Labyrinth
Trip Start
Nov 05, 2006
1
44
48
Trip End
Ongoing
Vienna,
Austria
Friday, May 1, 2009
It's very hot today, more so than yesterday, but still as windy. After checking out and popping my luggage in storage for the day, I took the U-Bahn to Schonbrunn, an eighteenth century Hapsburg palace set in a vast park called Schlosspark, encompassing a zoo, many statues and fountains, gardens, a giant greenhouse and a desert house as well. Of course, you'd need to pay to gain entry to all of the attractions, and the only one I opted for was the Irrgarten, a trio of mazes. The main maze (the other two are really for kids) has two "healing harmony" stones in the centre as well as a viewing platform for views of ....well, the mazes. The second maze (or Labyrinth, as it's known) has waist height hedges so you can see over but not climb over in a cheating fashion. There are two ways to go round, the short way for those who get bored easily and the normal longer route. Several activities are inside the maze; bouncing boards, stepping stones with surprise jets of water, and my favourite, a glockenspiel dance mat. The third maze has mathematical problems to confse you for 30 seconds or so. Also, for fun, there are two finger mazes.
After a couple of hours spent wandering through the gardens, I decided to check out the Museumquartier. I had chosen a museum to go to, the imposing grey building block of MUMOK (Museum Moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig Wien) full of conceptual art, Yoko Ono paintings, Warhol etc. It turned out it was open but not free, so I visited the museum shop which was interesting in itself, with some great, if expensive gifts.
Later on I bought my ticket to Bratislava. Some careful research had shown that Eurolines did the best deal (€6 one way) although you can go by boat down the Danube. This would have been more spectacular but I'm not in a position to throw money around on a triple country trip! The coach only took an hour, not even stopping at the border checkpoint and smashing my dreams of another stamp with it.
I had written down instructions on how to get to my hostel from the train station, not the bus stop, so I consulted my map and walked. The cobblestone streets didn't do my suitcase wheels any good, but I got to see the residents enjoying their day off with street celebrations and a local band. I booked this hostel as it was the only one to have these nights free, but other than its' location (opposite a giant Tesco!) it has no benefits to really speak of. Tesco, however, is ridiculous. I bought carrier bags full of stuff for €5, and could have gone even more mad with all the bargains. For 67c, I bought a chocolate and coconut cake which was incredible, and a box of black lemon tea for 65c. Some things are a third of the price you'd pay at home, other, branded stuff twice as expensive.
