Vienna!

I'm updating again, even though it's Natalie's turn. She's out on the town in Vienna with some friends she knows who are studying abroad here, so I've decided to stay in and have a relaxing evening. After a week of being out late, going to bed early just sounded too tempting.

I'm sitting outside of our hostel in a courtyard right now. It's a beautiful night. It's been beautiful all day, actually. We're finally in a place where we don't have to wear jackets all the time. It was 75 without a cloud in the sky. We took advantage of the weather by exploring Vienna on foot.

We let ourselves sleep in a bit for once, after many days of waking up early. Once we were up, we had our first real shower in a while. We have our own room here, along with our own bathroom. It's more like a hotel than a hostel. Even our own TV! Positively decadent after the places we've been in lately. Seriously, when we walked in our room last night, we could not get over how wonderful it was.

So this morning, after sleeping in, we walked over to one of the main streets of Vienna and sat in a little cafe. We got brunch, which consisted of 2 rolls each, with ham and cheese and an egg. Natalie got a little cappucino, which she declared to be delicious.

Then, we set off along the road, heading towards the city center. Along the way, we came across a very random Vegan Festival. Booth after booth of vegan food, some of which we tried. I was surprised how delicious it was. There was also a band, who may or may not have been singing vegan songs. Couldn't be sure.

After experiencing that, we hit the main touristy spots. Hofburg, where the Hapsburgs ruled. The Parlament building (yes, that's how it's spelled here). The Rathaus. Stephansdom, which is a beautiful cathedral. Really, the buildings in Europe is just beyond anything you can find in the United States. So much history to them, and all so wonderfully crafted. I've taken millions of pictures of them.

While at Hofburg, we got another random treat: there was a parade going down the road that so many people were gathered for. Something called the Bladmusikfest. It was pretty much a marching band playing Austrian music while people twirling batons followed. Very interesting. People were dancing in the streets to the music.

On our way back, we decided to get a real Wienerschnitzel for dinner. Easier said than done. It took almost an hour to find a place that served them. We were very surprised, considering that's one of the foods they're known for. But once we finally did get to a restaurant that serves them, it was delicious. I'm glad we were so persistent.

Our third random surprise of the day was hearing Kesha blasted along the street while we were walking. We could not for the life of us figure out where it was coming from. We kept walking, but the music wasn't getting any closer. Finally, we discovered a bus being escorted by police vehicles, playing music. Not sure why... Must've been some sort of Vienna music day.

And now, it's time to relax. We spent 10 hours traveling to get here yesterday, so the thought of getting on the train tomorrow is a little depressing. But the trains here are very nice, and yesterday we had a flawless train day for once. Our train luck is turning around! So tomorrow, 5 hours on the train will bring us to Prague, where we will spend the afternoon and night.

We're loving the pace of our trip. It can be exhausting, but we're seeing so much in a short amount of time. Jumping from culture to culture and language to language. We've been learning along the way. Like, tipping etiquette differs from country to country. (Natalie got lectured by a very rude train stewardess yesterday.) So does willingness to speak English to us. They also speak a lot more quietly and closer to one another than we do. We're loud in comparison. Oh, and then there's the seating in restaurants. We've had many a confused moment, not knowing whether to seat ourselves or wait. A lot to pick up on and remember, from country to country.

So, it's been a grand trip thus far. One more week to go, with Prague, Munich, and visiting my relatives in Germany!