Anachronistic

We didn't do anything yesterday. We woke up early yesterday morning to make our train from München to Wein (Vienna), and literally stepped on the train less than a minute before it left the station. Talk about cutting it close.

We had all had little sleep the night before, so we napped when possible on the train ride, but with the connection in the middle and the snack/beverage cart we were interrupted quite often. Keith and Tania were off to visit their friends in Austria, so they rode most of the way with us. We made it into Wein a little after noon and headed off to the hostel. Jessica was coming down with something so we decided to take the day off our busy sightseeing schedule and rest.

Wein feels like it is in the wrong century. You would have to change very little about the atmosphere here to convince me I had gone back in time and was now in the 18th century. Some of the people here even look like they living 300 years ago. It is hard to describe.

On the bus from the U-Bahn station to the hostel I started to think we were going to be camping somewhere. The hostel is west of the main part of the city in a wooded area. We literally had our own forest. We finally found the correct address and thought we might be staying in an actual palace, but when we went inside we were redirected to the building next door. The hostel was still nice, and with the forest all around you it is hard not to feel tranquil.

The room we had this time only had 4 beds (the one in Amsterdam had 16) and we were the only people assigned that room for the night, so it was nice and quiet. Jessica napped the majority of the evening, while I read and posted a blog. We did have a fabulous (and cheap) meal at a little mom and pop place a few miles from the hostel.

Today we resumed our sightseeing, and first off was St Stephan's cathedral. This church was very different from the churches we saw in Italy. While those were rich and gold and had a Renaissance feel to them, this one felt gothic. It was beautiful all the same. Outside there were some people dressed in clothes from the 18th century offering tickets to a Mozart concert.
Around lunchtime we called Keith and Tania who were also in Vienna and decided to meet for lunch. We found this little place full of locals with handwritten menus and had a great meal for about 5 euros apeice.

Tania and I left Jessica and Keith at a cafe down the street to hang out while we went shopping! Today I discovered the H&M stores here. I could really do some damage in that store if I stopped thinking about the fact that I would have to carry all my new purchases around for a week. We finally stopped, grabbed the others, and headed to the opera house.

Unfortunately we missed the last tour, and you can only get in for shows or with a guided tour. So instead we took a tram around the city and saw some of what it has to offer. This was a nice break for our feet too. All this walking around is tough.

So now it is goodbye Wein, we are soon hopping on a train bound for Praha (Prague). I'm excited, I've heard such great things about this city...