A Vienneese Affair

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Greetings everyone!<span><span><span> We decided to spend an extra day in Vienna so I write to you aboard an overnight train from Vienna to Switzerland.<span> To be honest, I really didn’t know a whole lot about the city of Vienna before coming, except the fact that every single person I knew who had been there absolutely loved it.<span> My immediate impression of Vienna is the opulent ambiance of the city.<span> Compared to Berlin and Prague, there was this grand nature to the city, which made it both exhilarating and intimidating.<span> Vienna was by far the most expensive city we had been to yet, and this was exemplified by our very first meal in the city.<span> We had reached Vienna around 9 PM and by the time we had reached the hostel and settled, it was close to 10:30 PM and almost every restaurant in the vicinity was closed, with the exception of a few high-end places next to the theatre.<span> Eventually, we had to settle on one place and needless to say we had to shell out a few more Euros for this meal.<span> The next day we went to see the major city landmark, the Schobrunn Palace.<span> The sheer size of the palace area was amazing, it felt like the place took up a good portion of the city.<span> We spent a good 4 hours wandering around the garden and interiors, it was definitely worth the visit, but the only complaint I have was that the audio tour was mundane.<span> The rest of the day was spent taking care of laundry at the hostel, which proved to be a great challenge since the washer and dryer Alvin used was not working properly.<span> We ended the night by meeting up with Mario, a recent UT exchange student, and his brother Dom at a college bar, which proved to be our best nightlife experience in Europe so far due to some very inexpensive cocktails <span>J



The next day we met up with my friend Sandra who showed us around the city centre.<span> Sandra proved to be a knowledgeable tour guide, and we actually walked in a video shoot for an up and coming rap artist in Austria named Usi boy(spelling might be wrong).<span> He was shooting a music video at an outdoor pool, and we were tempted to ask if we could join the shoot, but we decided to continue on so my dreams of appearing in an Austrian rap music video are on hold <span>J At the Prater, which is equivalent to a theme park, I had a very good snack called Langos, which is similar to a panini with a bit more crisp.<span> The best food I had came during lunch at the Nashmarkt(farmer’s market) where I had arguably the best falafel I’ve ever had.<span> Before taking the overnight train, I met up in the city with my friend Andy, who distinguished himself by being all decked out in his Longhorn gear.<span> Andy took us to a really cool outdoor beach bar off the Danube river, and they served one of the best mojitos I have ever had during the happy hour.<span> After catching up with Andy, we headed to the train station for our first overnight train experience.



I’m out for the night, more stories to come!

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