Vienna!

My trip to Vienna ended up being absolutely fantastic. The start to it, however, was a nightmare. I woke up at 3 on Friday (April 29) morning. My bus was scheduled to depart at 5:05 and I had to catch the train to the Hauptbahnhof at 4:36, which meant leaving my house at 4:25. I got up, showered, ate, and made it to my train station with no problem. As I was walking up to the bus station, it hit me. I had forgotten my passport at home. I've done plenty of traveling between European countries without once getting checked for my passport, so I briefly considered going without it. In the end, I decided that getting stuck at the border was not exactly my definition of fun. I called the bus company to explain my situation and see if they could change my ticket or give me a refund. They said no. He did inform me that there was another bus leaving at 8:25 and that there were still seats available on the bus. I then asked if they could book me a new ticket over the phone, as I did not have any data left on my phone for the month. He again said no. By this point, my friend Johnny had texted me. He just got back from a six week vacation in Australia and was adjusting to the time difference, hence him being awake at 5:30 in the morning. We decided to meet up for breakfast. I first had to go home to pick up my passport and book a new bus ticket, so I told him I'd meet him at 7. I decided to leave my backpack in a locker at the Hauptbahnhof so I didn't have to carry it around for the next three hours. I didn't have enough change for the locker and was forced to buy something to get the change I needed. I caught my train back to my house. About five minutes away from home, I remembered that my house keys were in my backpack...which was in the Hauptbahnhof. When I was packing the night before, I thought, "well I won't need my keys until I get back Sunday, so I'll put them in my backpack so I have one less thing in my purse." Good plan, right? Wrong. By the time I made it home, it was about 6:15. I knew I would have to wake someone up to let me in. I rang the doorbell twice, but got no answer. I then called HM on both her personal cell phone and work cell phone. She answered on the second attempt and let me in. She looked absolutely bewildered at what I was doing at the house without my keys or backpack. She laughed and shook her head when I explained the situation.  I quickly located my passport, booked myself a new ticket, and then left again. I got to my train station with two minutes to spare, only to read that my train was delayed five minutes. Arg. I finally made it back to the Hauptbahnhof just before 7 and met up with Johnny. We grabbed a quick breakfast, catching up on what all had been happening since he left. He didn't have anything else to do, so he walked with my to the bus station. I'm glad he did, because 8:25 came around and my bus was no where to be found. 8:45 came around and I received a text from the bus company saying the bus was 50 minutes delayed. Johnny and I spent the time joking around, even making friends with John, a American/German guy who was also going to Vienna. At 9:20 the bus finally arrived, and we finally left at 9:30. I slept a bit on the bus, as well as chatted with my new friend. The bus ride went by surprisingly quick, especially considering we got stuck in traffic that delayed our arrival another hour. I met my friend, Kara, at the bus station. Originally, I would have arrived in Vienna around 11:30, and Kara was scheduled to arrive at the same time (thought she came from Prague). Because I was an idiot and forgot my passport, she had to wait for me for over four hours. Anyways, I arrived in Vienna around 4:30pm and our adventure began! We went to the hostel and I dropped off my things. We then set off to walk around the museum quarter of the city. We walked around for the better part of two hours until we were both hungry. Every single building was absolutely gorgeous. No matter where you looked, there was something to take in. I've been to my fair share of gorgeous cities, but Vienna takes the cake, no questions asked. We had a decent dinner and some drinks at a restaurant recommended by the hostel. We wanted to go for another drink more in the center of town, but we didn't know where to go. We walked around until we stumbled upon an area bustling with activity, which also happened to be right on the river. We never actually went inside anywhere, just walked around more. We opted to head back to the hostel a little early. We were both exhausted and wanted to be well rested for the next day. I personally hate being tired when I know there's a lot of activity planned. I was happy to get in bed early. Kara and I unfortunately were in different rooms in the hostel. I got upgraded to a six person room with private toilet, while she was in a six person room with dorm style bathrooms. I shared a room with one other girl and four guys. None of us knew anyone else in the room, so the room was always fairly quiet. 

