From the center of the Hapsburg Empire to the Hills of the Sound of Music

Austria is a great country. Quiet, beautiful and full of various different activities. My first night in Vienna was less than productive as I got a migraine from forgetting to eat every four hours and had one hell of a time trying to get my laundry done in the hostel. I ended up meeting several people in the laundry room however who were terribly confused as to why I was there instead of pre-partying to go out. This is a conversation I rarely ever win with the hostel goers who are only on vacation to drink in foreign bars and clubs. But I was relentless and finished up my errands and returned to my quiet dorm room in an annex the hostel rents during the summer to take in the overflow. The next day, to no avail, I started off my time in Vienna with another bike tour. This one was almost a private one as there was only one other person with me and the guide. It was great to go around the city with an actual Austrian (although I still sing praises for my American and Australian tour guides in Paris and Berlin). She wasn't from Vienna, but could at least give me some historical perspectives from an insiders point of view. Vienna is absolutely beautiful. I think it is second to Paris as one of Europe's most breath-taking cities in that romantic and pristine image of beauty sense. The old palace and gardens are so well taken care of it was hard to find a piece of trash in them. The streets are all well taken care of without any major potholes for Catherine to lose control and flip over the handle bars of her bike in. I was quite impressed. There also happens to be excellent shopping throughout the city. After my personal bike tour, I returned to the hostel for a much needed shower and nap and then ventured out to find another cathedral on the map that we didn't get to on the tour. St. Charles Borromeo Cathedral (which also happens to be the same saint the church in Arlington I use to go to was named after) is a mix of baroque and other architectures. I have to say that it was at first quite odd looking, but then I started to appreciate the eclectic value the mixture brought. What was more interesting to me was the display outside the church. The Austrian government had decided to place an exhibit of about 150 bears decorated by artists from around the world (one for each participating country) around a pond outside the church. Some of the bears were just ok, like the one for the US was basically a big statue of liberty, but others had incredible designs on them. I took a couple of photos, so when I actually get to post some pictures you'll have to guess which countries they are. Not all countries were represented, even some bigger ones were left out, so that was kind of a bummer. But all in all it was cool. The following morning I left for Salzburg. It was a great train ride only momentarily interrupted by a chatty older American guy from South Tahoe who was disappointed that he couldn't get a place to stay in Munich due to Oktoberfest. On our way into town we started noticing some road blocks and police cars along some of the main roads. As it turned out, the world championships of road cycling happened to be taking place that afternoon, so many roads, bus and tram routes were blocked off. It was rather exciting to see it all from the comfort of the train, but it was absolutely no fun trying to negotiate the new traffic route in an attempt to make it to my hostel. I was lucky that on the final bus I had to get on there was an Australian guy also headed in the same direction so when the bus driver failed to let us know which stop we were supposed to get off at, I had some company in the middle of Austrian cow country while waiting for another bus to take us back into the city. The hostel was less than impressive and actually had several groups of middle school children staying in it. Screaming preteens was not what I was thinking when I planned two days in the quaint mountain city of Salzburg. I dropped off my things and set out to find some food. I returned to the main roadway and basically follow the crowds into what turned out to be the old part of the city. As I turned down the small cobblestone streets I noticed that a lot of the smaller cafes weren't open, but I continued to follow the crowds. After one last bend, I came upon Salzburg's version of Oktoberfest. Beer gardens, kiddy rides, entertainers and food vendors lined the streets and squares. It was quite a treat. I had no clue where I was but I was entertained. There wasn't much substantial food around, so I settle for a huge pretzel and beer and listened to a traditional Austrian band. Over taken by so much visual stimuli, I went back the hostel and figured that I could fill my hunger void with snacks I've been carrying along with me. But alas in the hostel I ended up meeting a very cute and energetic American from Irvin of all places. She had actually just recently transferred to the London office of her company and was taking some time off early to do some European site seeing. Meeting Christy was a Godsend because she actually motivated me to look for some real dinner food on a Sunday night in Europe which is almost impossible to find. After a bit of walking we found a nice cafe in the newer part of the city, had a great meal with some Stigel beer, and returned to the hostel for a decent night of sleep.
The next morning she invited me to join her and another girl she had met in Vienna out for some site seeing. It was during this trek that I realized that the carnival I went to the day before was actually in and around all of the major historical sites of Salzburg, including the big cathedral, Mozart's house and some of the cities best museums. When the question came up as to whether to go on a tour of the ice caves or continue roaming the streets of Salzburg and shop, we picked the option most American girls would: shopping. After some relatively productive ganders through some of the shops, we sat down for what I have deemed the best and most healthy meal I have eaten thus far on my trip. We ended up at this little Indian place in the newer part of the city. My special of the day plate consisted of three different kinds of vegetarian curry with a mound of basmatti rice. It was so simple, but so excellent. Ohh. I'm not sure any meal I will have in the next few weeks could top that. After our meal, we sat around for a while and chatted, which actually got us free dessert, and then parted ways for some afternoon errands before meeting up to see the only English language movie playing at the Salzburg film festival, "Breakfast on Pluto." For those who haven't heard of this film, it's a trannie movie. Yes folks, this film chronicles Patrick "Kitten" Braden and his quest to find his long lost mother who left their small town in Northern Ireland when he was a baby for the metropolis of London. Set in the 1970s this film is relatively happy but has some pretty intense moments of IRA historical fiction added in. But that was pretty much it for Austria. The next day I had to trek back through Vienna to get to Bratislava where I am now. More on that from Budapest. Off to catch my train!