Blogs from Vienna, Austria, Europe - page 14

As we go into the alps of northern Italy the temperature has dropped to around 13 cel. Brrrr, left jersey in suitcase - bugger. Ok in coach tho. The scenery is stunning, a bit damp but a bigger version of the South Island in NZ and the houses dotted here and there are made of stone. You can see the old roads winding thru the mountains, thank goodness they have got a new one cut right thru. The old houses in the countryside are abandoned, which we find weird. Why not tear them down instead they leave them to rot. Stopped for a break, then on our way again about 10kms down the road we crossed the boarder. Arrivederci Italy Helllooooo Austria. The landscape is very different, clean green, just lovely. No old rotting buildings, lots ... read more

Day 219 Wednesday 24th August 2016 – Prague to Vienna Yahhhooo, we are finally getting out of this hell called Prague. Shelley refused to let me blog whilst in Prague (except for the transport museum), but now that I am let off the leash, let me say I will never ever set foot in this town again. If it wasn’t for the fact that my backpack was laden down with so many books I would have skipped to the bus station. Got there early just to make sure we didn’t miss our bus, and just about did a dance in the aisle as the bus made its way out of town. Travelling with Regiojet again so the bus was fabulous except we had a couple of idiots behind us that liked to put their ... read more

After an early breakfast we boarded our bus for a tour around Ringstrasse in Vienna by bus before meeting our local guide, Gerhard. As is our usual custom, the local guide takes us on a highlight tour of the city which lasts for about an hour. Gerhard proved to be a wonderful guide who impressed us with his sense of humor as well as his wealth of knowledge. He pointed out the Hofburg Palace, the Vienna Opera House and St. Stephen's Cathedral and Parliament building. Vienna is also home to the Lipizzaner Stallions. We went by the stables and were lucky to see one of the horses poking his head out of his stall. Once the tour was over we had some free time and visited St. Stephen's Cathedral, stopped in some shops, walked the cobblestone ... read more

I woke up, and it was silent again. It took me a while to get used to that, so I lay there thinking "May be i'm still sleeping". That's when i noticed the writing on the bunk bed. Apparently, some one "came" there and someone else concurred. We quickly got ready and went out for a walk. I tried getting ready outside the stuffy bathroom and it was the most awkward use of a towel there could be. From Wombats (city hostel - the lounge) we wandered into Mariahilfer street and many others. In the early hours on the day the smell of croissant was alluring, so was the absence of people. Everywhere I turned there was a building or a tree or a store that drew my attention. I wished for a DSLR camera to ... read more

August 14, 2016 We arrived in Vienna today by train from Budapest. The train ride was uneventful, but quite enjoyable. On the way from the train station to the hotel J, B and JP (who were sharing a taxi) got a guided tour from the taxi driver. J got a little worried when the taxi driver told her that the hotel was cheap and that the showers were in the corridor. However, it is not bad, it is a 3-star, but it is clean and very close to the tourist area. Today we didn't do much, after checking in, lunch and a nap we went walking about. We had dinner at a spanish restaurant. We had a good time, between the big class of wine ( I'm sure it was 9 oz), the waiter screwing up ... read more