Third Stop: Wien

Vienna - a cultural center for music, art, and film for hundreds of years. Storied past aside, I didn´t really expect to be wowed by Vienna. I was open explore freely without any bothersome expectations carried with me as in Rome and Florence. This mindset allowed me to take in the city for what it was, to get the true character of the town and the people.

Before I get going on Vienna, I should probably explain my overnight hell trip from Florence to Vienna. Trains are great for the most part. They offer convenience and flexibility that flights can´t come close to matching at very reasonable prices. Trains rides can also suck, too - and mine did exactly that. The train left at about 10 PM from Florence. As soon as I stepped aboard, I knew I was in for an interesting night. The cabin was hot and stuffy. I stuggled to get the most out of my first breath but it felt like I was in a sauna. Every seat on the train was taken and, furthermore, there were people standing in the aisles and doorways.

Now I didn´t know how this whole train thing worked when I reserved my seat. To my understanding, a reservation was necessary. This is really not the case. The popular trains are mostly all oversold; if there is a open spot that is not reserved for a leg of the ride, another can grab the seat first come, first serve. When the person arrives who happened to reserve that seat, they force the person sitting there to move elsewhere. This means there is constant shuffling and reordering. The bottom line is this: if I hadn´t reserved a seat, I would have spent my night moving from seat to seat, never really getting situated in an 8-hour period.

Yes, the train was chaos. That wasn´t the worst of it, though. The seat I reserved was like an airline seat that didn´t recline, essentially making it a broken, more uncomfortable airline seat. Sleeping was pretty much out of the question. I drank some wine and talked to people around me until I got tired, but then spent the remainder of the night with my neck kinked sideways while I accidently kicked the little Asian lady sitting across from me.By the end, we had an understanding that it wasn´t even worth it to say sorry to each other, we just had a silent accidental kick war in silence.

I did eventually arrive in Vienna the next morning at about 8:30, giving me the day to explore the city. I made my way to my hostel, Hostel Ruthensteiner, with only slight confusion. People speak German now, although I still say "ciao" and "grazie" like a fool. The hostel was fantastic. It was clean, well-designed, and even had rotating artwork in the main rooms. It was no surprise that I saw a slightly older crowd here, even some families with kids. I put my bags in the locker and went out on the town.

Vienna is an aesthetically marvelous city. Every building is ornate and designed; I felt like I had been transported back in time. The city center is full of parks, museums, and old churches. Because Vienna is known for its art, I went to the Leopold Museum as well as the MUMOK, Vienna´s modern art museum, both located in the MuseumQuartier. Both museums were top notch. In the process, I learned a lot about the history of Vienna and the people. Art, science, philosophy, and politics were all intertwined in an ever-evolving social machine. The distinctions between these seemingly separate areas were broken down in times of rapid modernization and social upheaval.

Art still matters in Vienna. I spent much of the time here hanging out near the University with the students. In this area of Vienna, there are art exibitions seemingly on every street. The cafes are full of people writing, sketching, and painting.

The city itself is immaculately clean and well-maintained. The transit system is the best I´ve ever ridden - you can get anywhere in the city in a maximum 15 minutes. Of all the places I´ve visited thus far, I would say that I could see myself living here the most. The people are friendly, the art it good, and the kebab joints are open all night.

I met a bunch of people here in Vienna. I´m convinced that I meet more people at hostel happy hours than any time else. One time I hung out with a couple from the East coast and ended up eating dinner and drinking wine entirely too late into the night. The next day, another solo travel named Ryan from Brazil was my partner in crime. I guess I provided him with some serious help with his girl problems back home. He asked me to repeat much of what I was saying so that he could write it in his notebook. I hope my half-assed psychiartic assessment was of some assistance.

Well, my hour is almost up at the Internet cafe, so I am going to wrap this one up. By the way, if you see any "y"´s where "z"´sshould be or vice versa, that´s because German keyboards switch the two, making these blog extremely difficult.

In about an hour, my train leaves for Budapest. I think I´ll probably spend three nights there at the Loft Hostel Budapast, considering is a little cheaper than many other places on my trip. If my bank account were a smiley face representation, it would be one of those with a X´s on its eyes with a frown.