Jugendherberg Hostel Vienna

... br>
We headed into town and found the ferris wheel in an amusement park.
The park was closed and so was the ferris wheel however you could
still walk around the park since there were no gates. We walked around
for a bit and then headed back to the hostel since it was absolutely
freezing outside. We got back and I checked my emails and updated my
blog and then headed to bed for the night since the bar was dead.

... morning, and did the tour around the city itself, then we jumped on the next route which took us out to Prater, the theme park and giant ferris wheel... we got off there with the intention of grabbing some lunch, and ice cream and doing a couple of rides. We did the lunch, did the ice creams and did the rides with Nat freaking out on the mini roller coaster as the three of us laughed our heads off, and then Jamie freaking out just a tad on one of the water ...

... Fun fairs of course mean more ice cream, this time I tried a scoop of pink and yellow coloured gloopy marshmallow flavour. I'm not entirely sure it tasted of marshmallow, but it was good, considering how hot is was. Seriously, though, did I mention Zanoni & Zanoni's? There was a CSI exhibition called the CSI Experience, which I couldn't decided whether I wanted to try out or not. It was in German with English ...

... is filling local grocery store shelves and pub glasses. We have yet to try it, but we are looking forward to our chance. The influence of the Hapsburgs and the arts they patronized is evident everywhere in the city. Their palaces are amazingly large--if a bit plain--and you can't go more than a few steps without seeing or hearing the name of the imperial family mentioned in conjunction with some sight, building, or historical point of interest ...

... Europe rocks. You might say I look a little bit Austrian so everyone assumes I speak german which is quite fun. Flight attendants, servers and the like just start speaking german when they approach me. I figured there was no point getting a room for just a few hours so it was a choice between partying through the night downtown in the funzone or catching the last train to ...

... half was less enjoyable for me since it was not as lively, but all together it was a great experience and well worth the price of admission even though I am by no means an expert on classical music. Day 3 For our last day in Vienna we started off by visiting the Imperial Crypt where the bodies of the Hapsburg family are entombed (the entrails and hearts are in 2 other locations). All of the tombs here were full of ornate ...

... We enjoyed visiting the "summer residence" of the Habsburg dynasty, the Schonbrunn palace which accomodated a mere 1,500 connected family and friends. We had not appreciated how large and influential Austria had been in European political history. The old saying "there is an influential woman behind every influential man" could have been penned for the Habsburg family. Unforturnately Marie ...

... which overlooked the city. slovenia is absolutely beautiful. i did, however, fall on the way down from the castle and have huge bruises all over my leg :(. boo. we stayed at a really nice resort, and in the morning we were able to visit the famous lake bled. very cool. today we drove to vienna, the "paris of the east". it is a very nice and clean city. we are staying at a very nice hostel - there is ...

... the dining cars, I however stuck it out as many of us did. Deliriousness did kick in after the second hour; we started trying to keep our minds off the searing heat in many different ways. We finally arrived victoriously sweaty in Vienna stumbling out of the train like a bunch of drunkards. We meet up with our tour guide and renowned writer Gloria Kaiser, we try to flag down some taxis for our group but we find out it is Mother's Day so not many taxi's ...

... There are a number of things I wish to see and it may take two days of frantic sightseeing instead of the usual one. Forecast continues to be rather poor. Tomorrow intermittent rain and the next three days heavy rain - that's when the forecast ended so there may be more. Back to normal then. It's a pity the drought Europe never reached this far. Vienna, Culture capital 05 Aug, Friday Start point: Vienna City cycle ...