Hotel Mercure Wien Westbahnhof Vienna

... adjusting to a new language- we keep using Grazie instead of Danke.

Next was the Spnish riding school to purchase tickets for the afternoon guided tour of the stables (yes, we're also seeing a performance tomorrow but one can never have enough of the horses). This was right next door to the next stop of the Hofburg complex and Sisi museum. The fave empress of the Austrians (kinda like ...

So, here starts my adventure in Austria, primarily Vienna.

On the way from Budapest, I look out of the window, and I see these huge things turning. And then it hits me - it's those wind power generators! Lots of them all the way to Vienna. Quite cool. I thought America was quite good in technology - how come I see this in Europe, and not in the US then???

One thing I am beginning to realize is that I am trying to use some local words whereever I am staying. And from ...

... alleen de Kiwi die ik laatst had gesproken was naakt en groen), maar twas wel goed druk! Woensdag toch maar naar de karaoke in de Loco Bar gegaan, en mn nieuwe Kollege uit mn Engels-college meegesleept (ook een Erasmusstudent uit Leipzig.. ik ga echt nooit meer een Oostenrijker ontmoeten). Hij dacht echt dat ik zielig en vriendloos was, want toen ik aankwam was er nog niemand die ik kende.. Later Kristina met een zooi dronken Tsjechen gevonden, en ...

... there and most of them were following the flag (tour group). The transportation system in the city is wonderful. We lucked out with our Hotel location. All public transportation is within three walking blocks to almost any part of the City (we bought the city pass which allows transportation on all four trans subway, bus , tram or train) Took the Underground (U) to one of the largest shopping streets Mariahilfer Str ...

... Johnny had this brilliant idea to see the Gloriette that is perched on top of this enormous hill with the only way up being a windy gravel path. Suffice to say by the time we made it up there in the beating sun, my shirt was soaked with sweat and I was out of breath; but the views were absolutely incredible from the roof of the Gloriette. After that arduous journey we decided to head into the Labyrinth where I think I had more fun with all the toys ...

... Opera, Sacher Café - yes, where the famous Sacher torte was invented, Stephansdom, a huge gothic church right in the centre of the city and of course the Hofburg or Imperial Palace. Walking by all these famous sites, we were hassled continuously by people dressed up like Mozart trying to sell us concert tickets to see an opera playing Mozart and Strauss classical hits.. Strauss was the guy who came up with the famous Viennese Waltz and a local ...

... was not going to be quite what I'd had in mind. Indeed, as the bells rang and the priest and his holy retinue ambled in, I realised this was a Catholic Mass. In my childhood, my mother had almost had to bribe me to go to Mass, yet in some ironic twist of fate here I was some 15 years later having paid 30 euros to sit through one! Fear not, the Mass aspect was very much secondary to the Choir; and it was a sung Mass, which leant it a tolerable novelty. The ...

... from the ancient Greek city of Ephesus (now in western Turkey). I also really enjoyed the museum of Musical Instruments, it was full of the old, beautiful, wierd and wonderful. A real treat was the Arms and Armour museum. There they had a huge collection of ceremonial and battle used armor. Sadly we weren't able to dress up in it and start smashing each other. That would have been ...

... see the castle ruins because we had to get to Krems for our guided walking tour. Although, I did have time to buy a small bottle of apricot schnapps to try later. I'm going to digress at this time to mention the soundtrack for my trip to Wachau. It was pretty much just three songs, all by the same artist- Ace of Base. Javi mentioned that he was listening to them, and once I started I just couldn't stop. Amy, who was sitting next to me on the bus, was getting ...

... eat some of the yummy Austrian snacks that were sold in the nearby pavilions. The musicians and I took a tram to St. Marx Cemetery, where Beethoven, Schubert, Brahms, Strauss and several other famous musicians are buried, while Rob went off to do his own site-seeing for an hour or two. We stopped for another photo-op, just before the cemetery closed to the public for the night. Despite being exhausted from the day's activities, we passed by the ...