There are no Kangaroos in Austria

*** some of the pictures displayed here are courtesy of Stu Wilson's Facebook Page ***

All,

Well that is the slogan on tons of different merchandise sold around Vienna, and from what I can tell, they are correct, I have not seen a one, unless you include the usual throngs of Aussie tourists. Anyway, since the last update, the trip took a couple unexpected turns, well primarily one big one in Florence, and I will get to that in a second. I took the overnight ferry from Split to Ancona, Italy, and it was great. I found a real nice couch to sleep on, and the 10 hour ferry ride went by in a blink. I found my way to Florence, by way of Bologna and a couple other stops. I actually had a little trouble in Italy finding the right train connection, and stretched the trip to Florence out by a couple hours by getting on a wrong train, but it was no big deal, and I was feeling great as I stepped off the train into a bright and sunny day in the birthplace of the Renaissance.

I found my hostel, and marched in to announce my arrival and get rid of my bag, which I had been lugging around for nearly 24 hours. At the hostel, the receptionist greeted me with a smile, and then after looking up my "reso", said "there is a problem". That is never the phrase you want to hear when you are talking about reservations, you know? So, the guy tells me that I accidentally booked my room in an all-female dorm, and since I made that mistake, the reservation is no longer valid. Their website was pretty confusing, so I believed him, and then asked him what he can do for me. He basically told me to beat it, and so I stumbled out on to the cobblestone without a place to stay, and in a city that I was not familiar with yet. So, I marched back to the train station, and booked an overnight train to Vienna that was to leave at 10 o´clock. So, now this left me with only 7 hours in Florence as opposed to two days, and I was a little mad at the city, even though it technically wasn´t it´s fault. I made the best of it though by booking the highest rated hostel in Vienna for Friday and Saturday night and also booking 3 nights in Cesky Krumlov on Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday.

So, I lugged my backpack around Florence for 7 hours stopping at a couple touristy sites, and then grabbing a nice rigatoni carbonara & bruschetta dinner that the waiter only charged me 10 Euro for even though the menu listed it as 14 Euro. I think it was because I told him I was a waiter in the States. I topped off the night with some gelato at the alleged most popular locals place in Florence, Vivoli. You know you are at a good locals place when you are the only tourist and the place is a bit rough around the edges. By the time 10 came, I had actually warmed up to Florence, and I may stop there later on in the trip. On a side note, I don´t think I have ever heard more English being spoken in a European city than I did in Florence. It seemed every person on the street was an American college kid or an American couple. The city is definitely a trendy spot, I and I tend to think it is more popular with the ladies than the guys, but that is just a hunch. There seemed to be alot of men walking around with that look in their eye that said "ok, honey I brought you to Florence finally, now can I pick the next trip"?

So, I took the overnight train to Vienna, and arrived at 8 am yesterday. I found my hostel, which is very nice, and then promptly took a 4 hour nap. I got up and explored the town a bit, and then hung out at the hostel with a couple British guys I met that have to be the funniest dudes I have met in a long time. They totally reminded me of my Dayton friends and were even playing guitar and singing classic 90´s songs like "Breakfast at Tiffany´s" "Good Riddance" and "Closing Time". In addition, before I had even talked to the them, the one guy came up to me and asked me to look at his watch to see if it was still working, and as I looked I realized it was a Red Wings watch, turns out he is a die hard hockey fan!.

So, today I got up early and hit a lot of the sites here in Vienna which included but were not limited to the Stephansplatz, the Hofsburg Palace, and the Central Cafe which is a famous coffeehouse. Apparently Vienna is more renowned for their coffeehouses than Seattle. So, tonight I went to the state run opera, and was able to score a standing room only ticket for 2 Euro. I left after the first half, because honestly I wasn't following it, but it was a good time nonetheless, and an experience I have never had before. Vienna is a cool town. It is huge, and you could lost for weeks in the museums and historic sites.

Well, I am off to the Czech Republic in the morning, and I will update from there, and hopefully get some pictures online of my time in Hvar, Florence, and Vienna. Take care

Scott

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