Saturday was simply wonderful. We were up and left the hostel around 9am. As I was getting ready, one of my roommates came back. He was an older guy from India, maybe in his 40s. He said he'd been working all night. At one point, I turned the light on for five minutes so I could finish my makeup, as there was someone in our bathroom. He got really mad at me and started cursing at me to turn the light off. He did the same thing when the other girl started blow drying her hair. Who says hostels aren't fun! Anyways, our first stop was the grocery store, where we purchased some breakfast. We then went to the Naschmarkt, which is a huge market. There's a section that more of a flea market and then another section with food and souvenirs and the like. It was overwhelming how much was there. We took our time walking around, though we bought very little. We went back to a grocery store to pick up the makings for a picnic. We took our groceries and went up to Leopoldsberg, or a hill 1394 feet above Vienna. The view was exquisite. We ate our lunch sitting on the ledge, looking over the river and the city. The weather was also perfect, in the low 60s and sunny. We stayed up on the hill for the better part of an hour, and then caught the bus back down into the city. It had taken us nearly an hour to get up there and then another hour to get back down, but it was absolutely worth it. Once back, we went back to the downtown/commercial area and walked around a bit. We stopped at a cafe to have a piece of cake. We walked around yet some more before we went back to the hostel. We both freshened up and then we headed back out. We went to dinner at an awesome local bar/restaurant and sat there for awhile chatting. We left in search for another bar we had heard about. This bar was the definition of dodgy. We walked directly downstairs through a number of empty rooms with graffitied walls and second hand furniture until we reached the actual bar. There were only a few people there and the drink options were limited. An adorable golden retriever did greet us upon our arrival, but that's where the pleasantries ended. We stayed long enough to finish our drinks and then headed out. Our third and final bar for the evening was known for being a "student and traveler" bar. This was apparent the moment you walked inside. We again stayed for one round and then headed out. I was fairly tired by this time and wanted to head back to the hostel, so we did. When I got back to my room, two of my roommates were there. For whatever reason, they had the windows closed and the heat turned up on high. I was absolutely mortified. I managed to at least turn the heat off before I went to bed, though I still woke up several times because the room was too warm. 

Sunday was our last day there. We left the hostel a little earlier so we could have more time to explore before our buses left. We headed to the castle, or Schloß Schönbrunn, first thing in the morning. We got there about half an hour after it opened and therefore beat all the crowds. We did the quick tour of the castle, though we probably only went into 30 of the rooms. I know "30" and "only" don't seem like the right fit, but this castle was ginormous. It was gorgeous, as expected, and I learned a bit about the lives of those who once inhabit aged it. I also learned a little about the construction of the castle and the surrounding gardens, both considered incredible since their first days. There really isn't anything on the castle grounds that isn't beautiful. Everything was so ornate and well-maintained. We probably spent three times as much time in the gardens as we did inside, despite the fact that the weather wasn't nearly as nice. We left the palace and headed back to the hostel to pick up our belongings. We intended on grabbing some more makings for a picnic at the grocery store, but 10 feet from the store I realized it was probably closed. It was, and we had to regroup. We went to the train station and ate lunch there, as it was one of the only places with open stores. We finally made our way to the bus station. My bus was already waiting, and I boarded relatively quickly. As I was waiting to get on, I accidentally dropped the little piece of paper which accompanies my residence permit that I keep in my passport. It wasn't until I saw some German girl shouting my whole name while holding the paper that I realized what I had done. She'd picked it up and was looking for the owner. Crisis asserted, indeed. The bus ride back seemed to drag on forever. We left on time, but we got delayed at the border. The bus driver came over the intercom and told us that yesterday on his bus, the border control came on and checked everyone. They found two people without the proper paperwork and arrested them. Though we ended up not getting checked, I was beyond relieved that I went back and got my passport Friday morning. I arrived about 45 minutes after we were scheduled. I immediately went over to Molly's. Meg, Johnny, Alan, and a couple other people were all hanging out. I didn't stay out long, just long enough to catch up with everyone. I was home around midnight. I was exhausted, yet pleased with the trip. I'll post some pictures in the next couple of days!