Baby, it's cold outside- Vienna

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This promises to be an interesting blog, at least I think so. Vienna arrived with some crazy instances.

Where do I begin? The hung over plane ride? I think not. So, arrival in Vienna. We got on the wrong U ban train to find our hostel. Then, after we got on the correct U ban train, we got lost trying to find our hostel. We got checked in and situated, and went to get some dinner. Schnitzel anyone? P.S. the stuff in Vienna was VERY well priced- not expensive at all, which was a nice break from Rome in which everything is over priced. Then, we went down town. We walked by the parliament building and the city hall. Then, we walked over to the Hofburg Palace which was lit up with blue lights at night- so cool! Then, we walked through all the major state buildings, and the Winter Riding School. They're big on their Spanish horses. We weren't able to go to a show, but we walked through the gift shop which was a 7 year old's dream. Remember the days of, I want a pony...

We then walked over by the Volks Theater and went to a cafe. When, we called the waitress over for our check, she wrote down the individual prices of the things we bought, and then added up the total. When I asked her the what one of the amounts was for, she flipped a bitch! She started yelling at me, "TWO BIERS! TWO BIERS!" Then, she went and got a menu and threw it at me. Then opened it, and pointed to the price of the beers- all the while still yelling, "TWO BIERS! TWO BIERS!" It was scary. Note to self: just take the total and go with it. Don't ask questions.

So, we went back to our hostel. We were talking to each other to open the door, and a group of men were standing outside. One of them who was probably around 60 or 65 asked where we were from. I said America and he asked where I told him I was from Phoenix. Then, he introduced himself as Richard, and I introduced myself as Katie. I told him I went to Loyola Chicago, and he said, "you're my cousin!" He then said, "you're a Ribordy, aren't you?" (Ribordy was my grandmother's maiden name). He's our cousin who lives in Holland, and sends us a Christmas card every year. And prior to meeting him, that was all I knew. He actually tried to look me up at Loyola once because he attended Loyola for a couple years, and went to a basketball game. Anyway, res life wouldn't give out my info. So, we couldn't run into each other in Chicago, but just so happen to be staying in the same hostel in Vienna. Anyway, it was really neat. He is a very interesting person to talk to.

The next day, breakfast began with Richard. Then, Mike and I went to the Viennese flea market. Most of the merchandise blew right out of 1993-VHS (liked taped off the TV) and radio tape players. Oh, and lederhosen. It was really neat. I bought a fake engagement ring for a euro, so the Italian men will leave me the fuck alone. After the flea market, we went to the Shoenbrun Palace which was the summer residence. I saw a room where Mozart gave a concert to Maria Theresa when he was 6. The palace was really neat. Maria Theresa- what a great woman. Franz Josef's wife, Sisi- not so much. I got stuck behind a Spanish speaking tour group, and was able to follow the explanation and learned that Sisi was anorexic. Somedays when my lack of Italian language skills makes itself prevalent (like today when I failed to buy a phone card), I wish I had studied in Spain... After that, we walked around the massive gardens they had, also home to Europe's first zoo.

Then, we went to the Freud museum. It was in his old apartment, and you actually had to ring the doorbell to be let in. I didn't see his couch. But I saw his waiting room how it used to be. The Freud museum was a bit of a let down because they didn't really have a ton of tangible things- mostly pictures and random other things. It was cool though to be in his apartment, in his study where he counseled. After that, we went to the Belvedere Gardens- again more foliage.

Then, we went to the Christmas market outside of the city hall. Vienna was ready for Christmas which led to us singing 'Baby, it's cold outside' all weekend. The market was called Kriskringlmarkt. It was sooo jolly and festive. Everyone had Christmas cheer, and there were tons of booths selling ornaments, crystal, nativity scenes, Santa hats (we bought matching hats that lit up for 3 euro). They were selling hot wine and baked potatoes. They also had this monstrous Christmas tree lit up with blue lights, it was so great!

The next morning began unintentional 14 hour journey home. We were on the airport train, and it broke down. They finally let us off the train, and we had 45 minutes before our plane left. So, we're walking up and down this random street in god knows where Vienna looking for a cab, and there isn't one to be had (why does that always happen? when you actually need something, you're incapable of finding it). We eventually walked over to this hotel, which set us up with this airport service car to take us to the airport. It was a black Mercedes- my first time in a Benz. And they charged us through the nose for it, but it got us to the airport. So, we get to the airport and can't even go into our terminal because someone left unattended baggage which resulted in shutting down the whole terminal??? So, we get the check in and our plane is gone- fuck! Thankfully, AirBerlin got us on a different flight home for free. The only thing was that our plane to Rome left from Berlin. So, Mike and I found ourselves in Berlin. We ate Burger King for the first time in Europe (for me it was the first time in like 3 years). I bought a piece of the Berlin wall and a Berlin rubber duck, and finally got on a plane home. 10 PM, we're strolling into the JFRC smelly and tired, but home.

Final note: I liked the Viennese people (with the exception of the waitress) because they looked like us. I would see people walking down the street and be able to guess who they were, and what kind of person they were because I felt like I would be able to see them walking down the streets of Chicago. Familiarity is sometimes a blessing.

Three weeks until my return to the states. How time flies.... The parental units arrive in Rome on Saturday. It should be good times.

Baci!

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