tram without paying (whoops) and finding our teeny tiny hotel, we ventured out to check out a nearby cathedral. We also happened upon two of my favorite things: H&M and street beer. Sweet. I limited my time at H&M to save the co-travelers from misery, and we grabbed beers and a giant (albeit lackluster) pretzel from an outdoor stand to enjoy at a nearby picnic table. Let me tell you something about Viennese beer, my friends. The stuff'll hit you. Hard. Like, stand-up-and-think-you-might-fall-into-the-center-of-the-earth hard. After ONE beer. Thanks to my time in Prague, I'm well-practiced in beer drinking, and I swore that someone had roofied my drink.



I got to have my first ever weiner schnitzel shortly thereafter. While tasty, I'm not sure its something I'll end up craving (yeah, right...its fried meat, of COURSE I'll crave it). I learned a lot on this trip, like that weiner = Viennese in German. Yay!

April 23 - Thursday
My Mom and the Stepdad like to give me crap for avoiding the indoors of castles, museums, and the like. So, naturally, we spent most of Thursday indoors. I swear, I was getting hives. First up was the Lipizzaner Stallions, these awesome horses that are highly trained. In the olden days, I learned (see, full of learning!) that they were used in wars, since they were more agile than typical horses. Now, they perform for royalty/dignitaries/the public, and we caught one of their practices. Being the people-watcher that I am, I spent much of the time analyzing the strange Italian man that kept running back and forth in the stands, as well as the silly little Asian boy that stared at us as we walked by (so what did I do? Made a blowfish face back at him...hah!) Photos were 'strictly forbidden', but the Stepdad managed to take a few covert shots, you know, to prove we were there:

(note: previous 2 photos hijacked from the Stepdad...nice work, sir)

My time indoors was not up, however. We hit up the Treasury next, where they house the Austrian crown jewels. I like shiny stuff, so I was in. We had an audio guide thingy, so some of the stuff made sense. While I must give credit that we didn't spend all day in the place, I must also admit that I was ready to go after about 20 minutes.

yaaaay, I'm inside

ooooh...it sparkles
(note: glimmery pic pilfered from the Stepdad..gotta give credit where credit is due)

A mediocre lunch followed our tourings, capped off by an AMAZING dessert from Demel, a world-renowned pastry restaurant. They specialize in the sachertortchen, a chocolate dream on a fudge pillow. A rich chocolate cake cuddled in a thick, slightly carmelized fudge frosting. Heaven. And of course, I brought two back to Prague...duh.

(note: hunger inducing pic courtesy of the Stepdad)

We were pretty whooped at this point, so after a nap we headed out for some lazy-man's touring of the city: by tram. The tram took us near all of the cool touristy stuff, the Parliament building, the winter castle, a beautiful garden area, and a gas station! I haven't seen a gas station since we arrived in Prague! It was odd, because it looked nothing at all like the stations at home. It looked like a tabak (tobacco) stand with pumps...

notice the random ass HOUSE on the roof of Parliament?!? yeah, we couldn't figure it out either...

April 24 - Friday
Since Vienna's not all that big, and we accomplished much in our first two days, we set aside Friday for a leisurely tour of the Schonbrunn Palace, which has been called a 'mini-Versailles'. Again with the indoors. : ] Our tour was much more interesting (read: less traumatic and robot-filled) than our tour in Cesky Krumlov, but forty rooms was a bit more detail than I cared to see. The castle was pretty, with 24karat gold leaf adorning the walls and frescos galore, but the outdoor parts were much lovelier to me (read: much more outside).


We rode around the grounds in a little shuttle/train, and checked out a Gloriette (where the fancy people sometimes ate breakfast, I think) and the gardens. They had a labrinth cut into the shrubbery and a rad playground and a zoo (the world's oldest in fact)! We spent no less than three hours playing in the garden maze and wandering the animal exhibits.


April 25 - Saturday
My train was set to depart at 1pm, so we skipped the hotel's breakfast that day and headed toward an Aussie pub that served breakfast. Paired with a knock-you-on-your-face espresso, I was ready for some last-minute exploring...of H&M. We successfully tracked down a dress for me to wear to a wedding the day after we return to the States, and alllllllmost found a second one. On the train home, I was treated to a view of golden fields of mustard weed, green pastures, and nudists. Lucky for you, I only got pics of the fields:


Being the sweet boy that he is, Rob surprised me by meeting me at the train station, and I was happy to be back in Prague...even if it is only for the next three days. Time here has certainly flown by, and I'm currently trying to prep myself for 26 days on the road...!