Vienna was wonderful. Apart from the bit where I had to get up at 4.45am this morning to catch a 7am flight, which really didn’t make much difference as I was awake from about 3am anyway. You know when you’re just worried that everything goes to plan; the taxi comes on time, no hiccups at the airport, etc. But I needn’t have worried, all went smoothly and I’m back home after a wonderful weekend away in Vienna.
I got to Vienna on Friday afternoon/early evening. Tell you what, it was bloody freezing. When I disembarked the plane we
had to jump on the shuttle bus to take us to the airport and the bitter wind went up places I didn’t know existed. I swear my nipples inverted themselves on contact with the cold. It wasn’t just cold, it was baltic. Boy, was I not prepared, mentally and clothes-wise. I had half a mind to try and be adventerous and get public transportation into Vienna, but the other half of my mind said “are you crazy?” Not to mention, night dropped like a stone, something I’m not quite used to seeing. So a taxi to my hotel it was.
I managed to get in touch with my client after a few cock-ups with the international dialling codes, and he came around about 8pm, a lovely cute young German guy who was visiting friends in Austria and thought he’d combine pleasure with ecstasy. We had a wonderful evening together. Amongst other things, he taught me a few words in German and I told him who Doctor Who was (it was showing in the background on the telly). I can now count up to three in German (properly), I know the word for tired. I don’t know the correct spelling but it sounds like “mood-er”. The word for airport is “flughafen” (think floog-haffen), and that’s about it.
Yesterday I switched my phone off and decided to take the day to do some sightseeing. After getting some breakfast I
made my way to the underground and travelled the few stops to Stephanspladtz (apologies if the spelling’s incorrect), the city centre. And oh boy, it was just gorgeous. Lots of posh shops, which was nice, but the architecture was just mind-blowing. I took a few pictures as you can see, a couple of them I tried to capture the magnificence of a church that seemed to be called Unser Stephansdom. I did copy the name down so I hope I got it right. Heindl is the chocolate shop that I somehow gravitated towards.
I did a lot of walking, taking in the sights, stopped for a hot chocolate and a slice of cake (I was going to try a slice of strudl but I chickened out) and took a picture of the police car that seemed to be telling off a cyclist. I did some more walking and exploring, but I have to admit the cold was getting to me and my feet was beginning to hurt, so it was back to the underground and a train back to the hotel. And me being me, with no sense of direction, I got off at the wrong exit and walked the wrong way of course. I got there in the end. For dinner I behaved myself and just had a big salad with some fruit and a couple of biccies that I got at a supermarket I found in the city centre.
It was a wonderful day yesterday and a great weekend. The people are lovely and everybody spoke English to some degree or other, having had to learn it as a second language at school. There was no language barrier so no room for misunderstanding. It made me ashamed that, as much I love to travel, I have never learnt another language. I have to do something about that, maybe include it in my degree if I have credits spare. Vienna’s now on my list for “I didn’t get to see everything, so I have to go back”. Barcelona’s on that same list.
Back to normality tomorrow, but jet-setter that I am, I’m off to Scotland a week on Friday. I feel like an (airport) lounge lizard. And I still have New York in April. Get me!